A saw is arguably the most important tool in woodworking. How else are you going to cut and shape wood pieces without a saw?
Despite wood boards coming in various sizes and shapes (with the most common being 2x4s and 1x6s), you still need to cut them down further. And, the best saw you can use to cut down these boards is a miter saw.
What is a miter saw?
A miter saw is a power tool used to make miter cuts (angled cuts) and cross cuts. The miter saw usually sits on a fixed base or table, with its blade horizontally pivoted from 0 degrees to (+/-) 45 degrees.
What are the types of miter saw?
There are three types of miter saw—and the standard miter saw is the most common. This miter saw is a simple blade mounted to an arm, sits on a fixed base, and does miter cuts from 0 degrees to (+/-) 45 degrees.
This miter saw is lightweight, making it easy to carry anywhere and the price is more affordable than those of other miter saw types. The other two types of miter saw are the sliding compound miter saw and the stationary compound miter saw.
Stationary compound miter saw
Most enthusiasts would tell you that a stationary compound miter saw can do more than miter cuts. While that’s true, know that it’s the same as a standard saw except for one difference—it can do a compound cut.
The saw has a pivoting arm that can cut to more than a 90-degree angle. This means cutting wood not just with a miter cut, but also with a bevel cut. Here are some advantages of using a compound miter saw:
• The ability of your saw to do bevel cuts brings versatility to your woodworking projects
• A bevel cut goes through the thickness of the wood rather than just its surface
• The miter cut angles your wood only on a horizontal plane but with the bevel cut, it also angles your wood on a vertical plane
Sliding compound miter saw
The sliding compound miter saw is practically the same as the compound miter saw, although there’s a difference in the width of wood it can handle.
The sliding compound miter saw allows you to slide the saw back and forth, forward then backward. Some advantages offered by a sliding miter saw include:
• Ability to do both miter and bevel cuts
• Increased cutting capacity
• Allows you to cut thicker and wider pieces of wood because of its sliding feature
As you’d expect, both the stationary compound miter saw and the sliding compound miter saw are much more expensive than their standard counterpart, especially given their specialized functions.
So which type of miter saw is best?
It depends on the type of woodworking project you plan to do. Each type of miter saw has its own merit. Consider what kind of woodworking projects you plan to do before investing on a power tool such as the miter saw.
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