The miter saw is the best tool for crosscuts and miter joints. The manual miter saw has been around for quite some time but nowadays you also have power miter saws and compound miter saws. If you are not into woodworking you may never have heard of a miter saw but in woodworking it is a very useful tool. Here is a short miter saw introduction.
If you are into woodworking, you know that it is important to be able to do accurate crosscuts and miter joints. That’s what you use a miter saw for. The basic miter saw is very simple. It is simple a saw suspended in a metal guide. But nowadays you have also electric miter saws.
Note that an electric is a powerful tool, which can cause damage if not carefully used. Always wear safety glasses and hearing protection when you’re operating the saw. Let the blade come to a complete stop before lifting it.
People not into woodworking may be asking, what is a miter joint? A miter joint, sometimes called simply a miter, is a joint formed by cutting two pieces of wood at a 45 degree angle and then joining them, thus creating a 90 degree angle. You find such joints in frames and many other places. Note that although most miter joints are made using wood cut at 45 degree angle, other angles can also be used. The miter joint is very simple but unfortunately also a relatively weak joint.
As mentioned, the manual miter saw is the basic solution for creating miters and doing crosscuts. It is easy to use but in professional workshops it has been replaced with a motorized miter saw. It simply takes too long time to use a manual miter saw. But it is easy to use, just secure the wood in the metal frame, set the angle and start sawing. The old wooden miter box works fine, typically it has one 90 degree and two 45 degree slots. A good metal frame lets you set the angle you want to use. The saw used is generally a normal backsaw.
A motorized miter saw is a much more efficient solution. You have two types of electric miter saw, the standard miter saw and the compound miter saw. In both cases, the saw used is an electric circle saw. The standard miter saw has a fixed vertical pivot and a rotating cutting table. This makes only possible to do horizontally angled cuts.
The compound miter saw can be angled 45 degrees, that is the circular saw, in either direction. Then set to zero degree angle, the compound miter saw acts like a standard miter saw. This makes the compound miter saw a very versatile tool for woodworkers.
A sliding compound miter saw is the same as the compound miter saw but thanks to the sliding arms it can handle larger pieces of wood. But the sliding compound miter saw is more expensive than the standard compound miter saw.
The dual compound miter saw is like a compound miter saw but both its blade and motor assembly can tilt either to the left or to the right. This allows you to cut the wood in the same orientation as it will be installed.
Nowadays many miter saws come with a laser that shows you where on the workpiece the cut will be done. It is also possible to retrofit a miter saw with a laser.