Using Miter Saws

A miter saw is an essential tool if you are planning onthese features, they are portable and can go from
cutting a miter edge on trim or baseboards. A basicjob to job just like the others.
miter saw will cut only or horizontal angles, but aThe most versatile saw of all if the radial arm saw.
compound miter saw will cut beveled edges. If youMost people consider them the most desired piece of
do a lot of this kind of work, you may want toequipment in a workshop. This saw allows you to do
invest in special features such as a slide that will allowmany different kinds of cuts such as dado work,
the blade to move forward in order to cut a largeripping stock and crosscutting. But they alto tilt for
piece.cutting a miter edge or a beveled edge and they can
A compound miter can cut straight or on a horizontalbe used for routing and drilling.
angle, but because of the tilting motor, it can also cutIn deciding the blade size for a saw, you have to go
a bevel. A plain miter will not be able to do this. Youby the maximum size of the wood you are working
use a miter saw by sitting it on a table and thewith. Make sure the saw has sufficient cross cutting
spinning saw is pushed into the wood to make theability for the size of the piece of wood. The best
cut. Miter saws are lightweight, durable and portable.radial arm saw is the De Walt. It is easy to use, while
They are easily carried from one job site to another.still being reliable and durable. A De Walt radial saw will
There is an even more complex miter saw which ismeet most woodworkers needs since it is adjustable
called a double bevel saw or a dual compound saw.to be able to work on many kinds of projects or
They are even more versatile than the compoundsizes of wood.
miter since they can tilt in either direction to makeA panel saw is used to cut large sheets of lumber,
beveled edges.and so is usually found in lumber yards. Plywood,
A sliding compound miter saw works like a compoundpaneling or particleboard is usually cut by a panel saw
miter, but can also be pulled forward as the wood isinto either 4X8 foot sheets or 4X12 foot sheets. A
cut, so that long pieces of wood can be mitered.stationary model would be used in a lumber yard.
Put all of these features together, and you get thePanel saws are also used by contractors for new
dual compound sliding saw. These saws can cuthomes or large home improvement projects, but
miters or bevels, since they tilt in either direction andthey prefer a portable model that can be moved to
they also have the slide feature so that large piecesdifferent sites.
of wood can be cut. Even though they have all of