Porter-Cable Miter Saw manual What is it?, Family

How to Buy a

Miter Saw

EDITOR: DAVE MUNKITTRICK • ART DIRECTION: BRENDA CANALES • PHOTOGRAPHY: STAFF, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED

PHOTO COURTESY OF MANUFACTURER

Craftsman 21224; $300.

A miter saw is just the ticket for accurate cuts, whether you’re building a house or assembling a picture frame.

What is it?

Miter saws are designed for making precise crosscuts at any angle from 0 to 45 degrees (some saws have a 60-degree capacity). Miter saws are versatile and portable.They can be hauled to a job- site to rough-cut boards for a deck one day and brought back to your shop to cut delicate moldings for a furniture project the next.

The Family

There are three branches of the miter saw clan. The first is the conventional miter saw. Designed primarily to make dead square crosscuts and miters, these saws have been fixtures in woodshops and at jobsites for decades. The saw head can swing at least 45-degrees left or right of the centerline for miter cutting.

The second branch of the family is the compound miter saw. Cutting a compound angle means cutting a bevel and an angle at the same time. With a compound miter saw you simply set the bevel cut by leaning the cutting head to the desired angle, and set the miter angle on the table. A number of these saws allow you to bevel the head left and right. Some moldings, like crown for example, require compound angles. On a conventional miter saw you have to prop the molding upside down against an extra-tall auxiliary fence. It’s a pain! A compound miter saw allows you to make the same cut with the crown mold- ing laying flat on the bed of the saw—a huge advantage. A compound miter saw is more versatile than a conven-

tional miter saw.

At the head of the family is the sliding-compound miter saw. The big advantage of these saws is the huge leap in cutting capacity

made possible by the sliding head. Most of these saws will crosscut 11-1/2 in. or wider stock, which rivals the cutting capacity of some radial-arm saws. But, sliding saws are safer to use than radial arms

because you push the saw through the cut instead of pulling it. This eliminates climb cutting (cutting in the same direction as

Visit www.americanwoodworker.com for a complete list of manufacturers, models and costs.

A m e r i c a n Wo o d w o r k e r 2003 TOOL BUYER’S GUIDE 67