Monday, April 11, 2011

Researching Saws

I'm in the market for a saw.  There's just so much wood in my garage and so many projects I'd love to get started on...if only I had a saw.  But what kind of saw should I get?  There's the miter saw:

Common uses include framing operations and the cutting of molding. Most miter saws are relatively small and portableWhile most miter saws enable precise one-degree incremental changes to the miter index, many also provide "stops" that allow the miter index to be quickly set to common angles (such as 15°, 30°, 45°).

  

 
Or the good 'ol table saw.
There are four general classes of table saws.  Great for straight cuts and handles large pieces of wood.


A power jigsaw
A T-fixture blades

Then there's the jigsaw.  Great for doing curves.  This one has me most tempted but I don't know if it would work great on doing straight cuts so I could make some book shelves and other big projects.  I would LOVE some advice as to what you might use and why.  It's a big decision and I want whatever we pick to be able to work for a variety of projects.

1 comments:

Beth Stephenson said...

If you're right handed, a worm drive saw can make straight cuts in sheet wood, and mitered cuts in dimensional boards. You don't get the benefit of the stops like with a miter saw, but you also don't have the width limitation that a miter saw has. (over 8 inches wide doesn't cut in one pass) It's usually a little heavy, but I bought one and have barely used my table saw or miter saw since. A band saw, scroll saw or jig saw is needed for any curved cuts. I have a band saw but usually use my jig saw. A more powerful jig saw is worth a bit of extra money. The cuts look much better. Once you get your saws. . .you'll need a sander (or two).
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