Table Saw vs Miter Saw

[andyzee]

I'm new to the forum as I am to woodworking so I apologize in advance if this question has been asked or if it's just plain stupid . I'm in the process of buying a house and moving from an apartment, hence the interest in woodworking. I have determined a need for a number of tools and among them would be a table saw as well as a miter saw. However, I was wondering if I get a table saw, is there really that much need for a miter saw?

[Eagan]

My 2 cents worth

I have a miter saw; someday it will show up on Craigs List. If I was a pro, counting large amounts of border and trim, maybe I'd use it. However, I find that my miter box - 12 bucks at Lowes including saw - does a better job of precision cutting that my miter saw does. If I needed more angles, I'd invest in a better miter box. Sometimes power is not required.

Eagan

[LCHIEN]

A table saw is more versatile than a miter saw and panel saws it that it in addition to making rips it can also crosscut boards, and it can also cut panels of various sizes up to about 4'x8', but it doesn't necessarily do all of them well.

A miter saw does only crosscuts on boards up to about 6" for a 10" saw and maybe 8" for a 12" saw and maybe 10" or more for a sliding miter saw. But it does it quite well and accurately.

A table saw crosscuts boards of just about any width, but not real well when the boards are long because they are hard to support and tend to want to twist if one end is longer than the other. The typical OEM miter guide is short and not able to accurately set the miter angle. and because the guide is short and the board long its hard to hold the board accurately.

There's a factor I call the moving tool, fixed wood vs fixed tool, moving wood.
Where the wood is large and unweildy, e.g. a 12-foot 2x4 you are better off using a miter saw in which the tool part moves (head goes up and down) and the wood is held stationary. If the wood is smaller, like 4-foot long 2x4, then its easier to move the wood and leave the blade stationary, like on a table saw.

So while a table saw is versatile, the best tools for these jobs are:
Rip a long board: Table saw
Cut small sheets, crosscut short pieces, Table saw
cross cut long boards: Miter saw or Radial arm saw
rip and crosscut large sheets or panels: Panel saw, or a Circular saw and clamp-on guide.

because of the versatility, most people get a table saw first.

[sweensdv]

I probably use my table saw 75-100 times for every 1 time I use the miter saw. YRMV but overall there isn't much a miter saw can do that a table saw can't. OTOH, I would not recommend that you buy a table top table saw either.

[Shep]

I've got a 12" dewalt miter saw, which I use for rough cuts and then the table saw to cut the finished piece. I think If I had a better blade for the miter I would use it a lot more for finish work. A 12" blade isn't in the budget right now, so I make due.

[BigguyZ]

If you're doing crown molding, for my money you can't beat a miter saw with a good back fence and molding stops. I've done a LOT of remodeling work, and the big 12" Delta we have is great! I can get it set up for the crown molding, and easily cut the 45s I need.

But for the occasional project, the TS is fine.

[os1kne]

I'd say it entirely depends upon what you intend to do. I have and use both often enough that I can justify both. Some tasks/projects require a MS and some a TS. If you're framing or doing trim work (crown or base molding, etc.) you'll use the MS much more frequently. If you're building cabinets or furniture and need to rip pieces of plywood, etc., you'll use the TS much more frequently. If you only foresee the occasional need to cut sheet goods, you could probably get a pretty good start with a good circular saw and a good guide and a MS.

When you're ready for a TS, get the best that you can afford/justify. I don't think that too many people are satisfied with using the typical cheap benchtop saw for woodworking.

Good luck!

[cwsmith]

My experience as a homeowner, in the midst of too many "improvement" jobs is that the table saw is essential and perhaps the most versatile. This is the only tool that will allow you to take a wide board and cut it to something narrower. For example, if you buy a particular width stock and need to cut it to a smaller width for trim, like for a window, wainscote, etc.

Cutting sheet goods, like a 4 x 8 panel or plywood piece can be done on a table saw of course, but handling that can be cumbersome and I prefer to use my hand-held circular saw and an edge guide to trim the stock down to a more manageable size. Final dimension cuts are often then done on the table saw.

The table saw is not so good for doing crosscuts on a particularly long board (at least for me). Anything over four feet is going to need support and real care as you use the miter guide to feed it across the blade and at the same time ensure your cross-cut angle is precise.

Therefore, if your projects are going to include a lot of trim work... crown molding, base and cap, window trim, etc.; then your best tool is probably going to be some kind of miter saw.

Unlike a table saw, where you move the stock (which if long, is a challenge to handle) through the blade, with a miter saw, the stock is stationary and supported, and you move the blade down through the stock. That usually makes the crosscut much more precise and less challenging.

Miter saws can be as simple as a miter guide and a manual hand-held saw (you know... you push it back and forth, no electricity involved). For significantly more money the Compound Miter Saw (CMS) is very popular, but as previously mentioned in an earlier post here, there are limits. A 10" saw can only cut up to a 6" width. A larger blade diameter CMS had a bit more width capability, and a "Sliding" CMS is the most optimum. But of course the price goes up even further.

Bear in mind however that even with a Sliding CMS (SCMS) you can't rip a board to a narrower width; and that brings us back to the table saw, which is usually the first choice for anyone's shop.

(Note, I'll only mention the Radial Arm Saw (RAS) they are not as popular as they once were, and some feel that they are "dangerous". While that has been my primary tool, and can almost do everything (rip, crosscut, etc.) it is probably the most expensive to buy (in the low to medium table saw price range), not highly popular anymore, certainly NOT portable, and even I will admit that I prefer a table saw for almost everything except crosscutting. Still, it's worth the mention.)

I hope this helps,

CWS

[vaking]

If you need to do a lot of panel cutting - panel saw is your best tool. But panel saw can do only that.
If you need a lot of cross-cutting - miter saw is best. But it cannot rip or cut panels.
If you need to do a lot of rip cuts - band saw is best. But it cannot cut miters.
Table saw is a swiss army knife among big saws. It is not the best tool for any of the tasks but it can do all acceptably. If there is only one tool in your budget - make it a good table saw. In a professional shop there are all of those saws and table saw gets less use than others because for every task there is a specialized tool that does the job better than swiss army knife.
I have table saw, band saw and miter saw. I don't have a panel saw. Panel goods I break into smaller pieces with straight edge, then finish with table saw. Rip cuts are on band saw, crosscuts and miters on a miter saw. All get about equal use depending on a project.

[JimD]

Storage space is also something to be considered. A table saw takes a lot more space to store and use than a miter saw.

Like most if not all the people responding, I have both. Actually I have a 10 inch CMS, a 12 inch dual bevel CMS, a radial arm saw, and a table saw. I don't use the 10 inch hardly ever, the typical use is as a "loaner". But it's done crown moulding for me as well as base in several rooms. The 12 inch is a little more capable so it is semi-permanently on my long bench now.

To add some examples of "depends what you are doing", I will use my current plantation shutter project. The rails and stiles of the frame were cut to width on the table saw and cut to length on the 12 inch CMS. I have a long fence on the cms table and I set a stop so I can cut all the rails and stiles exactly the same length. I have an Osborne for my table saw but it doesn't have close to the length capacity as the stops on my miter saw table. Most setups for the table saw have no stop capability. The tenons were cut to width on a jig on the table saw. I could have used a dado set in my RAS (for big rails, like for a bed, the RAS would be used). The pin holes were cut with a home-made jig and a plunge router. Mortises were cut on a benchtop hollow chisel mortiser - but I used to do this with a plunge router and it works fine. The louvers were shaped and a bead detail added to the stiles on the router table.

I will also endorse Loring's point about the size of the wood being the determining factor. It is at least potentially inaccurate to try and crosscut long pieces of wood on the table saw. It isn't possible to do a long rip in the miter saw. If the wood is fairly small, the table saw is handier. If it is a long skinny piece, the CMS or RAS is the answer. You can always get by with fewer tools by changing your projects or the way you do your projects. But there are good reasons to have quite a few tools (at least that's what I've convinced myself). I'm looking forward to getting out my Fuji HVLP spray setup to finish these shutters, maybe by the end of the weekend. But I am pretty much out of space now so I need to do the things I want to do mainly with the tools I have. That is very possible.

Jim

[LarryG]

I can't add much to the several excellent replies that have already been posted, but one point I don't think has been made is this: almost any tool will pay it's way in the shop if it's accurate, but if it's not accurate, there's no point in having it. Most of the $89 miter saws you'll see in the big box stores are fine for whacking up 2x4s to build a deck but will leave a lot to be desired for fine woodworking. It would be smarter to put the money into a better table saw than to buy a crappy miter saw just so you can say you have one.

[cabinetman]

I'd say it entirely depends upon what you intend to do. I have and use both often enough that I can justify both. Some tasks/projects require a MS and some a TS. If you're framing or doing trim work (crown or base molding, etc.) you'll use the MS much more frequently. If you're building cabinets or furniture and need to rip pieces of plywood, etc., you'll use the TS much more frequently. If you only foresee the occasional need to cut sheet goods, you could probably get a pretty good start with a good circular saw and a good guide and a MS.

When you're ready for a TS, get the best that you can afford/justify. I don't think that too many people are satisfied with using the typical cheap benchtop saw for woodworking.

Good luck!

+1. My thoughts too.

.

[Knottscott]

My CMS collects dust unless I'm cutting really long boards like molding. Otherwise, my TS is more accurate than my CMS, and in my case, easier to use, so I use it for abouto 99% of my crosscuts and miters.

[jseklund]

I haven't read all of the responses here - but I've read a few and they all appear to be good responses.

In woodworking, you will find that you can do many things with limited tools. Some things you can get done with different tools in different ways, some things you can only get done with a specific tool.

If I had a limited budget (could only get one) and was doing actual woodworking - I'd go with the tablesaw only.

If I was doing mostly housework, I may give the nod to the mitre saw IF I also had a circular saw.

You can do many of the same things on both tools, but both tools are different. If you're cutting small boards and trimwork - the mitre saw will be much more efficient in making those cuts.

If you are going to be making fine woodworking cuts - a tablesaw will give you much more versatility and probably cleaner cuts.

If you are only going to be cutting large sheetgoods and trimwork (most of what you'll come across around a house) the miter saw and circular saw will cover 80-90% of what you do.

I'm redoing an apartment right now that I've torn floors, walls, etc out of - and I've not touched a table saw. I've done it all with a circular saw and miter saw and I'm just now using the miter saw near the end of the 6 month project. Framing and many cuts around the house don't have to be perfect, so the circular saw was the tool for the job and I could setup a fence and cut sheetgoods with it as I needed.

There have been some times that I wished I had my table saw with me ...but I've worked around it.

On the other hand, when I've had time to do actual woodworking - even making something as simple as a cutting board - I use the table saw more than anything else that I own. It's quicker, more accurate, and just better at many cuts than any other tool.

If you want a generic response of one over the other - I'd probably lean toward the table saw just for its versatility.

[JimD]

I agree with Larry's post but it could create an impression that you have to spend a lot to get a good CMS. At a big box store, which is what he comments on, that is probably true. But my CMS came from this outfit, it is a remanufactured Hitachi and I think I paid $150 for it (it's a dual bevel 12 inch). Here's a link:

http://hitachireconditionedtool.com/saws.php

The C10C2H2 for $109 looks like a good deal these days (12 inch).

Jim