There are many people who love using both a miter saw and a table saw. No matter what your project is, both of these saws are very helpful for many home and building improvement projects, and more. These two types of saws are highly used on items from wood to drywall. It is not recommended to use either on metal though.

 

Accuracy Comparison

When comparing the two, if you are trying to do angled cuts, miter saws (http://www.mitersawbuzz.com/) are the go-to blade of choice. Of course it also depends on the type of cuts (whether you are ripping large pieces of plywood compared to cutting small 4x4’s with an angle though for fine precision) on which of the two to use. Miter saws are not recommended for ripping boards, as they don’t allow you to easily cut anything longer than the blade width. Table saws are great when cutting and ripping large panels. The benefit is that table saws can also be angled for large pieces if needed.

 

Ease of Use Comparison

Both of these saws are fairly easy to use, and are also extremely dangerous if not used properly. Be sure to follow standard saw safety rules, and you should have no problem. With both saws, you don’t want to actually force the wood or saw blade through the wood itself. This can ruin both your blade or the bearings of the saw motor.

 

Physical Differences Between the Two

Table saws are stationary blades in which the blade center and motor sit below the table. Miter saws are usually operated overhead on a floating arm brought down into the material you are cutting. Both can perform angled cuts, but table saws angle the motor and table accordingly, while the miter saw is angled by both rotation of the arm and can be tilted from the center axis. Check out table saw reviews.

 

Types of Cuts (And Which Saw To Use)

Rips (Parallel to the grain) = Table Saw

The purposes for this is because miter saws simply are unable, and very difficult to use when needing to cut “with the grain” of the wood, or if the board size is very large.

Cross-cuts = Table Saw for larger boards only, Miter Saw (for precision)

Miter saws are perfect for cutting things such as trim, baseboards, finishings, and other boards that are smaller in width.

Table saws are great for cross cutting sheet boards, boards wider than your miter saw blade, cutting tiles, and beveled flooring

Angled cuts = Table Saw (when ripping only), Miter Saw (for maximum performance and precision)

 

Final Summary

While you may not always need one of the other, sometimes you need both for whatever project you are doing. For example, if you are cutting sheets of plywood to make baseboards, you may want to consider having both of these tools available due to their different abilities for accuracy and cutting boards parallel. These two saws are completely different, even though they have some similarities. Make sure you get the right type of saw for the project you need.

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