Confused about the difference between a miter saw and a table saw? Let’s compare each one, learn which to use for some common cuts, and which to buy first.
Miter Saw vs Table Saw
Beginner woodworkers are often unsure if they need a miter saw or a table saw. Let’s compare the differences between the two saws, check out the type of cuts each saw can make, and decide which saw we should buy first.
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Table of Contents
- Types of Cuts
- What is a Miter Saw?
- Types of Miter Saw Cuts
- Types of Miter Saws
- Should I Use a 10-inch or 12-inch Miter Saw?
- What is a Table Saw?
- When Should You Use a Miter Saw vs Table Saw?
- Should You Buy a Miter Saw or Table Saw First?
- More Like This
Types of Cuts
The common types of cuts we’ll make are crosscuts, rip cuts, miter cuts, bevel cuts, and compound miter cuts.
Crosscut
A crosscut is made across the grain of the wood or across the width of the board.
Rip Cut
A rip cut is made with the grain of the wood or along the length of the board.
Miter Cut
A miter cut is made diagonally across the grain of the wood or across the width of the board.
Bevel Cut
A bevel cut is an angled cut made on the edge of a piece of wood. A bevel cut changes the profile of the wood.
Compound Miter Cut
A compound miter cut combines a miter cut and a bevel cut. Compound miter cuts are needed to install crown molding.
Back to Table of ContentsWhat is a Miter Saw?
A power miter saw is essentially an overhead mounted circular saw. The wood to be cut, or workpiece, is placed on the table and against the fence. The saw blade is lowered to make the cut and then released to return to its original position.
Related: How to Adjust a Miter Saw for Accurate Cuts
Types of Miter Saw Cuts
The common types of cuts we’ll make with our miter saw are crosscuts (or simply cuts), miter cuts, bevel cuts, and compound miter cuts. Most often we’ll use our miter saw to cut workpieces to length.
Related: How to Change a Miter Saw Blade
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Types of Miter Saws
Miter saws are available as compound miter saws and compound sliding miter saws. A compound miter saw makes crosscuts, miter cuts, bevel cuts, and compound miter cuts.
A compound sliding miter saw makes crosscuts, miter cuts, bevel cuts, and compound miter cuts. It also slides front to back which increases the length of the cut.
Miter saws and sliding miter saws are available in single bevel and double bevel. Single bevel miter saws cut a bevel in one direction. Double bevel miter saws cut bevels on both the left and right sides.
Related: 7 Miter Saw Tricks Every DIYer Should Know
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Should I Use a 10-inch or 12-inch Miter Saw?
Choosing between a 10-inch or 12-inch miter saw will depend on the length of the cuts we need to make. The cutting capacity of a miter saw depends on the size of the blade. It also depends if it’s a compound miter saw or a sliding miter saw.
Many compound miter saws with a 10-inch blade can make crosscuts on boards up to about 5-½ inches wide by 3-½ inches thick. Many compound miter saws with a 12-inch blade can make crosscuts on boards up to about 7-½ inches wide by 3-½ inches thick. A sliding miter saw that slides front to back can increase the length of these cuts.
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What is a Table Saw?
A table saw is essentially a circular saw flipped upside down and mounted to the underside of a table.
The purpose of a table saw is to help us control the cut. The table controls the force of the cut by pushing the workpiece down against the table.
The blade can be raised and lowered to control the depth of the cut. The blade can also pivot to change the angle of the cut. Pivoting the blade allows us to control the bevel of the cut.
Table saw appliances are added to control how accurately the saw cuts our workpieces. One of the most often used table saw appliance is our rip fence. The table saw rip fence allows us to make long, straight cuts.
You may enjoy these table saw tutorials:
Types of Table Saw Cuts
The common cuts we’ll make with our table saw are rip cuts and bevel cuts. Most often we’ll be using our table saw to rip workpieces to width.
Related: What is the Narrowest Width to Rip on Table Saw?
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Can You Crosscut with a Table Saw?
Yes, but we shouldn’t use the fence to make crosscuts on a table saw because it could be dangerous. The board could bind up and kickback.
One way we could make crosscuts is with a table saw miter gauge. A while ago I took a Table Saw Basics class with Chuck Bender. Chuck is a furniture maker and the former Senior Editor for Popular Woodworking.
This may come as a surprise, but when it comes to the miter gauge, Chuck said: “Throw it away!” He said the table saw gauge that comes with many table saws is often too small.
Instead of using the stock miter gauge he suggested we make a table saw sled. It’s an easy DIY project that will be larger and more useful than the stock miter gauge.
A table saw sled or crosscut sled is used for making crosscuts on a table saw. The sled slides in the miter gauge slots and allows us to more safely make accurate crosscuts.
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When Should You Use a Miter Saw vs Table Saw?
Now we have a better understanding of miter saws and table saws and the cuts that they make. The next question is “When do you use a miter saw vs a table saw?”
Miter saws and table saws can be used for a variety of cuts, but for the most part, we’ll use a miter saw to cut boards to length and a table saw to rip boards to width.
Most often we’ll use our miter saw to change the length of a board. In other words, we’ll crosscut (or simply cut) a board to length. For example, we may have a 1×4 board that’s 96 inches long, but we need a piece that’s 18 inches long. We can use our miter saw to cut the board to length.
Most often we’ll use our table saw to change the width of a board. In other words, we’ll rip a board to width. For example, we may have a board that’s 5-½ inches wide, but we need a piece that’s 4-⅞ inches wide. We can use our table saw to rip the board to width.
Related: Beginner’s Guide to Wood Sizes
Let’s take a look at some common projects and see when it’s better to use a miter saw or a table saw.
Crosscutting Narrow Boards
A miter saw is the best choice for quickly crosscutting long, narrow boards like a 1×4 or 2×4 to length. We’ll commonly make these types of cuts for building our DIY furniture projects.
What is the Recommended Way to Slightly Shorten a 2×4?
The best way to shorten or cut a 2×4 to length is with a miter saw.
Crown Molding
A miter saw is the best choice for cutting crown molding to length. A miter saw can make the compound miter cuts that are necessary for installing crown molding.
Related: How to Make Shaker Style Crown Molding
What Kind of Saw Do You Need to Cut Baseboards?
A miter saw is the best choice for cutting molding like baseboards, window and door trim to length.
Plywood
A table saw is the best choice for cutting plywood to width. Plywood can also be ripped to width using a circular saw or a track saw. We can cut narrow pieces of plywood to length with our miter saw.
Related: 4 Ways to Make Straight Cuts with a Circular Saw
Panels and Tabletops
A table saw is the best choice for cutting panels and tabletops to width. Panels and tabletops can also be ripped to width using a circular saw or a track saw. We can cut narrow panels to length with our miter saw.
Bevel Cuts
A miter saw is a great tool to cut bevels on the ends of boards. A table saw is a great tool to cut bevels on the edges of boards.
I used my table saw to cut bevels to make this DIY Shaker Style Crown Molding.
More Table Saw Cuts
I want to focus on the common cuts for this post but I want to let you know about other cuts we can make with our table saw.
We can install a stacked dado cutter in our table saw. This allows us to make dados, grooves, and rabbets in workpieces. We can also buy a table saw tenon jig to make tenons.
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Should You Buy a Miter Saw or Table Saw First?
Many DIYers ask “What is a better investment, a miter saw or a table saw?” My recommendation is to start with a miter saw. I use my miter saw for nearly every project that I build.
The majority of the DIY furniture projects I make are made with boards like 1×2s, 1×3s, 1×4s, 1×6s, etc. In other words, the majority of the cuts I need to make are cutting boards to length. I do use my table saw, but not nearly as much as I use my miter saw.
Related: Beginner’s Guide to Wood Sizes
If you plan to build projects with plywood you may need a saw like a table saw, track saw or a circular saw with a straight cutting guide.
Related: 10 Must-Have Woodworking Tools for Beginners
Final Thoughts
We compared a miter saw to a table saw, learned which saw we should use for some common cuts, and that my recommendation is to buy a miter saw first.
Thank you for stopping by. If you found this information helpful, would you please pin it to Pinterest? Other DIYers would appreciate it and I would too! Thank you – Scott
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