Mitre Saws - what to look for?

[Jeffgre_6163]

Oh yeah...
You can cut a hand off and not notice, for a second.
When I was an apprentice an old tradie was showing me how to use the big 16 inch pneumatic docking saw we had. In the blink of an eye he took all 4 fingers off his left hand, moved the hand a fraction and then stood on the pedal again only to take a second bite out of his hand.
Took me a good couple of years to stop seeing that in my head. Finished his 50 year working life as well.
Power tools deserve respect

 

[Knuckles]

Oh yeah...
You can cut a hand off and not notice, for a second.
When I was an apprentice an old tradie was showing me how to use the big 16 inch pneumatic docking saw we had. In the blink of an eye he took all 4 fingers off his left hand, moved the hand a fraction and then stood on the pedal again only to take a second bite out of his hand.
Took me a good couple of years to stop seeing that in my head. Finished his 50 year working life as well.
Power tools deserve respect

It's amazing what the brain can do to prevent fatal shock.

My first apprenticeship was as a wood machinist, boss took off a finger with the table saw, didn't realise until I took the finger that had hit me in the back, over to him. He took o e look at the finger and fainted.


There was no watch or other jewellery attached.

 

[pharmaboy]

I believe I am superbly qualified (if I say so myself) to discuss all things wood cutting related.
I am wood machinist by trade (think the guy that makes the bits that chair makers and cabinet makers put together) , have worked as a machinist, carpenter, selling power tools at M10 and I am now a trade instructor in the carpentry workshops in a big Qld prison.
Nobody tests the reliability of power tools like a bunch of unmotivated drug dealers, murderers, wife beaters and illiterate, violent thugs
First up.
The quality of the cut is related to a lot of things: speed at which you drop the saw on to the timber ( I'm constantly telling our workers that a drop saw is not a fucking axe, let the blade do the work) how sharp the blade is, how many teeth per inch the blade has (more is better for a fine cut but will make the saw work harder) what angle those teeth are ground at, what condition the saw bearings are in, how rigid the chassis of the saw is.
When selecting a saw more $$ is generally better.
Do not buy a compound mitre saw if you will not be doing compound cuts. The extra moving parts decrease the rigidity of the chassis and accuracy of the cut.
Same goes for a sliding mitre saw, cheap ones flex and are hopeless. You are better off buying a standard non compound mitre saw with a fairly large diameter blade .
I would think that to get a saw with a 50mm thickness cut and 300mm width that cuts well you would be spending big$$.
For the record.
We have had 6 of the latest model sliding compound Makita saws at work that have only lasted about 12 months. They have failed for one main reason:
In order to allow for the compound function the back fence of the saw has to slid out of the way of the saw motor when it tilts, this is accomplished by Makita making the fence out of cast aluminium. This is very brittle, one missed timed cut by a cak handed worked and the timber gets slammed back in to the fence and it breaks, end of saw. We have also had two fail at the gear box.
Bottom line:
Spend as much as you can
Stay away from compound saws unless you really need to cut compound angles
Speed the money and buy a nice fine tooth saw blade if you want to cut fine, cabinet grade cuts

Ok, I'm thinking mainly bevel cuts, trenching (hate chisels ) - compound cuts really hurt my brain and are quite rare.

So question, son love woodowrk etc, I'm setting up a workshop for him- furniture, entertainment units - that sort of thing. Anyways he wants a table saw ( thinks a $300 one would be great), but I sort of think a track saw would benefit our Reno a bit better.???

 

[Jeffgre_6163]

Ok, I'm thinking mainly bevel cuts, trenching (hate chisels ) - compound cuts really hurt my brain and are quite rare.

So question, son love woodowrk etc, I'm setting up a workshop for him- furniture, entertainment units - that sort of thing. Anyways he wants a table saw ( thinks a $300 one would be great), but I sort of think a track saw would benefit our Reno a bit better.???

$300.00 for a table saw??? I know I am a woodworking professional working with pro quality equipment but what sort of table saw do you get for $300?

Can you define "track saw" I'm not familiar with that term. Maybe you mean a radial arm saw?

 

[pharmaboy]

$300.00 for a table saw??? I know I am a woodworking professional working with pro quality equipment but what sort of table saw do you get for $300?

Can you define "track saw" I'm not familiar with that term. Maybe you mean a radial arm saw?

A shit one I would think.......

Track saw, as in plunge saw with track for long straight cuts on board products, eg

https://www.gettoolsdirect.com.au/s...meWAGiTGZR1I0GVq9NW3jInCXlj1srvB2oaAtyl8P8HAQ

 

[Dales Cannon]

$300.00 for a table saw??? I know I am a woodworking professional working with pro quality equipment but what sort of table saw do you get for $300?

Can you define "track saw" I'm not familiar with that term. Maybe you mean a radial arm saw?

Track saws like the Festool. Not cheap, even the copies are more than that.

 

[Morgan123]

If only you were in Melbourne Jeff I could pop in and use your tools!

 

[spoozbucket]

I got a Triton Workcentre for $50 off Gumtree, it's pretty shit but can fit a circular saw or a router and came with a biscuit joining add on too.
I'll be pissing it off after I make a couple of things, I'm in Newcastle

 

[MARKL]

Ok, I'm thinking mainly bevel cuts, trenching (hate chisels ) - compound cuts really hurt my brain and are quite rare.

So question, son love woodowrk etc, I'm setting up a workshop for him- furniture, entertainment units - that sort of thing. Anyways he wants a table saw ( thinks a $300 one would be great), but I sort of think a track saw would benefit our Reno a bit better.???

$300.00 for a table saw??? I know I am a woodworking professional working with pro quality equipment but what sort of table saw do you get for $300?

Can you define "track saw" I'm not familiar with that term. Maybe you mean a radial arm saw?

I think he means like a Festo plunge saw or similar with track to guide the saw.

Pharma - good for long cuts, not good for smaller pieces of timber or doing more intricate work. A table saw (triple your budget) would be much more flexible and useful for both purposes.

 

[Jeffgre_6163]

If only you were in Melbourne Jeff I could pop in and use your tools!

Nah...
My trade as a wood machinist is not based around portable power tools like drop saws, mitre saws (hence not knowing what a track saw was) but more industrial machinery such as large panel saws, thicknesses, planers, spindle moulders etc so I actually have Only a basic level of power tools.
On top of that you may have missed that I work in a prison, not somewhere where you want to "pop in" and use the tools ; )

 

[Morgan123]

Nah...
My trade as a wood machinist is not based around portable power tools like drop saws, mitre saws (hence not knowing what a track saw was) but more industrial machinery such as large panel saws, thicknesses, planers, spindle moulders etc so I actually have Only a basic level of power tools.
On top of that you may have missed that I work in a prison, not somewhere where you want to "pop in" and use the tools ; )

There the ones im after! I did read that but would be worth the danger haha, wont be able to afford table saws and thicknesses for many many years :help:

 

[boyracer]

^^
i just finished a 4 year degree as a tech' teacher so i could have use school workshops for my projects...
it's actually encouraged to make your projects at school to show real world possibilities to students.