I have a small project i’m working on around the house and I will need to get some type of miter saw to make some cuts. I’m just curious if there is any other advantage to a power miter saw over one of those much cheaper hand boxes besides ease of use? The wood i’m cutting right now is only 1/4" think and very soft wood so doing it by hand really won’t be difficult. So i’m just wondering if it’s worth the cost to go with a power miter saw? Will i get cleaner cuts out of it? Keep in mind I probably am not going to go out and buy the 0 power miter, just the cheap one.
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8 Comments to 'Power miter saw vs hand miter box?'
April 13, 2010
You can get a nice cut with a miter box type saw but your holding the material and sawing at the same time. If the project your working on is going to be painted, then getting it close will work… just a little sanding and caulk will hide small imperfections. But if it’s going to be stained or in view like picture frames or crown moldings… it may draw your eyes to the joint. I gave up on the box just because angles and speed of cutting with a power saw. You can still get a inexpensive power saw for under $200… but as the price goes up you can just do more things. I purchased a compound miter saw. The real question to answer is… will you use it again after this project… I would not go back to the box after using the power type saws. So, your question is it worth going with a power saw to get a cleaner cut… my answer is "Yes". Is it the only project that you will ever do? My wife mentioned that only if you have somewhere to store it when your done… Good Luck…
April 13, 2010
even the cheap power miter saw will give you cleaner more accurate cuts so i think it would be worth it to buy the power miter saw
April 13, 2010
Spend the money on a power saw!!! A mitre box is bad because no matter how hard you try, it wont produce the clean, consistent cuts a power saw can….you can get a decent one for what you are doing for around $100….good luck and safety first
April 13, 2010
A cheap hand miterbox will slow down your project. The sawguides are easily misaligned. I bought a power mitersaw from Lowes for about $60 and it works great for the home projects I do. Don’t get carried away with the laser guides and such since they often will get misaligned straight out of the box.
April 13, 2010
Even a cheaper one will give you cleaner cuts and faster. Peruse "craiglist.org" in the tools section for your town/city/state…there are some good finds that aren’t that pricey. Also if you live near a big city, check out pawn shops…sometimes contractors go out of business and need to liquidate fast!! And if you aren’t doing MAJOR projects get something reasonable, you don’t need top of the line miter saw sitting in the basement collecting saw dust!!
I only use the miter box if I need to cut metal.
April 13, 2010
A compound miter will run less than $100 but in time and accuracy, its worth thousands.
April 13, 2010
If you are JUST doing this one project, just go rent a nice sliding compound miter saw. Don’t bother buying anything.
If you plan on doing projects like this in the future and on a somewhat regular basis, a good power mitersaw is an essential tool to have.
April 13, 2010
I have and use both. Gee, for over 2000 years hand miter boxes were used for some of the finest of furniture. I guess those old craftsmen were all wrong.
I guess it boils down to how much money you want to spend and how much space you have to store something you’ll only use once in a while.
A cheap power saw is going to have a cheap blade — and that will give you a cheap cut.
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