School me on saw please....

[ajchien]

Just beginning to do a bit of woodworking. Can you guys suggest to me the most flexible, do most type of saw? Would that be a circular saw? Jig saw? Table circular? Table jigsaw? Cut off? Sawzall? radial arm? Band? I'm not sure where to start.

I currently have a hand hacksaw.

 

[D9H 90V]

Circular saw would be the best thing to get, you can make nearly every cut you would ever need to make with a circular saw

 

[MalibuLX3]

Check out this three, seems to be right up your alley. http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87683&highlight=Woodworking&showall=1

 

[lowbucktruck]

I think its a tie between the circular saw and the miter saw (cross-cut). My miter saw is my "go-to saw" anytime I need to whack a board down to size. For cutting sheet goods like plywood, a circular saw with a good quality blade and a cutting guide gets the job done. For serious woodworking projects and cutting hardwoods, a table saw is a must-have.

 

[blue dog]

circular saw, table saw and chop saw, preferably a compound miter saw.
With these three, you should be able to perform most tasks.

 

[zer0cell]

Yea you can get by with a circular saw if you have to for most things but I would strongly recommend you buy all of the following saws:

Circular Saw - for cutting sheet goods and ripping boards among other things on the go. If you can purchase an inexpensive guide it helps a lot.
(there are a lot of decent brands out there but if you can, get a 15 amp model for more heavy duty cutting. Skil is good, and probably the least expensive of the better brands. Milwaukee also makes a great one I am told.)
[You can upgrade to a worm drive type if you are going to do a lot of heavy duty cutting but the standard type should be fine to start with. These are good all around type saws.]

Miter Saw - you might as well forget about doing trim work or doing a lot of repetitive cutting of 2x4's or whatever without a saw like this. Yeah you can do it by hand or with a skil-saw but it is DEFINITELY worth the money to get one of these. They are pretty much a necessity these days.
(I own a Rigid brand which I got from HD for about $300. I've had no issues with it and it has a lifetime warranty if you register it after you purchase it.)

Reciprocating saw - If you plan on doing remodeling work this is a must have. I have used this type of saw many many times. I recently cut through a 10" diameter branch close to where it meets the trunk of solid hickory using a tree pruning blade when it was damaged during a storm. It sure heated up the saw and it would have been better to use a chainsaw but I don't have one. I have cut through hundreds of 2x4s, rebar, and all sorts of things. It is one of those tools I feel is very valuable and it is worth buying a quality one for sure! Don't waste your time with that Harbor freight nonsense.
(I'd personally recommend Milwaukee's flagship 15 Amp model which has consistently been rated the highest quality of any brand on the market. I am absolutely satisfied and after using lesser saws would never go back - worth every penny)

Table Saw - A table saw as mentioned is pretty much a necessity if you want to work in a time efficient manner and want to make excellent cuts. You can even use dado blades to help take the place of a router in some instances. It is especially useful for ripping stock lumber. You may be able to live without it for a while if you have the saws mentioned above but still... I'd get this one asap.

Jig Saw - This saw may be overlooked possibly if you are not interested in making more detailed cuts and shapes but you might be surprised at how often it may come in handy, when you least expected it. None of the other saws mentioned above can come close to the detailed curves and shapes you can cut using a good jigsaw with a scrolling blade. It may not be first on your list but if you want to do some detail work its very handy.
(I have a hitachi which is quite good for the price. However, bosch's top of the line jigsaw which is still swiss made, is still the current champ. I am talking about the 6.4 or 7 amp model. I do recommend you buy a decent one if you are serious about woodworking though. Those cheap-o ones are sometimes more trouble than they are worth.)

Multi-function tools and fine cut saws such as the one bosch offers are nice additions to the toolbox if you like doing some detail work and the fine cut bosch is especially nice for door jams. These are sort of optional, nice to have but not always needed type tools which you could get when you feel comfortable spending the extra money.

Hope this helps...

 

[woody 73]

Save up your money and buy a saw stop table saw,yes they are very expensive,but you will love it when one day your hand slips and that blade stops! Oh sure the other tools are nice but a table saw is the workhorse of any shop!

If you check cl you will see radial arm saws,in my area people can not give them away so I am sure you will get a good deal on one.

 

[djjsr]

a table saw is the workhorse of any shop!

I agree 100%

If I could only have 1 saw, it would be a good table saw. The lighter portable table saws are nice for construction, but for a woodworking shop a more permanent cabinet style table saw with a larger table is best. Make up a few fixtures and sleds, and you will seldom even need a miter saw.

 

[trainwreck]

If I could only have one saw, my ideal choice would be a good table saw. You can make long rips or miter cuts with a guide with it. But a more realistic choice (in terms of money and space) would be a circular saw. It's great for all of the smaller cuts. And if you need to rip a sheet (like you would with a table saw), you can jury rig a rip fence with a long board and some c-clamps. You could jury rig it to rip a long board too, but it's way more awkward, and you would need multiple boards to construct the fence. You could angle that fence to jury rig a miter cut too. But that's again really awkward.

A miter saw would be my number 2, or even number 1 choice possibly. If you're only cutting boards to length or angle, a miter saw is key. You can't make rips with it though which is why it's number 2 for me.

A jig saw is great for smaller, intricate, non-linear cuts. But it's a major pain to rip or miter cut with it. The blades just aren't strong/long enough. And a reciprocating saw is great for quick demolition jobs. Cutting tree branches, taking out studs in remodeling, etc. But I hated using it for anything that required control. You can set up a fence to rip/miter cut with either of these, but the blade on either flexes so much that it doesn't really offer any degree of precision.

 

[Blue Gator Six]

It all depends on what you want to do. Saws all have thier place and purpose. Even the Hand saw that you currently have. The project that you are working on will dictate what you need to use to get the job done RIGHT. Figure out what you are going to be working on and then figure out what type of saw is going to best fit your needs. I have a feeling that you will have a collection of different saws very soon. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Chris Adams]

I read all these knowledgeable posts, but have to say my experience was much different.

Now I don't work with wood much. Never have, not my cup of tea.

In the last couple years I have built three sheds, done some fence repair (I have about two hundred feet of redwood and cedar fence) built several benches, some shelves etc.

I started with a couple small cordless trim saws. I bought a large table saw, a Ryobi which was not too expensive but worked well.

Which I sold after the first shed was completed as I was no longer using it at all.

I bought a cheap circular saw, corded, which I use to make the cuts I used to make with the table saw.
Setting up and using the table saw, by myself, was way too much of a nuisance to bother with unless I was doing a huge job. Just to cut a 4x4, 2x4, sheet of wood, was NOT worth the trouble. I had the roller stands, etc. but a table saw is not a one person tool unless you are doing it every day.

It was also hard to store, hard to move and scary as heck to cut with.


I bought a 10 inch chop saw, Ryobi, which is much better than the table saw for 2x4 and 4x4 use. Clean cuts, very fast and much safer.
The big sheets I use a metal guide (Just a long piece of steel I clamp at both ends, and can whip through the pieces quickly with the circular saw.



One weird tool, the Alligator lopper is the best, safest, saw I own. It will cut down shrubs, tree branches, small trees, etc. in nearly perfect safety.
I've always been careful with chain saws, which means in 50 years of using them occasionally, I've only once had to drive myself to the emergancy room.

The Alligator Lopper is so safe I let my wife use it.

 

[70chevellegsp]

Just beginning to do a bit of woodworking. Can you guys suggest to me the most flexible, do most type of saw? Would that be a circular saw? Jig saw? Table circular? Table jigsaw? Cut off? Sawzall? radial arm? Band? I'm not sure where to start.

I currently have a hand hacksaw.

What type of woodworking? If you're talking about framing or building workbenches with dimensional lumber (2x4's etc) I'd say first a good circular saw and very (very) close behind a compound miter saw. The circular saw is the best tool for any 'rough' carpentry. The compound miter can be used for both 'rough' and 'finish' carpentry.

If you are talking about cabinet/furniture,etc, making, get a table saw. A breath behind the table saw is a jointer, and a few more breaths behind is a planer. (the furniture makers trilogy)Once those are out of the way, look for a good router and use all those tools to build a router table, and you will be set.

You can spend lots of money on high quality, high tech woodworking tools. Your table saw fence can cost as much, if not more than the saw. (You get the picture) You may advance to needing/wanting those items, but in the meantime, invest in good measuring and marking devices. You may achieve efficiency using a good table saw fence, but you can get the same results with a board clamped to your saw also. (just an example) Learn how to properly setup and maintain your equipment, use excellent measuring devices for your setup, and mark your work piece properly for excellent results with reasonable equipment.

You're opening an entire different animal when you mention jig saws and band saws. They are more for making non-linear cuts, ie: circles, patterns, etc. Again, if you're speaking of finish carpentry/furniture making, these tools require additional tools to get the most out of them. These saws will 'rough' out your shapes, but you will need a drum, disc, and belt sander to finish them. Sawzall's are for DE-struction, not CON-struction. I've been woodworking for 30 years, and when I started thinking of type of fixed saw I wanted, I was initially sold on a Radial Arm Saw. I did some research and decided against. Due to all the moving parts on a Radial arm saw, they are potentially much less accurate than what you can do on a table saw. You can do the same basic cuts on a RA saw, and dado's are awesomely simple, but I, again, decided for better accuracy from proper setup. I also feel that a table saw is safer than an RA saw. (I've had a dado blade ride the wood to the back of the arm, pretty scary, but I've also shot a few pieces out of a table saw) Good Luck!

 

[Stuart in MN]

I'll go against the grain here (no pun intended) and suggest getting a couple decent hand saws first - one rip saw and one crosscut saw. I'd further suggest finding good quality used saws instead of new. I seem to find really nice old Disston or similar saws at swap meets all the time for only a few bucks each. They may be 50 or 100 years old, but get them sharpened and they'll still work great. For doing simple things - say, cutting off a section of 2x4 - it will probably be just as fast as a power saw...you don't have to set anything up, plug anything in, or find your safety glasses and ear plugs. Just grab the saw and cut.

The next thing I'd suggest would be an electric circular saw (Skil saw.) They're great for cutting plywood or sheet goods, and with a good straight edge and a couple clamps you can make accurate straight cuts. After that, an inexpensive electric jig saw is good for curved cuts.

I wouldn't worry so much about getting a table saw until after you have these. Don't get me wrong, a table saw is a great thing to have, but they take up a lot of space and cost a lot of money. You can do a lot with the hand tools mentioned above until you're ready to make the investment.

 

[T56 Impala]

Hands down for me when I started was a 10" sliding compound mitre saw and a good circular saw.

My wife picked up a PC 3807 about 6 years ago at Costco. She got the last one and managed to negotiate the price down to $199! It has been a workhorse for me. It got a lot of use when I did a multi bathroom remodel on our 1950's house in the Chicago area. It is pretty heavy, but I have my mounted so its a non issue for me. If you plan on moving it around much, you might look into something lighter.

My Circular saw is a Milwaukee worm drive. Not sure of the number on it. 6477 or something like that. Got it in the box, never used, at a pawn shop for $75. Seemed like a good deal to me so I got it. Use it a lot. Never let me down.

Biggest hint I can give you.... BUY GOOD BLADES!!!