In woodworking, a mitre saw is a power tool used to make accurate crosscuts and mitre cuts. Both types of cuts serve as joints or as a device for joining two pieces of the same size and shape together at 90°. In order to accomplish this task, the saw has a guard above the blade which can be tilted up to 45° from the vertical plane.
The two types of mitre saws we’re going to talk about in this article are the single bevel and double bevel. In a double bevel saw, both sides of the blade can be tilted to adjust the cut angle making it easy for cutting crown moulding or creating compound angles.
In a single-bevel mitre saw, the blade can be tilted up to 45° on one side. The type of mitre saw that is used often depends on the material being cut and what angle needs to be cut.
Single Bevel Mitre Saw
A single-bevel mitre saw has a fixed circular blade with teeth pointing outward to make cuts while the wood is held in place by a fence. This type of saw is only capable of making cuts that are at 90° to the edge, which cannot cut angles greater than 45-degrees both left and right of the blade’s axis.
The single bevel mitre saw is similar to the table saw, since both of their blades are stationary and just the fences move.
Double Bevel Mitre Saw
A double bevel mitre saw has blades that can fold up at both ends. The blade can be completely folded up to 90° which allows for mitre cuts that are at any degree, the only limitation is the width of the blade itself.
The double-bevel can make compound angles with no limitations of its own making it far better than the single bevel when using mouldings or larger pieces of wood.
The double-bevel mitre saw can be thought of as having smaller circular saws that fold out at one end on the blade just like some jigsaws do. Since the blade on this type of saw can be moved to any angle, they are usually more expensive than single-bevel mitre saws. But this is not always the case though as double-bevel saws vary greatly in price depending on their features and durability.
In conclusion, depending on the material being cut and the type of angles that are needed, you might need one or the other. A single-bevel mitre saw is limited in its use when it comes to compound angles, but can make straight cuts at any degree. While a double-bevel mitre saw has no limitations when it comes to compound angles but can only make straight cuts when the blade’s angle is zero degrees.
Which would you use if you had a choice?
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