Which Beginner Miter saw to Buy for my son (Dobbby)

[Amelia Green]

Hi folks,
My son Dobby (He looks more like the Dobby character from Harry Potter) is a beginner woodworker and wants to get into some woodworking crap :confused:
He wants to start with building some tables and chairs for his small shop in the backyard. We have been reading blogs and watching videos for last couple of days to decide which miter saw would be best to buy? But there is so much stuff available on the internet that its hard to decide. Some YouTube videos suggest Ryobi 7-1/4 inchs miter saw but after watching videos it seems to have very limited features. For example, the size of blade and the fact that it’s not a sliding miter saw. While reading reviews, a common model suggested for beginners is DEWALT DWS 780. But while while checking the specs, the suggested saw models were different.

This article suggesting a 10” DEWALT DWS 70 model. Whereas another article suggesting 12” DEALT DWS 70.
This makes me think what if we buy a 12” miter saw and use a 10” blade if required? Will this even be possible at first place? Is this a good model as a beginner? If not, can you guys recommend something that is best both in terms of efficiency, usability and at the same time won’t break the bank?

Is miter saw good or using a circular saw will be more convenient in start?

Apology for asking tens of questions but I thought its better to ask in a single post. Thanks in Advance & stay safe.

-Amelia

[Andrew Seemann]

Not sure of the age of your son, but if he is of power tool age, a miter saw is a darned handy thing to have. I have the DeWalt 713 which is a 10" miter saw. It is a simple yet very nice saw and priced about $220. It is solid enough for daily use, and plenty accurate for most tasks. It will cut 2x4s, 2x6s, 1x6s, and 4x4s. The capacity will be less for angled cuts.

The 12" DeWalt 715 is about the same price and will give more capacity. Either one would be a good saw for him and are readily available at Home Depot and other places. I wouldn't call them "beginner" saws in that they are perfectly acceptable for most pros who need that style saw; they just happen to have a reasonable price as well. They will also work for when you need your house elf to redo your deck:)

I wouldn't bother with a 7 1/4 miter saw, that will be too small for most things. And no, you don't want to put a 10" blade on a 12" saw. It messes up the geometry and you lose a lot of cutting capacity. Plus there really isn't any reason to want to do it.

I bought a 713 for a specific task, sold it to my dad when I was done, and ended up buying another one a year later because I missed having it. The only real minus is that the saw only tilts one way, but that is more of an issue specific to cutting crown molding than general woodworking.

For most cross cutting tasks, a miter saw is safer than a circular saw. Those are more useful for cutting plywood and general carpentry.

[Jim Becker]

Assuming your son's age is appropriate for power tools, I'm more in favor of a better quality tool that will last him a long time than something that may be prone to being inaccurate, underpowered and under featured. I"m still using the same miter saw I bought sometime between 1997 and 2000. And I was a rank beginner at that point. Inadequate tools cost a lot more than decent ones, 'cause they end up being replaced early and often. ;)

[Wes Grass]

Miter saw ... a reasonably 'safe' tool IMO. But you can't 'cut thru' on a miter saw with a smaller blade like a table saw. It just won't reach the table.

A 'sliding' miter saw, like the 12" Dewalt, is statistically one of the most dangerous tools in a woodshop. If used incorrectly, they have the ability to feed themselves out towards the user in a violent fashion. Any body parts that happen to be in the path of the blade get magically separated from the body they were formerly attached to.

I have an older 12" Dewalt slider. 708 I think. Great tool, awesome capability. But I keep the sliding feature *locked* probably 99% of the time. I recently picked up one of the 10" Dewalts you linked to. Nice piece of equipment, does a great job up to 6" wide material, as long as you keep the thickness to 2". A 4x6 'won't go' in one pass.. Sure wish I had my 12" slider here for some of this stuff. But the 10" gets it done well enough by flipping the piece, and I don't worry about it suddenly being in the same place my hands are ... or were.

Some 'safer' things are scroll saws, spindle and belt sanders. Bandsaws are also potentially evil if abused. And there's always hand tools. Slow and physical, but *quiet* and tend to make less dust, at least the kind you choke on. And you've got to work a bit harder to cut a piece of yourself off with them. Takes some real determination ;-) But I've heard stories ... like a guy that lost a finger to a pair of tin snips ...

[johnny means]

Those 7.25" saws are for the guy who already has a 12" saw and just wants something that's easy to tote onto the job site for a callback to fix a single piece of trim. I use one for delicate trim work in the shop. It's nice that I can toss it onto the bench right next to my project, but it really shows it's limitations when asked to cut anything bigger than a 1x3. My go to for a couple of decades now has been some variant of a Dewalt 12 non sliding saw. IMO, they have the best miter detent sytsem I still have the very first one I bought in 1999, it still cuts squarely and cleanly, though it does scream uncomfortably loudly.

[Roger Feeley]

+1 on the dewalt 12 incher. Whichever saw you buy, get two really nice blades. I use 80 tooth furniture quality blades on my dewalt and I hardly have to sand at all. I’ve learned to always have a spare blade ready to go. If the saw is taking a little extra force, I don’t worry about finding a good stopping point while I wait for the blade to be sharpened. I’ve been running on the same two blades for a very long time. I still have the original blade that came with the saw if I want to do the rough stuff.

[Andrew Seemann]

I'd second the recommendation for a beginner not to use a sliding miter saw. Actually, I have seen more than a few woodworkers with decades of experience use a sliding saw terrifyingly wrong.

Ironically my worst tool injury was on a stationary belt sander. I got my left middle fingers caught between the belt and the rear guard (due to stupidity on my part). They mostly healed up right fortunately. Other than that nearly all my bad injuries are with hand tools or power tools that were not running. Most were minor, but there were a few nasty cuts.

[Roger Feeley]

I’ve never tried putting a 10” blade in my 12” saw. I would think that there would be a problem with the fence. You would need to move the fence forward or the blade wouldn’t go all the way down. Anyway, I don’t see a real advantage.

as far as safety goes:
1. Observe the 3” rule. Keep all body parts at least 3” from the blade. Get a ten million dollar stick from fast caps.com. https://www.fastcap.com/product/10-million-dollar-stick?cat=334
2. Use a zero clearance throat plate. Consider a zero clearance fence clamped to the vertical fence on the saw. This is to prevent the saw from catching the work.
3. When sawing small parts, turn the saw off at the bottom and let it come to a stop before raising the blade. Remember that the teeth are wider than the body of the blade. When the saw is in the down position after a cut, there is no contact between the blade and the wood.
4. Fully support the wood. Trying to support a long piece of wood with one hand while sawing is a recipe for disaster. My saw station is about 9’ wide to allow 4’ to the left and the right of the saw. It doesn’t have to be beautiful, just wide. Mine was made from 2x4s and crappy plywood over 20 years ago.
5. Be mindful of body position. Using a cutoff saw while kneeling on the floor puts your center of gravity in a bad place. Build a stand up saw station.

[Bryan Hall]

I feel like it might be worth saying that there aren't "beginner" miter saws. There are miter saws that are budget friendly, lightweight, packed with features, but I wouldn't consider any miter saw to be a "beginner" saw.

IMO if you are going to get a saw there are a few must haves:
1. 12" fixed to start. This will go a long long long ways. You'll learn other ways to make long cuts before you really need a slider.
2. Corded. Batteries are great on my job sites. Just get corded for your saw.
3. Get the shadowline technology. It casts a shadow where the blade will cut. No adjustments needed. Will make life a lot easier and faster.
4. Get it with a stand. Don't have him out there stacking boxes up trying to make cuts, every company should make a stand to fit their saws.

One of my favorite saws:

https://www.dewalt.com/products/power-tools/saws/miter-saws/12-305mm-double-bevel-compound-miter-saw-with-cutlinetm-blade-positioning-system/dw716xps

[Alex Zeller]

I have an older 12" compound DeWalt slider. It's probably close to 20 years old now. It has the two slide tubes one on top of another, not side by side. The slide is now stiff even though there's not a bit of rust (never been outside in the rain) on the tubes. Over all it's a good saw but I don't think I would buy another DeWalt if I was to replace it. When I got it general construction was my biggest need. It's cut thousands of 2x4s so it's more than paid for itself. But the accuracy of the miter is construction quality. Maybe the newer versions are better. But it really is a lifetime tool so spend the money once and chances are he'll have it decades from now.

As for a slider, I see no reason not to get one. I would buy the clamps to hold the wood down for which ever one you buy. It's not hard to teach someone the correct way of using a slider and what to watch out for. Sooner or later he'll build something like a deck and need to cut 2x10s or 2x12s at an angle. Why buy a saw that he's going to want to replace? To me a 12" slider is the only thing I would get for a general purpose saw.

[Curt Harms]

No problem with trying to use a 10" blade on a 12" saw, it probably won't fit :). Most 10" blades have a 5/8" bore (hole). Most 12" saws have a 1" arbor (shaft). Miter saws do have one significant limitation for a first saw IMO, they can't rip (make a wider board narrower). Only table saws or band saws can do that practically.

[Ron Citerone]

I have a 10" Makita which is pretty old and served me well, I still use it occasionally. I realy like my 12" Dewalt and would not buy a 10" again. If I hadn't had the 10" saw first I would just get the 12" and have 2 12" blades, one for rough jobs and one for precision stuff.

[Roger Feeley]

Amelia,
I should have welcomed you to the Creek. I see that you signed up just recently. If you would add your location to your profile, you might find a creeker nearby willing to give personal advice from time to time.

[John Sayen]

This might be in your plans already but I don't want to assume so I'll share in case it's not: Hearing and eye protection that the saw user will actually wear, 100% of the time, is one of the best investments a person can make. It's a great habit to wear it 100% of the time, starting with the very first cut. The other thing I've found to be super helpful is a good task/focus light that shines at the workpiece/tool.

[Tom Bender]

A miter saw is hazardous, a space hog and not really necessary. A band saw should be way higher on the list.

[Ole Anderson]

A miter saw is hazardous, a space hog and not really necessary. A band saw should be way higher on the list. A band saw is a very valuable tool, but not intended for crosscutting a board. Frankly a small table saw would be more versatile, it can rip and crosscut.

[Roger Feeley]

+1 on the hearing and eye protection! Miter saws, like routers use universal motors that are very noisy. Also, miter saws are prone to flinging bits at high speed in unpredictable directions.

[Jim Dwight]

You may have purchased a saw already and I think the input you already got is good but I will add my 2 cents. I have two miter saws and use them both. I first purchased a 10 inch single bevel saw, I think it is a Pro-Tech brand. A no name. It is a simple little saw that is pretty light. It cuts accurately and it is my normal saw for doing trim work. All the manufacturers make a saw like this and Hitachi is often less expensive than other brands and is still a nice tool. It is limited to about 5.5 inch crosscut. But to cut up 2x4s or 4x4s it would work well.

In my shop I keep a 12 inch double bevel Hitachi on a long bench and use it for crosscutting within it's 8 inch capacity. If it wasn't so heavy I would use it for trim but it is heavy. It is sometimes nice to be able to bevel either way but as long as you have plenty of space it is typically possible to just use a single bevel tool.

Sliders are more expensive and require a different technique to use correctly (and thus safely). You need to slide them out, then pivot downward, then push back towards the fence. If you do that, they are fine for safety. But the mechanism that gives them more crosscut capacity adds flexibility that is not good for accuracy and also adds cost and weight. I wouldn't recommend one for a first crosscutting tool.

My main reason to comment is even though I have a bigger more capable CMS that I use more now, I still value my old cheap 10 inch single bevel. It would not in my opinion be a waste to start with one and see how long he wants to make sawdust. The 10 inch will do a lot of things well.

Last comment - nothing that can but through wood is entirely safe. I have scars on my right index finger from a CMS. You need to use proper technique and in my case stop when you are getting tired (before you do something stupid).

I hope your son enjoys the hobby - safely.