DIYer's best friend celebrates anniversary

If you've got plans for completing your own home improvements this fall and winter, the year 1967 holds special significance. That's when the Delta power tool company quietly launched the world's first mitre saw. Back then it was called a 'power mitrebox', and while no one paid much attention at the time, this tool has since gained universal acceptance with everyone who works with wood. Every power-tool manufacturer makes mitre saws these days, and they've revolutionized the way professionals build, trim and finish homes. But it doesn't stop there. The mitre saw also empowers non-professionals to succeed more decisively while improving their own homes. Even basic models enable ambitious amateurs to make perfectly smooth and accurate crosscuts with almost no practice. The biggest hitch is choosing the right mitre saw for the kind of work you'll be doing, and this is where I can help. I've been using mitre saws for 20 years while watching them evolve more features, greater quality and lower prices. Can you tell I like mitre saws? It's an easy friendship.

Sometimes called a "chopsaw" or "trim saw", all mitre saws work in similar ways. A swiveling motor assembly tilts downwards under hand pressure, advancing the blade into a stationary work piece to complete each cut. All makes and models adjust for a range of different cut angles, allowing even inexperienced do-it-yourselfers to succeed cutting wall frame parts, window trim, baseboards, laminate flooring, woodworking project parts, tomato plant stakes and just about anything else that's relatively long and narrow and needs to become shorter. Mitre saws are even a big help when installing plastic drainpipe or central vacuum lines. It slices plastics just as well as it does wood. With the right blade, you can even use a mitre saw to cut non-ferrous metal like aluminum, brass or copper.

The first thing to understand before choosing a mitre saw is that there are two basic types: regular and sliding. Regular models are similar to the original design pioneered 40 years ago in that the motor hinges up and down. A regular, non-sliding mitre saw spinning a 10-inch diameter blade crosscuts a 2x6 at 90 degrees. This is just fine for most do-it-yourselfers finishing a basement or installing trim. Non-sliding models with a 12-inch blade are heavier in weight and can crosscut a 2x8.

So-called sliding mitre saws advance the performance of the tool one big step further by putting the entire motor and blade assembly on sliding rails. This is the second type of saw, and it allows much wider pieces of wood to be cut. Even the smallest sliders saw all the way across wood as wide as 12 inches in a single pass, using nothing more than an 8 1/2-inch diameter blade. Sliding mitre saws also come with 10- and 12-inch blades, allowing them to handle thicker wood. On the downside, sliding mitre saws are more expensive, heavier and they require more space to operate.

Regardless of the design, there are two things you need to know as a new mitre saw owner: most saws come out of the box demanding at least a little adjustment, and most also need a blade upgrade for optimal results. Expect to spend a little time following the instruction manual tweaking your new saw so it cuts square when it's supposed to. Nothing to worry about, though. Ten minutes spent with a wrench should do it.

Go ahead and use the blade that came with your saw, as long as you understand that it's probably cutting much less smoothly than the tool is capable of. Just as car makers rarely install long-lasting, high-quality tires on brand new vehicles, tool manufacturers know that blade quality won't make or break a sale. That's why mitre saws typically come with low-cost, ho-hum blades. They're fine for rough work, but leave lots of unnecessary splinters behind on trim. Expect to pay $80 to $100 for a top quality crosscut blade with carbide teeth. This sounds expensive, but don't be fooled. It's actually quite cheap. Good carbide saw blades can be sharpened and re-sharpened more than half a dozen times, making them less expensive than throwaway blades that produce less than smooth results.

Perhaps I'm the only one to remember the 40th anniversary of the saw that changed the world, but that's okay. The mitre saw isn't really about history, it's about helping you succeed with home renovations. And for this, nothing else compares.