Wood Saw – The Most Important Woodworking Tool

Woodworking requires skills and experiences. In order to start, no matter if you are a professional or an amateur hobbyist, you need to learn about different woodworking tools. Within the vast array of tools for different purposes, saws are among the most important tools for all the woodworkers as every woodworking project begins with cutting material. Hence, a set of appropriate and decent saw are inevitable for wood master.

Different types of saw

There is a myriad of different woodworking saws in the market. Many beginners will be overwhelmed by the different of types and also the price of the saws. However, in most of the time, woodworkers only utilize 6 different types of saw, including circular saw, jigsaw, compound miter saw, table saw, bandsaw and handsaw. Today, let’s us briefly introduce these 6 different saws and their characteristics.

Circular saw

Circular saw is a one-power activated saw that every woodworker will have. Circular saw has a circular blade that is equipped with many sharp teeth on the edge. Almost all circular saws are electric and depending on the blade a woodworker used, circular saw is competent in cutting straight and clean lines. In general, there are 3 types of blade that can be used in circular saw, including ripping blades, crosscut blade and combination blade. Ripping blades are used to cut material lengthwise alone while crosscut blade is mainly for sawing across the grain. Combination blade is designed for both.

Jigsaw

Jigsaw is also called saber saw. It is a very famous tool which are mainly used for cutting arbitrary curves. A proper and decent jigsaw is something that a good woodworker can’t miss. Unlike the circular saw that was introduced above, jigsaw cut the material with an up and down momentum. The blades used in Jigsaw vary a lot in term of composition and tooth numbers. Jigsaw can be easily operated with single hand and it is perfectly designed to cut small and complicated pieces.

Compound miter saw

A miter saw enables woodworker to create cut at a range of different angles with the help of the spinning blade. A compound miter saw is quite similar to a circular saw. They possess the identical rip, crosscut and combination blades to the circular saw. But the difference between a miter saw and a circular saw is that compound miter saw are fixed in an arm or a track and a compound miter saw can literally cut with any series of angles.

Table saw

Table saw are unique. They are able to create cuts that cannot be easily done by other type of saw. From their appearance, a table saw is designed like an upside-down circular saw that the blade comes up from the work surface. Blade depth and angles can be easily been altered in order to adapt to different requirements. There are mainly 3 types of table saw, which includes cabinet table saws, benchtop table saw and contractor table saw. Cabinet table saws are perfect for all-purpose works, but it is heavy and are made to stay in one position. Benchtop table saws are portable which are designed to move around. Lastly, contractor table saws are made for quick and easy cutting.

Bandsaw

Bandsaw can be perceived as a combination of circular saws and jigsaws. The teeth of bandsaw are locked on a continuously looped, flat steel band and revolve around upper and lower pulleys. Bandsaw are different in sizes. Different size of bandsaw has different functionality. When choosing a correct bandsaw, woodworkers need to determine the size of the material, as well as how complicated and intricate of the cuts are. Based on the requirements, woodworkers can then decide on how much of the depth capacity and how much of the throat depth they need.

Handsaw

Handsaw has already been existing for hundreds or even thousands of years. However, using a handsaw is never an easy task. It requires skills and experiences that detailed and precision cut are necessary. Handsaw is literally a toothed steel blade equipped with a wooden handle designed to slide back and forth for cutting the material. Some typical handsaw types include ripping handsaw, backsaw, coping handsaw and crosscut handsaw.