Laser Miter Saw
The Laser Miter Saw – Move Over Luke Skywalker!
Not so long ago creating a good quality piece of woodwork was a time consuming and difficult task. Advances with the miter saw made the job easier but you still had to be dead on with the cut and that’s just what the laser miter saw is intended to do.
Anytime somebody mentions lasers an immediate image of Luke Skywalker comes to mind dueling it out with some bad guy with his laser saber. Well lasers are now less exotic and found in any number of applications one of which is to provide stable visual lines. Making the right cut, or kerf, is the heart of good craftsmanship in woodworking and adding lasers as a cutting guide on miter saws just made that task a whole lot easier.
For miter saws that come with the laser guide already built in there’s little you have to do other than to make some “familiarization” cuts to get a feel for the guide. Because the laser is mounted immediately to the left or right of the blade, your instructions will be to cut on the immediate right or left of the line. This sounds simple enough but there can be some problems. First there is the question of alignment. Don’t get a model that does not allow for adjustment of the laser. If the laser is pointing one way and your blade another, well obviously that’s not a good thing. Make sure the laser is powerful enough to be seen in bright daylight or in a well lit shop. If you can’t see the line you can’t make the cut. Lastly is the question of beam width. If the beam is too wide it may give you a bad line on tall pieces of stock. Make sure the beam is about the same width of a pencil line.
So do you have a perfectly good miter saw but no laser? Don’t sweat it. You can retrofit your miter saw using an add-on laser guide provided by one of a number of manufacturers. These typically install next to the blade and don’t require any special mounting. These guides conveniently turn on and off based on rpm of the blade They typically run on button cell batteries and normally have a life of about 2 hours before you have to replace them. At about $20 this is the best investment you can make to your woodworking tool collection.
A laser miser saw can not only speed up your work but provide you accurate complex cuts and build your confidence as a craftsman. Of course you could always just rely on the Force being with as an alternative. However, I think Yoda is missing a couple of fingers on his right hand.