Advise for Table Saw/Mitre Saw

[AcroFlyer]

I have posted in the past and you guys always seem to have good advise. I am about to build a dedicated home theater in my home. I need to purchase some power tools. Namely a table saw and miter saw. I can either get both sacrificing some quality or forgo the miter and just get a nice table saw. What advise would you have for this ?

I thought a miter would be nice for crown molding and other cuts of that nature but certainly do not want to spend the money on a miter if the table saw can do what the miter can do. I know a radial arm saw would be nice but I do not have a dedicated shop yet for such a rig. Any advise you may have would be appreciated and would certainly help me make up my mind.

Thank you so much in advance.

Chris

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Table saw can run from $99 to $2200. Depends on just what you intend on doing and if this is a one shot deal or a lifetime hobby and how thick your wallet is. .

Miter saw are good for crown molding, but if this is a one shot deal with 10 or 12 cuts, use a hand saw. Miter saws are better than table saw for crown molding work.

If you have both of the above, a radial arm saw is not needed. RAS can do a lot of things and has a big fan club, but it is a minority in woodworking.

BTW, are you going with 6.1 or 7.1 for the surround sound? Seems as though

7.1 is going to be the future but nothing is made to play on it yet. Ed [e-mail]

[Lew Hodgett]

Buy any table saw that has a Unifence on it.

A good fence is the heart and soul of a table saw.

Personally, I'd buy a Delta contractor's saw package when it is on sale, build a couple of sleds to handle the miter requirements and take a wait and see posture on the miter saw.

BTW, go read F Bingham's book, Practical Yacht Joinery for some tips on how to save some money.

HTH

[Phisherman]

A table saw is best for rip cuts. A miter saw is best for cross cuts. It can be a pain to crosscut on a table saw, although it can be done with some kind of sled or jig. A radial arm saw is perfect for cutting dados in long stock. Personally, I'd go for the best quality table saw I can afford, then put off getting the miter saw. The table saw is often the key power tool in most shops.

[George M. Kazaka]

There is nothing a Mitre saw or a radial arm saw can do that you could not do on a table saw, Including crown moulding, Sometimes it is easier or more convenient to cut mitres and crown moulding with a mitre saw but not that difficult with a table saw With the options you asked about go for the better table saw and learn how to use it.

Good Luck, George

[AcroFlyer]

I spoke to my father last evening (he has been doing woodworking over the past few years since retiring) and he is a table saw "biggot" and of course he told me to go with that. I knew he would say that but wanted some outside opinions. Seems you guys feel the same way for the most part.

I have done some construction before at my previous home. I built a 1100 sf two story garage but it was mainly framing of course and I used a circular saw for all of it. I was wanting for a table saw on a couple of things but doing finishing work inside on a project such as the home theater is a whole differant ball of wax. I guess up front I will get a better table saw and see if I can do the few mitre cuts on it with a proper angled fence before buying a dedicated mitre saw.

To Ed. The theater will be wired for Dolby 9.1 (future spec) so I will be covered although I will be initially going with 7.1. I have also made the speakers myself from

. I made the Dayton DIII's for the main front speakers to see if I could get good sound from them. I was simply amazed when they were complete. They sound better than any store bought speakers I have heard in the $1,500 range and only costed me about $250 in materials including the piano black finish. I am now making the center channel using specs from another DIY speaker site utilizing Audex components. The surround speakers will also be Audex components and another DIY project. I have drawn up the complete theater in AutoCAD and am having a good time with the whole thing as I have learned many things during the past year on making cross-overs, construction techniques for sound proofing, and ceiling mounted projectors. I will be getting a Panasonic ceiling mounted projector that will display a 100" picture on a DIY screen in the proscenium. A 6" riser will be in the rear of the theater so the back row will be elevated for a clear view. Sorry to ramble on but this project has consumed me this past year and I am excited to get construction under way (finally !).

Thanks to all that have responded and I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, it has helped me to decide on how to proceed. I am up this morning early ! I have a thumper of a toothache !!!

Chris

[Silvan]

Build a miter sled. I can get 99% perfect miters out of my incredibly crappy table saw. If I had a real saw with much less slop everywhere, I feel certain that I could get absolutely perfect miters every time.