There are numerous reasons why you may need to make a miter cut, and as a novice woodworker, you may not have a miter saw at your disposal. This leaves a question: Can you make a miter cut with a circular saw?

The short answer is yes! Doing a rough miter cut with a circular saw is fairly simple and quick. While it won’t beat the precision of a miter saw, using a jig or a system to make repeated cuts, miter cuts with a circular saw are no problem.

What Is a Miter Cut?

Let’s back up a little bit! Before you can learn to cut one, you have to know what a miter cut is, right? A miter cut is any cut that is not at a 90-degree angle.

You may want to make a miter cut when assembling a box without wanting any end grain exposed on the corner, or when making a picture frame. These are also common cuts when adding perimeter to a deck.

Making Miter Cuts With a Circular Saw

The saw has adjustments with angles typically from 0 to 45 degrees, with 0 degrees being your typical square cut.

Turn the knob (or lever) to unlock the adjustment, move the saw body and blade relative to the base to the appropriate angle on the saw’s gauge. Then you will tighten the knob (or lever) to lock it down in place once again.

With this adjustment, you can proceed to make your cuts in the same manner you would if you wanted them square. Your cuts should now be at your desired angle.

Remember that your cut location on the top of the board will be different than on the bottom of the board due to the angle.

Make sure you keep this in mind when you are marking the locations for your cuts, as it is very easy to accidentally cut your angle in the wrong orientation and potentially waste an entire board by cutting it too short.

Pro Tip:

You can use a circular to miter cut trim like baseboards or quarter rounds in a pinch, however, since a circular saw is less accurate than a dedicated compound miter saw you should plan to caulk the joints afterward.

Using a Circular Saw Miter Guide

A carpenter’s speed square can be used as a circular saw miter guide if you don’t trust your freehand cutting skills.

A speed square is an inexpensive tool found at any hardware store or home center. (They are sometimes called framing squares or roofing squares.) 

You may already be using it to easily guide your saw for straight 90 degree cuts on any board!

However, if you want to cut at an angle—or even make a compound mitered cut with the blade angled—you can rotate the speed square on its pivot point and use the markings on the square itself to determine the angle of cut.

Then, you will use the speed square as a guide as you normally would.

You can check out Milwaukee’s selection of circular saw accessories here.

Using a Circular Saw Miter Jig

If you plan on regularly making the same angle of cut, or regularly cutting long lengths along a piece of plywood, it may be worth your while to make a circular saw miter jig, such as a circular saw track.

This is a more involved process than simply using a guide, but will save you hundreds of dollars compared to buying a track saw.

All you need is a few scraps of plywood with at least one piece that has a known straight edge.

Attach the piece of plywood with the straight edge, which will become the top of the track, on top of a larger piece, which will become your track’s bottom.

You will need to make sure that it is offset by least the difference between the blade and the edge of the saw base. 

Then, adjust your saw blade’s angle to the desired miter angle.

You will make your cut riding the saw along the straight edge of the top piece to finish making the track. 

The edge that was cut is now a reference line to match up on your project, taking the guesswork out of following a line freehand.

Here’s a great video walking you through how you can build your own miter jig for your circular saw:

Safe Miter Cuts With A Circular Saw

Unfortunately, the circular saw can be one of the most dangerous tools in a woodworker’s shop. The blade on a circular saw spins faster than a table saw, and accidents with the circular saw can be very severe. 

One of the most common mistakes that leads to accidents is binding the saw’s blade in a cut.

When this happens, the saw will jump back toward the woodworker resulting in sometimes very severe injuries. This is called kickback.

This usually happens when a woodworker is attempting to cut a large piece of plywood or a long board without proper support.

To prevent the circular saw from binding, the woodworker should make sure that the piece that is being cut off is free to drop or move away.

With advancements in technology, nearly all tools and devices you use have undergone some degree of evolution and transformation. Such power tools include those used for woodworking and architectural jobs.

Miter saws, also famously referred to as chop saws, have undergone a remarkable milestone thanks to the introduction of lasers for more efficient, faster, and more precise angled cuts for a wide range of boards.

You may be asking yourself, “is the laser worth it for miter saws?” Well, a miter saw with a laser will enable you to seamlessly work on several woodworking projects with less hassle. The more advanced Miter saw will allow you to make crosscuts, bevels, and miters more accurate for spectacular clean work.

When purchasing a tool for your woodworking duties, it is always vital to get your money’s ultimate value. Miter saws with a laser have been craftily designed to perform intricate jobs more safely and precisely as compared to regular miter saws.

This piece will give you much-needed insight on whether laser on miter saws are worth it. Let’s dive in,

How important is a Laser Guide on a Miter Saw

Since the late 1970s, the miter saw has been electrified and motorized. However, the manual pedigree was in existence for at least three centuries before that. Carpenters used to create their own miter boxes using scrap wood for 90° and 45° cuts.

Luckily, the introduction of a miter saw with a laser revolutionized the woodworking experience.

Miter saws with laser beams have been utilized to mark perfect blade paths across a wide range of wood types. This is a premium feature as not all saw has it. The lasers work reasonably well to enable you to make more accurate cuts using your miter saw.

The state of the art miters saws is now fitted with lasers with green diodes that are more conspicuous than the red diodes. The green diodes increase the efficiency of the laser, thus maximizing the productivity of your miter saw.

Even though miter saws with a laser guide are more expensive than ordinary saws, they will offer you remarkable performance that will be worth your money. It can be frustrating and stressful to use an inefficient tool as you will end up using much time and hassle.

Is the Laser Worth it for Miter Saws?

To enhance your readings’ accuracy when measuring heights and distances, you cannot help but appreciate the advancements and accuracy brought about by laser guide technology on miter saws.

As compared to the conventional old school miter saws that were manual and required much stretching and flexing, the advanced miter saws with a laser guide will save you the hassle.

The Miter saw laser helps the carpenter perform challenging duties with zero errors to guarantee more precise cuts and clean work.

Laser measuring and cutting tools are far less cumbersome and more accurate, especially when the wood surfaces are uneven.

The laser guide on the Miter saws emits a laser light beam similar to that of a laser pen. The beam will show you the path to follow while shaping or cutting a plank of wood.

Unlike shaping a wood surface with the freehand, which can be prone to mistakes and errors, the saws fitted with a laser guide will ensure your work is perfect and free from blunders.

In a big way, the carpentry industry has benefited from the advanced technology used in the production of miter saws with a laser.

Globally, renowned carpenters and woodwork specialists recommended using this tool due to its improved productivity and enhanced security features.

As you may be asking, “is the laser worth it for miter saws?” then you got the answer.

The laser marker system is an exclusive modern-day technology. You can activate it before the saw is in motion for accurate alignment and predictable placement of the blade.

Simply line up the saw blade with the laser guide to the wood’s mark, and the Miter saw with making a perfect cut across the laser guide.

Types of Miter Saws with Laser Guides

There are three categories of miter saws with a laser guide, and they include:

• Sliding compound
• Stationary compound
• Sliding dual compound (also referred to as dual or double bevel)

Depending on the beam design and the miter saws’ sophistication, these robust tools’ prices may vary.

Stationary compound miter saws with laser guide cut to the left and right. However, it can only perform a single direction for bevel cuts. The sliding compound miter saws have increased capability for moving back and forward along rails.

The sliding compound miter saws with laser beams have robust capabilities as they can perform all carpentry duties. It is ideal for left and right cuts as well as bevel cuts.

Laser guide enabled miter saws with sliding designs are the most recognized due to their blades’ increased crosscut capacity. Most have wider miter saw blades that measure up to 12 inches in diameter.

Benefits of Miter Saws with Laser Guide

As you may be asking, “how important is a laser guide on a miter saw?” Well, this state of the art tool offers a wide range of benefits that will enhance your carpentry and woodwork experience. Some of the benefits include:

• Improves accuracy while cutting a wide range of wood surfaces
• Increased productivity as much work is done using the tool
• Reduced mechanical force, thus less hassle
• Ideal for different types of surfaces
• Value for money due to increased efficiency
• The stakeout requirements are reduced
• Quick job cycles
• Idle machine time and rework
• Elimination of errors

Miter Saw Versus LED Shadow Line

Apart from miter saws using laser guides, advancement in technology has led to the production of miter saws using LED light. It works by casting the shadow of the blade onto the material.

The cuts made by this tool are accurate as the blade forms the shadow. Even if the LED light goes out, it’s much easier to see shadow even on bright days.

However, a miter saw with a laser guide is perfect as compared to a miter saw with LED lights.

LED guides are more accurate as they transmit length much further and with fewer errors.

Here’s a video discussing how to add LED light to your miter saw:

Can You Add A Laser To A Miter Saw?

Yes, it is very common, and quite easy to add a laser guide to your miter saw. You can purchase a laser attachment from most building home centers.

There are many different styles and types of aftermarket laser guides, battery powered or centrifugal force styles are available, depending on what works best for your situtaion.

How to Add Laser Guide to Meter Saw

Cutting a cramp of wood with a miter saw can be a challenging hurdle and full of errors. You may be wondering how to improve your work and have more accurate cuts.

Luckily, a wide range of Miter saw accessories, including laser beam and LED lights, are available.

You are required to install the new laser beam on your conventional Miter saw for an improved cutting experience. After installation, follow the straight beams for a more precise cut.

However, most miter saws nowadays come with a pre-installed laser guide, which is more advanced.

Is It Worth It to Upgrade your Laserless Miter Saw?

Even though the laser guide technology is a premium feature for modern-day miter saws, some of them, including the conventional ones, do not come with a laser beam.

To boost your Miter saw’s productivity, you may need to upgrade it with a laser guide for enhanced and accurate cuttings.

Installing a laser beam on your old miter saw will go a long way in ensuring that your woodwork and carpentry duties are done more efficiently without much energy.

However, depending on your financial capabilities, it will be ideal to purchase a miter saw with a pre-installed laser guide as they tend to be more robust and durable.

Unlike the conventional old school miter saws, which gave a more erroneous and untidy work due to the lack of beam guide.

Here’s a company that specializes in laser guides for machinery

The advanced miter saws with laser guide technology used in its production are more efficient and worth it due to improved productivity.

For carpenters and woodwork experts who go for quality over cost, the new advanced miter saws with laser guides are the way to go.

This robust tool guarantees you a more accurate and precise cutting experience.