Dump Pricey Circular Saws: Cut Wood With A Cheaper Lowe's Find

When you're making things out of wood, you usually make them rectangular or triangular, because wood doesn't bend to make curved shapes unless you've kerfed, laminated or steamed it. A common way to make rectangles and triangles is to cut the ends of pieces of wood at angles, which is called mitering. If you cut the angles cleanly, the pieces fit together tightly, and when you glue or fasten them, the joint is barely visible. That's quality carpentry, and to achieve it, you need the right tools.

One of the right tools — not the only one, for sure — is a miter box, like this Project Source Miter Box from Lowe's for $17.98 (circular saws at Lowe's typically range from $49.98-$279, which makes this a cheaper option). It's a rectangular plastic box with two sides and channels cut into the sides, and it usually comes with a backsaw (although you can use any handsaw that fits). When you slip the saw into the channels, they position it at a preset angle, and if you have a sharp saw and hold the wood you're cutting securely, this tool makes extremely clean and accurate miter cuts.

All miter boxes have 90- and 45-degree presets, and some have other presets as well, but none give you freedom to cut random angles. That's one of the drawbacks of a miter box compared to cutting angles freehand when you use a circular saw. However, if you're mostly making standard 90- and 45-degree crosscuts, you can save a lot of money by purchasing a miter box and leaving the circular saw on the shelf. 

A miter box is a specialty wood-cutting tool, and it doesn't take the place of a circular saw in a woodworker's toolbox, so you probably already have a circular saw. Even so, there are good reasons to buy a miter box for cutting angles rather than using your circular saw to do it freehand. One is that a hand saw makes a cleaner cut. Power saws tend to chip out a little wood while they're cutting, which might not matter if you're cutting two-by-fours to frame a building, but becomes extremely important when mitering small pieces of trim or wood for a crafts project. A hand saw is less aggressive and doesn't chip wood. 

The second advantage of a miter box is accuracy. When you cut angles with a circular saw, you have to draw a line and then cut freehand along the line. If the saw wanders even slightly, the angle isn't true, and when you join the piece to another to make a corner, you'll see a visible gap. You can't make that kind of mistake with a miter box, because the box holds the saw securely at the preset angle.

The Project Source miter box also comes in handy when you need to make a bevel cut, to give the wood a more refined edge. The miter box may not be adjustable, but it works well for standard angles, and it's a lot cheaper.