1. Select a blade size



Saw blades are very high-priced, the fewer you buy, the happier your wallet will be. If you are planning on getting a table saw, a radial arm saw, a miter saw, or some assemblage of these, select a size and stay with it. While there are several sizes available, the most often used sizes are 12" and 10". If you stay with the same size blades for all of your different types of saws, you'll be able to use the same blades with all your saw. In the long run, this will save you hundreds of dollars.

2. Corded or cordless

Cordless tool batteries have made noteworthy advances during the course of the last several years. Tools that you would typically not think of being cordless, such as miter saws and circular saws, now offer cordless models. If you are thinking about purchasing a cordless saw and you have, or may have, other cordless tools, consider staying with a single manufacturer/battery system -- that way you can swap batteries between all of your tools. Extra batteries are often extremely expensive -- it is usually cheaper to get a new tool than to purchase replacement batteries. If you get many tools from the same maker using interchangeable battery technology, you'll have extra batteries available to complete your job, this can significantly increase the amount of work you can get done.

Before settling on a cordless saw, don't forget that even though cordless technology is very advanced today, battery life can limit the amount of work you can complete in a single stretch. If you're a hobbyist or you don't use your saw for extended periods of time, a cordless saw may be a good solution for you. But if you are a contractor or someone who will be cutting wood all day long, you will probably want to skip cordless technology for saws that draw large amounts of power.

Cordless saws are also more costly to purchase and maintain. While your cordless saw may last for 10 or 20 years; but the batteries won't. On top of the steeper cost up-front of a cordless saw, plan on spending more money in the future as the batteries need to be replaced.

3. Read before you buy

A saw is a big investment -- they are expensive and they see a lot of use in most workshops. Purchasing the right saw is a big deal and even more important is to avoid getting a saw that doesn't work for how you want to use it. Before buying a saw, always surf the internet for opinions, rankings, and reviews for the sort of saw you are looking to purchase. If you get the chance to use a saw for a week or so, you will form a definite opinion about the saw. But it is almost impossible to get the correct feel about a saw just by reading the specifications. When you check the web for saw reviews and rankings, you'll be getting the opinions of people who have laid hands on the saw and who have an informed opinion. When people have problems with their costly new purchases, they are more than happy to sound off on the subject and warn others away. Let their bad luck save you from the same decision.

Before you buy any type of large tool, read the user manual first. You can learn a lot about how easy or hard a saw is to use by reading the manual. If it takes 20 steps that has to be repeated several times to make sure that your table and saw blade are square, you can be sure that this will lead to frustration in your future. If you are thinking about a saw that has several cutting configurations, look at the user manual to find out what level of work is required to adjust the cutting configuration. If the process is long and hard to understand, it could be more hassle than it is worth and you will tend to just not use your saw this way. So even though the saw has some cool features, if they are too much effort to use, you won't use them. So why pay for them? You can find a lot of these sorts of issues just buy reading the manual for the saw before you purchase it.