1. Choose a blade size



Saw blades are very expensive, the less you buy, the happier your wallet will be. If you are planning on buying a table saw, a radial arm saw, a miter saw, or some assemblage of these, select a blade size and stick with it. While there are many blade sizes available, the usual blade sizes are 12" and 10". If you stick with the same size blades for all of your different types of saws, you will be able to buy one blade and use it with several saws. In the long run, this will save you a lot of money.

2. Cordless or corded?

Batteries for cordless tools have made remarkable improvements over the last several years. Tools that you would typically not think of being cordless, such as circular saws and miter saws, now are coming out with cordless options. If you are thinking about getting a cordless saw and you have, or may someday have, other cordless tools, consider sticking with a single battery/manufacturer system so that you can swap batteries between all of your tools. Additional batteries are very expensive -- it's often cheaper to purchase a new tool than to buy replacement batteries. If you purchase several tools from the same manufacturer using the same battery systems, you will have extra batteries at your disposal to complete your work, this can really increase the work you can get done.

Before settling on a cordless saw, remember that even though cordless technology is very advanced today, battery lifetime can limit the amount of work you can get done in a single stretch. If you are a hobbyist or you don't use your saw for extended stretches, a cordless saw may be a good solution. But if you are a contractor or someone who will be using your saw all day long, you may want to skip cordless technology for tools that draw excessive amounts of power.

Cordless saws are also more costly to purchase and to maintain. Your cordless saw may last for 10 or 20 years; but the batteries will not. In addition to the steeper cost up-front of a cordless saw, plan on shelling out more money in the future too when the batteries need to be replaced.

3. Do your reading before you buy

A saw is a big investment -- they cost a lot of money and they get a lot of use in most workshops. Purchasing the right saw is a big deal and even more important is to avoid purchasing a saw that doesn't work for you. Prior to buying a saw, always check the web for opinions, rankings, and reviews for the type of saw you are considering. After using a saw for a week or so, you'll have a definite opinion about it. But it is nearly impossible to get a real feel about a saw just by looking at the specifications. When you check the web for saw rankings and reviews, you will get the opinions of people who have used the saw and who have an informed opinion. If people have problems with their expensive new purchases, they're usually more than happy to vent and warn others. Let their bad luck save you from the same fate.

Before purchasing any type of large tool, read the user manual first. You can learn a lot about how easy a saw is to use by reading the manual. If it takes a large number steps and an iterative process to ensure that the saw blade and table are square, you can look forward to spending more time setting up your saw than using it. If you are considering a saw that has multiple cutting configurations, read the manual to find out how much work is needed to change the configuration. If the configuration is complicated and hard to understand, it could be more hassle than it is worth and you will be inclined to just not use these additional configurations. Even though the saw has some great features, if they are too difficult to use, you won't use them. So why pay for them? You can run across a lot of these sorts of issues just buy reading the manual for the saw before you get it.