Miter saws are used for the precise wood-cutting processes. A miter saw can cut various cuts, such as miter cuts, bevel cuts, and crosscuts easily. When placing the workpiece on the kerf, we can’t see a cutting path. So it is essential to observe the cutting path clearly by using a laser or LED shadow. So let’s see how both are important for the miter saw, including all the detailed factors before you use it.
Laser miter saws can clearly be visible the cutting path due to the sharpness of the laser beam. However LED shadow light will not provide a clear and sharp path due to blurriness and outer lights. The laser guide is a bit expensive and LED shadow light is a cheap solution.
More than that, we have to pay attention to the many factors. So, let’s see how to select a better solution step by step in detail.
What is A Laser Miter Saw?
When the laser guide unit is placed on the outer blade flange is called the laser miter saw. A laser miter saw is more precise than an LED shadow miter saw. When the blade is spinning, the inside centrifugal switch in the laser guide will be activated automatically.
So you do not need to activate or switch on the laser guide manually. This is a great advantage, but it feels unsafe for some users. Due to the laser line, the user can identify the cutting path and avoid hands or fingers on the cutting path. So, it is a great advantage for the user and increases the accuracy.
What is An LED Miter Saw?
The LED miter saw is a low-budget-cutting path identification solution. An LED light is lit up from the top of the saw blade. It will light up through both sides of the saw blade, and there is a shadow on the workpiece due to the saw blade covering area.
The shadow area can be observed clearly when the saw blade is lower than the workpiece. It is not sharp much. Due to the outer lights, it can be blurry also. Frankly, this is not an accurate way of path indication. Due to the double side of the lighting, we can observe the thick black line of shadow. Sometimes we may be confused to identifying the correct side of the cutting path.
What are the Differences Between a Laser Miter Saw and an LED Miter Saw?
These are the 6 differences between laser miter saw and LED miter saw
- Laser Miter Saw is more Expensive than LED Miter Saw – Laser mitre saws are generally more expensive than LED miter saws. This is due to the complex technology used in laser saws which makes them more costly to manufacture.
- Laser Miter Saw is Clear in Any Position – Laser miter saws provide a clear and visible line in any position, regardless of the lighting conditions. On the other hand, the visibility of the line from an LED miter saw may vary depending on the lighting conditions.
- Laser Miter Saw has a Sharp Line – Laser miter saws provide a sharp and precise line for cutting. This is not always the case with LED miter saws, as the line may not be as sharp or precise.
- Laser Light is Easy to Fix with Saw – The laser light in a laser miter saw is more straightforward to fix with the saw blade, which can lead to more accurate cuts. With an LED miter saw, aligning the light with the blade can be more challenging.
- Laser Miter Saw has Higher Precise Cutting – Laser miter saws are known for their high precision cutting. They are able to make very accurate cuts, which is a crucial factor for many woodworking projects. LED miter saws may not provide the same level of precision.
- Laser Mitersaw Has Minimum Tolerance – Laser miter saws have minimum tolerance, meaning they are very precise and accurate in their measurements and cuts. On the other hand, LED miter saws may have higher tolerances, meaning there may be more room for error in measurements and cuts.
Why is Laser Guide More Important than an LED Shadow Line?
- Clear path visibility
- Increase the safety
- Quick job cycles
- Increase the accuracy
- Reduce the errors
- Increase the efficiency
- Save the workpieces
- Increase the productivity
More than that, we have to consider many things before we use one of these two lights. So let’s see, what the lights are and their task with each and every detail of the miter saw with LED or Laser indicators.
Is It Worth Having a Laser or LED on the Miter Saw?
Normally, we need to identify the cutting path in order to increase accuracy and maintain user safety. Considering these things, there is no doubt in having a miter saw with any light, such as LED or laser because it is worth it.
When we consider the investment of the laser miter saw, it will be $25-$35, and the LED shadow miter saw will cost a maximum $15. Hence, we can understand Laser miter saws are expensive. But considering the performance, we can expect sharp cutting path light from the laser miter saw.
Laser miter saws have a red light. As a result of it, it will not be blurry due to the surrounding lights and we can see clearly visible red light from white light. But the sharpness of LED lights will be reduced due to the outer lights. Shadow quality will be reduced with the outer lights.
Laser light is more clear in any position. But LED lights is not clear in any position. We can clearly observe the shadow when the saw head is lower to the workpiece.
The laser guide will be activated when the blade starts to spin because of the automatic centrifugal switch, but LED light will work in any position because it can operate using a manual switch.
You can easily buy a laser guide as well as LED system from amazon.com and can fix to the miter saw easily the most important thing is there is no need to make any adjustments. Both work with using the saw blade as a light barrier.
When we consider the accuracy, there is no doubt that laser miter saws are more accurate. LED miter saws are with lower accuracy.
Is Laser Miter Saw Consume More Power than LED?
Yes, a laser miter saw generally consumes more power than an LED. This is because a miter saw is a power tool that requires significant energy to cut through materials like wood or metal, while an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is a highly energy-efficient type of lighting technology.
