Miter saw is one of the most used cutting tools in woodworking. When using a miter saw, its power consumption is a major factor. Miter saws are powered by electricity. According to the performance, its electricity consumption can be varied. So let’s see how much power, volts, and amps need for the miter saw and what are power factors we must consider when we select a miter saw.
Normally, miter saw power consumption depends on the types of the miter saw and its performance. A Single bevel miter saw will consume 1200 W, a dual bevel miter saw will consume 3300 W electric power, and a cordless miter saw will consume 180W power.
Miter saws are mainly corded and cordless. Cordless miter saws have limited capacity usage due to their battery. But corded miter saws can use a wide range. More than that, there are both advantages and disadvantages considering the power consumption of the miter saw. So let’s see more detail about miter saws power consumption step by step.
How Miter Saw Power is Measured?
Watt and Effciency
When we use an electric power tool, we should know its power and efficiency. Power is measured by the watt (W), and efficiency is the useful percentage of the supplied total power.
When we consider electric power, we can measure the quantity of watts using its voltage and current. like below.
- Power = Voltage x Current
- If your miter saw is rated as 120V and 10 ams it will consume 1200 watt of power
- Imaging if you have 36V battery with 5 amh current. It will consume 180 watt of power
- Power = 36V * 5 Amh = 180W
When you operate the miter, saw power can be converted to noise, heat, spark, friction, and many more. As a result of this, we can’t use all of the power stored in the battery due to power wastage. Most of the power can be wasted, and few amounts of power can be used as useful power. This is called the efficiency of the tool.
In order to increase the efficiency of the miter saw, some smart strategies are used.
Brushless and Brushed Motors
As you are well aware, the regular DC motors have brushes. Brushes are touched on the commutator. As a result of this, lots of power is wasted during the motor spinning as heat, friction, and spark.
But brushless motors do not have brushes, and those can consume the maximum percentage of the stored power in the battery. Normally brushless motors are typically 85-90% efficient, whereas brushed DC motors are around 75-80% efficient. So when you buy a cordless miter saw, you can select a brushless motor as your power motor.
Miter Saw Power Cable Requirements
Corded miter saws are powered by the power cable. You will need a regular power source with a suitable power cord. Normally in the USA, we can use a 120V domestic power source with a suitable power cord. When you select a corded miter saw, make sure your power cord has fulfilled the local standards.
You can follow the below table as a local standard.
120 Volt AC tools cord length in feet and cord size in AWG
| Ampere Rating | 25 ft length | 50 ft length | 100 ft length | 150 ft length |
| 3-6 | 18 AWG | 16 AWG | 16 AWG | 14 AWG |
| 6-8 | 18 AWG | 16 AWG | 14 AWG | 12 AWG |
| 8-10 | 18 AWG | 16 AWG | 14 AWG | 12 AWG |
| 10-12 | 16 AWG | 16 AWG | 14 AWG | 12 AWG |
| 12-16 | 14 AWG | 12 AWG | N/A | N/A |
*AWG – American Wire Gauge
How to Use Miter Saw Power in a Effciency Way?
When we use a miter saw, we must know how to use a miter saw power in an efficient way. It can be wasted due to noise, friction, spark, and motion of the motor. When we need to use a miter saw efficiently, we have to pay attention to the saw blade, workpiece, and motor. So let’s see how these things affect the efficiency of the miter saw.
Types of Miter Saw
According to the performance, miter saws can be categorized into main 5 types. Regular miter saws can only lower the miter saw head and cut the workpiece. But there are advanced miter saws such as sliding miter saws. So let’s see how sliding miter saws affect the efficiency of the miter saws.
Saw Blade
The saw blade is used for cutting the workpiece. Mostly saw blades are available in 10 inches and 12 inches. The number of teeth is varied with the diameter of the saw blade. Normally, we can see a higher number of saw blades and a lower number of saw blades in every diameter. 24-60 teeth in 10-inches saw blade and 32-80 teeth in 12-inches saw blade.
Using the miter saw, we can cut crosscuts, rip cuts, bevel cuts, and miter cuts. We have to pay attention to the chip removing rate in the cutting process. If the blade has a lower number of teeth, it can remove the higher amount of chips. This is really good for the rip cuts.
When we crosscut, it is better to use a high amount of teeth. Because cross-section is more strength than along the grains. So it needs more strength to cut. As a result of this, saw blades need a higher number of teeth for fine crosscuts. When you use this you can use saw blade in an efficient way.
When using a regular miter saw, we have to lower the cutting head. Suddenly, the saw blade tends to cut a longer cutting path. It can require more power due to the high amount of teeth engagement. But a sliding miter saw can push and pull the saw head with a rotating blade. Saw fewer teeth will engage with the short-cutting path. As a result of this, it can quickly cut the path with high efficiency. So it can use a miter saw in an efficient way.
Workpiece
We can divide the wood into two main categories. Hardwood and softwood are them. Cutting hardwood will require more power, and softwood will require less power.
Motor
The motor is powered by electricity. When the supply electricity is wasted due to some mechanical and electrical activities, miter saw performance would reduce. Normally miter saw motors are two types. Brushed and brushless are them. Brushed miter saws consume a lot of power due to their brushes and internal frictions. But brushless motors really use less power than brushed ones. Hence, you must use a brushless miter saw to reduce power consumption.
Additional Power Usage
If you are using LED or laser miter saw, you have to supply the power for them. The battery powers both because they consume the least power.
Miter Saw Power and Blade Selection
When you select a miter saw blade you should know how to choose a saw blade in order to get the maximum power efficiency. As I described above, we must consider the number of teeth, workpiece hardness, rpm, and blade diameter for the blade selection.
You may not be able to change the blade in every cutting path. But you can use it for overall workpieces. In order to optimize the power of the miter saw you can select a saw blade-like below.
- Hardwood – high amount of teeth (60 teeth or higher)
- Softwood – lower amount of teeth (24-60 teeth)
- Crosscut – higher number of teeth (60 teeth or higher)
- Rip cut – lower number of teeth (24-60 teeth)
How Many Volts Need for Miter Saw?
Normally, domestic use miter saws need 120 V voltage and 220V will require for the high-performance miter saws. Cordless miter saws will work 24V, 36V, and 56V voltage with DC current.
How Many Amps Need for Miter Saw?
Normally, Amps requirements for the miter saw depends on the types of the miter saw. According to that corded 10-inch miter saw will need 10 Amps, and a 12-inch miter saw will need 15 Amps. The cordless miter saw will need a 3-5 Amh battery as the power solution.
Can I Use a Power Generator to Run the Miter Saw?
Obviously, you can use a power generator to run the miter saw. If the power generator can produce more power than required by the miter saw will be the only condition. Imagine you have 120V with 10 amp miter saw will require 1200W power. If you have a 4000W-5000W power generator, you can easily operate the miter saw.
Related Topics
