Skill saw vs Mitre saw, or other tool?

[BoomerD]

Festool makes an outstanding saw and fence combo. With a solid set of benches it's very easy to get results that rival that of a good quality table saw. The rip fence design is outstanding, it doesn't need clamping in most cases. Note that the saw is useless without the fence, you can't make free hand cuts with it. Very expensive compared to a skill saw, cheap compared to good quality table saw.

http://festools-online.com/index.ph...lar-saws/festool-circular-saw-ts-55-eq-1.html

I've seen those before. Nice stuff, but with the saw at $500 plus the necessary accessories, it's a bit much for the average home owner.

Yes, GOOD quality table saws can run in the thousands of $$$, but good (decent) quality table saws can be had for $500 or so.

 

[olds]

I have a Delta table saw. I've always wanted to remove the out feed table and build a router table in it's place.
Then put on a biesemeyer fence and use it for the saw and router.

 

[huberm]

i have not used my circular saw since i got my miter saw. Personally I think the miter saw is more useful but we have no idea what you want to use them for or what your preferences are.

 

[Greenman]

I've seen those before. Nice stuff, but with the saw at $500 plus the necessary accessories, it's a bit much for the average home owner.

Yes, GOOD quality table saws can run in the thousands of $$$, but good (decent) quality table saws can be had for $500 or so.

It's all about what you need the tool to do. My gear has to be portable, and I found that the Festool does a better job than my portable table saw. The table saw was around $400, with an additional $700 for a larger table and pretty good quality fence. Most portable table saw's I've used are just about worthless for cutting plywood. The saws are to light, the fence is too short, and pushing a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood through them is unpleasant at best.

Edit: To answer the original question, miter saw if you're doing mostly trim or cutoff work, circular saw if you're doing framing. If you go with a circular saw, be sure to get one with the blade on the appropriate side.

 

[olds]

I have a fence similar to this that I use with my circular saw.