Replies

1. 
   DougU | Jul 08, 2007 06:31pm | #1

   I think the term "chop saw" is nothing more then a slang term for a miter/sliding compond saw.

   Doug

2. 
   McDesign | Jul 08, 2007 07:02pm | #2

   I think "chop" just means "crosscut" (small teeth for wood, so looks the same as for metal, coincidentally).

   Forrest - guessing

3. 
   CaseyF | Jul 08, 2007 10:10pm | #3

   I've heard people use the term "chop saw" both ways. Usually I'll assume that they are talking about a miter saw unless we are talking about metal studs.

   Peace,

   Casey

   http://www.streets.org
1. 
   BungalowJeff | Jul 11, 2007 03:59pm | #14

   Someone please explain to my FIL that "Chop Saw" does not mean "Slam-the-blade-through-the-wood-as-fast-as-possible Saw." I aske him to stop because I hate resetting blades. "But its called a chop saw!"...that's not a mistake, it's rustic

1. 
   DougU | Jul 12, 2007 06:54am | #15

   Jeff

   Next time he does that give him a quick chop to the back of his head, see how he likes it!

   Doug

2. 
   McDesign | Jul 12, 2007 12:55pm | #16

   <"Chop Saw" does not mean "Slam-the-blade-through-the-wood-as-fast-as-possible Saw>

   UNLESS he's sawing PVC trim.

   Otherwise it gets gooshy and when you pop the sludge off with yer left thumb it burns and sticks to you.

   Forrest - BTDT

1. 
   Heck | Jul 12, 2007 03:17pm | #17

   Oxymoron alert:

   PVC trim 

3. 
   FastEddie | Jul 12, 2007 07:30pm | #18

   I'm always amused when I see someone cutting wood in a miter saw, and they get hold of the handle, pull the trigger, and before the blade gets up to speed they slam it through the wood.  Well, I'm amused if it's their tool, but really p!ssed if they are using my saw."Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

   "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

1. 
   BungalowJeff | Jul 18, 2007 04:54pm | #19

   I was cutting some filler strips and watched in dismay as my laser points about 1/8" off from the blade edge. I hate resetting the blade, but I have some custom cherry trim on order for the kitchen and caulk won't cut it.

   I told my wife I don't want him near my tools anymore. He wore out the velcro pad on ROS!...that's not a mistake, it's rustic

4. 
   Piffin | Jul 08, 2007 10:25pm | #4

   some guys will get offended if you use the term "chop saw" to speak about a mitre saw because they chop wood with an axe but they do trim cutting with a cho---ooops, 'scuse me, Mitre saw.

   I remember buying what I think was the first "motorized mitre saw" back in the seventies. It was a Rockwell 9" with a particleboard table I had to replace a couple of times. It got called a chopsaw from the beginning because in comparison to the earlier backsaw on a mitresaw frame or in a self-made wood mitre-box, the action of your arm was a chopping action instead of the old push/pull action.

    

    

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   Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
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5. 
   andybuildz | Jul 08, 2007 10:45pm | #5

   Real men call an electric miter saw a chop box.

    

   "Even if embryonic stem cells are absolutely good for nothing at all how can anyone in good conscience be against using them for research given that they are going to be destroyed anyway"?  J.Hayes

   http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra

   http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM                                 

    
1. 
   JMadson | Jul 08, 2007 10:52pm | #6

   Not that I have a great miter saw, but I would never insult mine with the moniker of Chop Saw. It's so much more than that.

   Yes, I agree that a miter saw is technically a chop saw, but if it cuts miters, why not call it a miter saw? 

1. 
   andybuildz | Jul 08, 2007 11:01pm | #7

   why do people call reciprocating saws Sawzalls and circular saws Skillsaws...who knows...ask the tool fairy : )
   all I know is when I'd ask any of my helpers to grab the chopper they knew what to get.

    

   "Even if embryonic stem cells are absolutely good for nothing at all how can anyone in good conscience be against using them for research given that they are going to be destroyed anyway"?  J.Hayes

   http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra

   http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM                                 

    

1. 
   grpphoto | Jul 09, 2007 04:05am | #10

   > why do people call reciprocating saws Sawzalls and circular saws Skillsaws...For the same reason that some people call any copier a "Xerox machine." Sawzall was the first recip in the US and Skill made the first circular saws.George Patterson

1. 
   andybuildz | Jul 09, 2007 04:32am | #11

   sorry...it was a rhetorical question. My point was that people just come up with names for what ever reason it is. They're not necessarily what the manufacturer intended..its just what happens.
   Screw gun, screw shooter.

    

   "Even if embryonic stem cells are absolutely good for nothing at all how can anyone in good conscience be against using them for research given that they are going to be destroyed anyway"?  J.Hayes

   http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra

   http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM                                 

    

6. 
   [email protected] | Jul 08, 2007 11:16pm | #8

   Back in the dark ages, woodworkers used radial arm saws, and steel workers used chop saws. 

   A chop saw, rotated down and through the steel, (chopping it off).  Originally they just chopped. Then someone decided they should be able to be rotated to cut angles, but could not bevel.  The chop saws aren't highly accurate, as you can actually fill in the gaps, so to speak when you are welding. 

   Then the tool companies came out with "miter saws, then compound miter saws, then sliding compound miter saws, and most recently belt drive  compound miter saws and sliding compound miter saws, which allow you to bevel to either side.  All designed for cutting wood, and with better accuracy than a chop saw. 

   Among guys who do primarily woodworking, all of the miter saws are occasionally referred to as chop saws by some people.  I work around a crew that does metal fabrication, and to them there is a huge difference in the two saws, and the terms are not interchangeable. 

1. 
   Piffin | Jul 09, 2007 12:10am | #9

   When I worked on a crew that did both welding and wood, we called the metal cutoff saw the chop-box, and called the wood miter saw, the chop saw and everyone seemed to understand fluently without error 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   junkhound | Jul 09, 2007 05:26am | #12

   sliding compound miter saws

   If'n I take and saw the arm off an old RAS and add a hinge, does it then qualify as a SCMS ????

1. 
   BillBrennen | Jul 09, 2007 07:16am | #13

   It only qualifies if you post a photo on Breaktime!Bill