Combination saws contain a single motor and blade and can be used as both a table saw and miter saw. I’m most familiar with the flip-style saws, having once worked with a carpenter who owned one. The table flipped; when the motor was up it was a miter saw and when the motor was down a table saw. Saws of this kind (my co-worker’s was an Elu) were sold in the U.S. for a brief period of time in the 1980s, but continue to be sold in Europe, where small work vehicles put a premium on space-saving designs. Combination machines save space by allowing two machines to fit in the space normally occupied by one.
Even more compact than flip-style saws (see: 50 Cool Things from an Over-the-Top Tool Shop) are the over-under models, which have a table below for the miter saw and a table above for the table saw. Such saws are readily available in Europe but not in the U.S. But Virutex has changed that by introducing their TM33 to the U.S. market. The saw comes with an 11.8-inch (300mm) blade and is said to also accept a 12-inch blade, though it’s unclear how that would work with a metric arbor. Capacity is low, with a maximum crosscut of 7 7/8 inches (200mm) at 0 degrees in miter saw mode—and that’s with the stock blocked up off the table. Maximum depth of cut in table saw mode is approximately 2 1/8 inch (55mm). The table is small and the specs don’t say anything about the maximum rip, but judging by the photos it appears to be somewhere around 6 inches.
Based on the specs—and the American belief that bigger is better—it’s hard to imagine who besides hobbyists might want this saw. In theory, a flooring installer might find it useful to be able to crosscut and rip with the same machine, though there is some changeover involved in going from miter to table saw mode so it might be just as easy to carry stock to a separate saw for ripping. I myself would have little use for a TM33 but it’s still an unusual machine from an interesting company. Among the unusual features of the saw are variable speed (you don’t see that on the average table or miter saw) and an adjustable grip. If you’re not familiar with Virutex, it’s a Spanish company known for tools aimed at cabinet and millwork shops. My first plate joiner was a Virutex because when I bought it the only other company that offered one here was Lamello—and theirs was too expensive. A couple of years back Jesse Wright wrote about using their lock-mortising machine to make mortised doors and I once reviewed their “power compass plane”, which has an adjustable shoe that can be made to conform to concave and convex surfaces.
TM33 Specs
Power input: 110 volts; 1,800 watts
No-load speed: 3,700 rpm
Blade diameter: 300mm (11.8 inches)
Weight: 46.3 pounds
Price: $750
The videos below are from the manufacturers. The first shows some of the features of the saw. The second is interesting because it shows speed being adjusted (2:04) and the guard that must be installed prior to ripping (2:16)
