Woodworking crosscut tools: Feedback needed

[rbstern]

Appreciate all the feedback.

I'm thinking about the Craftsman 10" compact sliding miter saw, and the Ryobi 7 1/4" sliding miter saw. Both use up about 32" of depth, which is a lot less than most of the sliding miter saws, and both have good crosscut capacity (12" and 10", respectively). Craftsman markets a 7 1/4" compact sliding miter saw, but it maxes out at a 8" crosscut, which is too small.

 

[herm0016]

I am a woodworker also.

i use my 12 in sliding compound quite a lot.
I think i would replace my table saw with a track saw and a good router with the track mounting.

I would not get anything less than a 12 in blade and i would spring for something like the Bosch that does not have the rails that slide out the back. the kapex from festool is a great saw as well, but very expensive. i think craftsman had one with a similar rail design?

i have an older rigid that works well, but it is very heavy and takes up a lot of space.

 

[Ford850]

I love using my sliding compound miter saw. I have a basement shop, so dust collection is a must. I can control dust from most tools, but my miter saw makes a mess. Dust in the air and sawdust flies everywhere, even with my dust collector on. Maybe a zero clearance style saw would help by allowing a more compact hood to pull in the dust.

 

[MechE1]

I bought the 12 inche Dewalt compound miter back when they came out, way before they had sliders. I made a wall mounted bench (no legs) 20ft long and topped it with 3/4ply and then 1/4 lauan. 4 inch angle as a fence. Welded up large steel angle braces and lagged them to the wall. Made a steel frame for the top and it's bolted on. It's been working and running for 20 years. Every few years I buy a new adhesive tape and replace the existing stuck to the angle and saw fence. Only hassle is when I have a big project and it's downstairs mounted and all flush, cutting well, and tape measure is all set up. Then I have to un-mount and take where needed and put on horses. I also built in a radial arm saw. Clearly the steel fence will not work and replaced with Baltic Birch that can be replaced after the integrity is gone. I will do it again when I upgrade to a slider and move the shop out of the basement.

 

[GLyford]

Good reason to have two, so as not to disturb the "in the shop" saw...

 

[MechE1]

Excellent point GLyford! An actual reason to have more tools and not just an excuse. If I were to start from scratch, I would try to build it such that the saw was inset into the wall and only enough room for the fence and all in front of the fence. With current setup there's 10 inches or so between the fence and the wall and that's nothing but a catch-all even with the best intentions. Even if it wasn't a catch-all (never reality) it does catch dust. Not sure how realistic that thought is, but I like the idea. It would also save space by moving the bench inwards 10 inches. Whatever hassle there is to create the inset would be gained by saving space if that's ever an issue, and most of the time it is. One would just have to be careful to make sure the inset had the ability to accommodate different saws/sizes for future upgrades or replacements.

 

[HCJtractor]

I'm in the middle of outfitting my new basement workshop with power tools. The centerpiece is a cabinet saw I already own. I'm contemplating crosscutting setups, one of my most common operations. I can make a crosscut sled for my table saw for fine woodworking, but I also do a lot of 2x4 type projects (workbenches, functional homestead stuff like chicken coop, etc.), for which a crosscut sled is the wrong tool. Currently have an old B&D 10" miter saw on a mobile stand. Works fine, except for the very limited capacity (have to flip 2x6 to complete a cut). I'm thinking about replacing it with something that will give me more capacity, maybe with a laser guide, to make it easier on my aging eyes. Do like the big sliding miter saws, but they take up an enormous amount of space due to the tool depth.

So: New miter saw? Sliding miter?

What do you have? What do you like?

You should consider a smaller sliding compound saw, like the Hitachi 8 1/2”. It has plenty of capacity for most work and is way smaller than those giant sliders (I have both). But my Hitachi is permanently mounted and I use it for all my furniture building. I strongly recommend installing an Incra fence system with a flip stop so repeated cuts can be done perfectly without measuring. This set up takes up very little space and works great. Mine doesn’t have a laser, but with the magnifier on the flip stop, you don’t need it. Plus I don’t trust lasers anyway.
Either of these stops work great but I like the flip stop so I can square a longer board without losing my set index. Plus these saws are relatively cheap, around $300

 

[HCJtractor]

I recall about 25 years ago an article in PoP Mech. that stated if you had to have just one saw for a shop, it should be a radial arm. An entire wall is dedicated to the set-up however as the saw is also capable of ripping as well as cc's.

Radial arm saws are good for many things but great at nothing. They have really gone out of favor since the development of the sliding compounds. With a good table saw and a sliding compound, you can do most anything very precisely, especially if you build a sled for your table saw. The only thing I sometimes wish for is a radial arm to do dadoes across wider boards, like for shelving dadoes, but I use my router instead.

 

[dragoneggs]

I still have my dad's old 1963? Craftsman Radial Arm Saw with stand and accessories. I just can't seem to part with it even though I took it out of commission more than 10 years ago. It built an entire house, cabinets, and some furniture among smaller jobs and is sentimental. I know I should get rid of it just to free up the space but hard thing to do. :weepy:

 

[joeu235]

Radial arm saws are good for many things but great at nothing. They have really gone out of favor since the development of the sliding compounds. With a good table saw and a sliding compound, you can do most anything very precisely, especially if you build a sled for your table saw. The only thing I sometimes wish for is a radial arm to do dadoes across wider boards, like for shelving dadoes, but I use my router instead.

And making dental molding

 

[2manyrocks]

Radial saws lost out to miter saws because radial saws aren't easy to transport to a jobsite and because they go out of alignment if you so much as move them a fraction of an inch in the shop. Then there are the safety issues with radial saws. I'm not even sure they had saw guards for many years and then the ones they put on them were not so great protection.

The OP realistically needs to look at what he's going to cut and then decide if he needs or wants a slider.

 

[dragoneggs]

Radial saws lost out to miter saws because radial saws aren't easy to transport to a jobsite and because they go out of alignment if you so much as move them a fraction of an inch in the shop. Then there are the safety issues with radial saws. I'm not even sure they had saw guards for many years and then the ones they put on them were not so great protection.

The OP realistically needs to look at what he's going to cut and then decide if he needs or wants a slider.

Yeah, I was always a bit scared of my radial arm saw. Absolutely hated turning the head to rip boards. As far as slider vs. non mitre, I suggest getting a slider and a compound so you aren't kicking yourself later on capacity/capability.

 

[tjkubota93]

Appreciate all the feedback.

I'm thinking about the Craftsman 10" compact sliding miter saw, and the Ryobi 7 1/4" sliding miter saw. Both use up about 32" of depth, which is a lot less than most of the sliding miter saws, and both have good crosscut capacity (12" and 10", respectively). Craftsman markets a 7 1/4" compact sliding miter saw, but it maxes out at a 8" crosscut, which is too small.

I have a dewalt 12" compound sliding saw like alot of others. Before that I had a dewalt 10" non slider and a kobalt 7 1/4" sliding compound bought as kind of a stop gap to make bigger cuts.

Getting the big high quality saw was extremely painful to me being a real tightwad, but that thing is a joy to use. Buy once cry once right?

Getting dewalt 12 compound slider, there are 3 basic options high dollar with shadow laser thing, midway saw with no laser thingy but same high quality mechanicanism, and cheapy big box crappy one. Dont get the crappy one. You can google that or read amazon reviews to figure out the right part #.

The only disadvantage to it besides the price is it is a heavy turd to move around. It's so nice to use, that doesn't bother me at all.

If you dont do any fine projects it may not matter to you as much.

 

[sld]

I have a panel saw that will cross cut 48". It is a very useful tool for the times when my chop saw is too small. Table saw for any sheet ripping.

 

[2manyrocks]

With Sears having filed bankruptcy this week, it brings back memories of buying a radial saw from them and the days when so many homeowners bought power tools from them before Harbor Freight and Home Depot came along.

There could be some liquidation sales on tools at Sears coming soon which is sort of a bittersweet situation for those of us that miss the old Sears and have plenty of Craftsman reminders in our shops.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Yeah, I was always a bit scared of my radial arm saw. Absolutely hated turning the head to rip boards. As far as slider vs. non mitre, I suggest getting a slider and a compound so you aren't kicking yourself later on capacity/capability.

I prefer to rip on a tablesaw.

I have sears radial arm saw, joiner, routers, scroll saw.

 

[downsizingnow48]

This thread made me remember the old Rockwell miter saws, the first on the market. We used the dickens out of those things. Lots better available now, but for its time, this was a real game changer.

 

[ededic]

Like most who posted here, I have DEWALT 12 compound miter bought in 1990. I recently built a out feed table setup similar to HJCTractor. Gotta love Rockler, I think I spend more there than we do on groceries. For reference, here is the Kreg Precision Measuring Systems Kit

My out-feed table has built in dust collection for the sander (finished dust collection not in pictures) and the bench mounted Kreg Jig K4 Pocket Hole System. I have the saw table on a screw lift to allow vertical adjustment on other tools like the planer.

 

[/pine]

This thread made me remember the old Rockwell miter saws, the first on the market. We used the dickens out of those things. Lots better available now, but for its time, this was a real game changer.

I've still got a couple of them (the original "chop saw")...sure speeded things up from a miter box and back saw for production work...!

The darn drive belts cost more than the saws are worth these days...

 

[Egon]

With Sears having filed bankruptcy this week, it brings back memories of buying a radial saw from them and the days when so many homeowners bought power tools from them before Harbor Freight and Home Depot came along.

There could be some liquidation sales on tools at Sears coming soon which is sort of a bittersweet situation for those of us that miss the old Sears and have plenty of Craftsman reminders in our shops.

There was a time Quality and Sears went together. In the present the quality has been left behind.

I have a 1968 sears RAS. It has and still does see a lot of use.