Hi, I am considering purchasing a decent sliding compound mitre saw eg Hitachi C10Fs to use for cabinet making duties- I am hoping to make cross cuts good enough for the usual stiles , rails etc.- are these types of saw accurate enough for this job or would I do better buying a cabinet saw- I already own a bandsaw for ripping, resawing etc. so I do not need a cabinet saw for this job. Space is also tight in my shop. Any comments would be gratefully received!
NiallD
Replies
Check the tool tests for accuracy of particular models, but it should do the job if you are working on a good flat surface and use stop blocks of some sort to guarantee equal lengths of complimentary pieces.
Over the long haul, the simpler compound miter saw may prove more accurate since it has fewer parts to wear. These use significantly less space than the sliding models and the 12" have pretty good cutting capacity.
Have you considered a radial arm saw? The good ones are very accurate, will give you a longer crosscut, and the added benefits of dado cuts for tenons, etc. Granted, they take up a bit more space and cost more, but they're much more versatile machines.
Jeff
Agreed - another thing worth at least looking at is how easy is it to adjust if it does get off. Its one of the things I most appreciate about the DeWalt 12" compound. It is easy to fine tune it to perfect 45's and 90's and adjust your preset stops accordingly. I have a 10" Delta that I love as a regular old saw and it's certainly a simpler version of the same thing, but much more difficult to adjust as the majority of things aren't adjustable.
The Ridgid 12" CMS is also dead on and easy to adjust. There are alot of good saws on the market and I think that a good CMS is an important part of a shop. I use mine constantly.
Good luck finding what you want.
Matt-
P.S. if you feel so inclined I would buy both the cabinet saw and a CMS, that is if the budget will float both purchases.
I used an 8" slide compound mitre saw (Elu) for making many hundreds of thousands of cuts for parquet and having used the 10" mitre saws, both DeWalt and Ryobi, I can say that there is no comparison in accuracy.
The 8" blade is much stiffer and far less prone to 'walk' on a mitre than the 10" or 12", especially when both are a little dull.
The 8" SCMS will cut the same width timber that the 10" mitre saw will. If I were buying, I'd look at the Hitachi 81/2" SCMS at about $370.
"A general comment on SCMS accuracy: it's generally good enough for cabinetmaking but not as accurate as the table saw"
Dave,
Try cutting the elements for this pattern on a tablesaw.
View Image
The tablesaw is not within miles of the accuracy required -- every discrepancy is multiplied across the floor don't forget, so a 128th" undersize soon becomes a 1" gap.
Edited 10/29/2002 3:46:38 PM ET by IanDG
Ian,
Show off!
Just kidding. You sure do make beautiful floors!
R
Wow. You can do my floors any day!
Ian.. which SCMS did you use for this work? When you recommend the Hitachi 8 1/2" SCMS do you do so from experience or from what you've heard? I really am fired up about owning a piece of gear that cuts with the precision you have displayed here. Thanks,
bill
Bill,I used an Elu, which I don't think is available here. The advantage of that one is that the blade is belt driven so there wasn't the usual slop that you get with gear-driven.The Hitachi, which I do have, was bought after reference to my guru, the guy who repairs and maintains my power tools and he judges by how seldom tools are brought in to him for repair! He said that or the Ryobi were the best of the bunch. I prefer the 8" blade as there is less flex with it than the 10" or 12".
Ryobi, eh? Well that sets me to thinking on a differnt path. Ryobi makes Craftsman power tools and I've been looking at the Craftsman 12-inch CMS with "Laser Trac technology". I once heard Norm (NYW) bemoaning that fact that the manufacturer of his CMS no longer made the laser model. And if the laser really does line up the cut as advertised.. well, lets just say I can use all the help I can get in that regard. What do you think?
bill
I tried the Ryobi 8" SCMS out for a short while and was impressed -- there wasn't really much between that and the Hitachi -- they both seemed as accurate. I still have reservations about a 12" blade -- I've used them in a mitre saw and there seems to be far more movement on anything but a square cut.I've never used a saw with a laser guide -- I retrofitted a spotlight to my Elu which helped my worn-out old eyes see a marking knife cut on dark timber -- I'd like to try it. After a time, of course, you get to know exactly where the blade will cut anyway.I've never used Craftsman tools, so I can't comment.
Judging by the one in my shop, the Elus were available here, but I have no idea who distributes them. They are well built saws.
I was told by someone -- I forget who -- that the Elu is no longer sold on the US market. They were taken over by Black and Decker so whether that had something to do with it I don't know.
I think you're right. The Elu routers appear to have disappeared as well, really unfortunate as they are the best I've used. The post-acquisition Dewalt routers do bear a striking resemblence to them though.
Apples & oranges. Nice drive-by workmanship gloat, but your response is off-topic since the question was in regard to cabinetmaking in a shop setting.
My response was to your statement below -- the "drive-by workmanship gloat" comment was uncalled for.
A general comment on SCMS accuracy: it's generally good enough for cabinetmaking but not as accurate as the table saw. When I want accurate 90 degree cutoffs or 45 degree miters, I go to the table saw. Careful technique with a sliding cutoff box or properly equipped miter gauge produces cuts that show no light beneath my square's blade.
The whole of the pictured floor was cut in the shop -- not kneeling on the floor and many of the cuts, especially those in the chain border, would be impossible to make on a tablesaw.
Ian,
I do 3 floors a day like this with my Diston! That sliding nonsense just slows you down. Slacker! haha
Great work.
Don
I do 3 floors a day like this with my Diston!You've been listening to Chas, haven't you!
How did I give myself away? ;^)
Do you nail these floors down? If so, pnumatic or hammer powered? The small pieces look susceptible to splitting. Pre drill?
Don
Don,No mechanical fixings, everything is glued down and some pieces, the elements of the chain border, for instance, are glued down and to each other.The beauty of a pattern like this is you can use up all your small off-cuts!!
Thanks for the reply Dave,
I took your advice and went for a used but good cabinet saw, however a CMSM is still on the cards for maybe next year.
Niall
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