Too Much Miter Saw?

[Dan Case LR]

I've spent some time today working with a few ideas for cabinets in my shop that will allow my 13" planer (Ridgid TP1300) and SCMS (a Dewalt DW-708 12" double-bevel slider) to share infeed/outfeed. The more I work on this, the harder it is to avoid the realization that as nice as a saw as the DW708 is, the thing is a worse space hog than my '66 Olds 88 was back in the day. The footprint isn't that bad for a 12" saw. The problem is those doggone slides. To position the planer and SCMS such that they both line up with the infeed/outfeed supports, I'd need to have a cabinet around 42" deep! That sort of blows the whole "best use of space" goal.

All this has led me to question whether I really need that much miter saw. I bought it about 10 years ago, when I was doing some remodeling. Compared to the beating some saws get, this thing has been coddled. I sat back and tried to remember the last time I had to make a compound (double-bevel) cut with it. As best I can recall, it was a little molding job about 8 years ago.

Do I really need this much saw in a one-man woodworking shop? Would I be better served to sell the DW708 and buy a non-slider? At the time that I bought the DW708, my table saw was a borrowed Ridgid "baby" jobsite saw, so the extra capability of the slider was useful. Is it still useful today? I have a Grizzly G1023 cabinet saw now, so the dynamic is a little different.

I know there are newer saws with much slimmer footprints, such as Bosch's Glider and the Hitachi with the backwards slides. I'm not so sure that I can justify the cost in this case.

What are your thoughts, braintrust? Should I step back to a 10" or 12" non-slider, or is there goo reason to go the extra mileage on a space-saving slider?

Thanks!

D.

[frank shic]

i have a dewalt 706 and i wish i could go back a notch and lose the beveling feature. i've yet to use it since i started cutting crown molding in position! before you sell your current miter saw though i believe the sliders give a nicer cut, no?

[Rich Engelhardt]

I feel I'm covered pretty well with a DeWalt 10" non-slider, a Ridgid TS3660 contractor saw and a Festool TS55EQ track saw. Those, plus the 6" Ridgid jointer (for a beveled edge on non- sheet goods) can handle just about everything.
It's a very rare piece of material that leaves me scratching my head wondering how I'm going to cut it & those times it's usually a very small piece of wood that's the culprit - stuff in the under 3" wide/long catagory.

It may just be me, but, other than the convienience I can't see much of a point in having a slider. Anything too big to go under my 10" non-slider is big enough to go under the track saw. Ditto for aything too unwieldy to easily go through the table saw.
All things considered - such as the added cost of a slider - the track saw was a bargin, even @ Festool prices.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Wow is this thread well timed! I have been having the same debate with myself about my DW718. It started with being frustrated with the dust collection, which is terrible at best. I tried to modify the dust chute from a 780, but that didn't work. I will try again by modifying the original dust chute. The footprint of the thing also cause me some grief in my small shop.

This led me down the path of thinking really what I need a SCMS for - the occasional miter or bevel cut, or cutting down long stock into more manageable pieces for the TS. I cannot remember the last time I did a compound cut. I use my TS sled for larger straight cuts, so the slide feature doesn't get used often. I'll definitely keep the 718 but maybe I'll relegate it to garage duty. I am toying with getting a smaller slider, maybe a 10", but would go for one of the "apace saving" models I've I can get myself to spend the $$.

[Mike Cutler]

Dan

If it doesn't fit your work flow, get something that does.
That's a big mitersaw, and a good one. I don't know that I'd get rid of it, but I might be tempted to replace it in the shop and store it out of the way, because the day you sell it, the next weekend a friend will ask for your help building a deck or something for which it's the perfect jobsite saw. Your tablesaw more or less rendered the sliding function obsolete for your uses, so losing a sliding miter in the shop wouldn't be an issue.
I have an old DeWalt 705 12" Miter, non slider, and it's too big for my small shop at times, but I use it alot, so I deal with it.

[Mark Burnette]

I kept my old Sears RAS for this reason. I already had a Makita SCMS but the rear projection meant it had to sit way out on the floor--& I didn't want to give up the floorspace. The Makita is great for portability & I'm glad I have it. All the units I see today at the borg have grown to bloated proportions and really need 2 people to safely lift.

[glenn bradley]

This may get me shot but, I have no room in my shop for a miter saw or a radial arm saw. The real estate required versus the benefit just isn't there for me. I know we have a large contingent who will die without their CMS or RAS and I understand that. There are also shops without tablesaws which I cannot understand . Do you do a lot of trim work where you need to compound-miter long stock? Judge the value of the tool, to you, versus the other tools that could occupy the same footprint.

[Tom Willoughby]

I upgraded from a 10" chop saw to a 12" Hitachi sliding compound miter saw because I found the 10" chop saw too limiting (good for 2" x 4" framing). I find the SCMS to be a luxury as I can use my table saw if required but it was a pain converting my table saw to cross cut long pieces. I leave the SCMS on one end of my 12 foot work bench and use it to cross cut longer pieces. It's a big saw but I only use the middle section of the work bench mostly so it takes up space that I wouldn't normally use anyway (other than pile junk on), which still happens in the middle of my bench :-(

Tom

[Sam Murdoch]

One of the best "down grades" I ever made was in regards to my sliding compound miter - went from a huge Hitachi to a 7-1/2" Makita - here is a review: http://mitresawreviews.com/makita/ls0714/

This thing is very light (which means I don't mind carrying it to wherever the work happens to be) and still has the capacity to do big work. My shop station for this saw is 25" deep. I set the saw table to be at the same height as a bench and my table saw and we all work happily together. May still be more saw than you need (price wise it's nearly right up there with the big cousins) but certainly worth a look. The only deficiency is when installing crown - for that I have a 14" Hitachi non slider. That baby cuts crown

[Robert Chapman]

I have a Bosch Glider and don't think that I will ever need a different miter saw. The footprint is small, the accuracy is great, the dust collection is good, the controls are very friendly, the price was large.

[Scott Pearson]

I have a 12" Bosch and I hate it. It is soo big and clunky, ok sure it cuts good and when I bought it I though it was what I needed, however, after having it for 5 years I have decided it's is too much. I am working on trim in the basement right now and had to hump that darn thing down the stairs this weekend it is big, heavy and awkward. In my shop it does not work out either, the choice is keep it out on the bench and take up the space or put in under the bench and risk straining my back anytime I need it.

I would like to sell it at some point and go with a 10" slider. I think that that would be a better fit for me.

Scott

[Dan Case LR]

After seriously examining this issue from all sides, I've come to a conclusion. Yesterday, I bought a Hitachi C12RSH (the Hitachi slider that can be placed close to the wall) from Lowes for $399. It's not my dream saw, but then again about half of the "dream" anythings I've landed over the years turned out to be nightmares. There are a few saws that I'd rather have, but this one addresses the situation well at a manageable price.

I'm cleaning up the DW708, mounting it on the DW730 contractor stand I bought with it (that's been underfoot for the past few years), giving it a cheap but respectable new blade (I'm keeping the Chopmaster, thankyouverymuch!) and putting it on the market. It's a great saw, and if I were out contracting these days I'd keep it--but I'm not, and I don't have room to store it (if I had the room, this whole discussion wouldn't have happened).

The C12RSH is a great compromise if you can't afford the Bosch Glider. The dual rails are set up so that you can lock them in the forward position and slide the head on the fixed rails. I don't know if it's as tight to the wall as the Glider would be, but it's a whole lot better than the Dewalt, and still has the advantages of a slider. The one thing I would change if I could is the vertical handle. I prefer horizontal, but I can adapt to most anything that works well.

The Hitachi was aligned on-the-money right out of the box and at $399 it's a great buy, IMHO. It has a laser that is fine-adjustable to align it perfectly with the saw kerf. Unfortunately, where it's mounted--behind the blade--the laser is blocked while actually cutting. The best feature of that laser is a switch with which you may turn it off. Ignore the laser, and it's still a good buy.

D.

[Tom Willoughby]

Good buy Dan. That is the same saw that I purchased with virtually the same thought process. It's not quite the Bosch glider but has more bang for the buck and it has a small footprint behind the saw with the glide rails locked forward. I thought the laser was a gimick but once it is set accurately, I now run my mark to the laser and go without having to eyeball the blade like I used to.

Tom

[Ken Frohnert]

I have a small shop 12x20 and I needed a new miter saw. I really like the sliders but I just came to the conclusion that I did not have room for a conventional slider. For my hobby work I could not justify a 800 dollar glider. That front sliding Hitachi is nice but it is a very big saw. I finally, just bought a 12" fixed and it should be here this week. I have been told by a very good woodworker that the fixed are slightly more accurate than the sliders; he had a slider and went back to a fixed for accuracy. Just my 2 cents ... your 2 cents can differ.

[Dave Lewis]

Dan:

Going back to your initial post, I aligned my SCMS miter saw (10" Makita) with a BenchDog router table. They reside 'across" from the Unisaw so extra wide workpieces can use those tables as well. I use T-nuts and 5/16" bolts on the feet to fine-tune the hgt.


The 13" lunchbox Delta planer sits on its own "wheelbarrow" stand, so I can wheel it into a corner when not needed.