Been a long time since i have posted here. Been almost that long since I got to do any woodworking/turning. But finally I got thrown in the brier patch. Grandma, who is 93, just got a run about powered scooter for her house. She needs the help just getting around at this point. In her kitchen right at the top of a steep set of basement stairs is where she has to make a 90 degree turn. To prevent her from going down the stairs I am building a baby - turned - Grandma gate. But this endeavor, pretty much the first non-turning I have tried, has shown me some flaws in my tool choices.
So like the subject says I have a question now that I am hoping the trusted mass voice of the Creek can help me with. I am hoping for recommendations from people who actually use tools and do woodworking. (Rather than being a framing contractor, or deck builder, or ... Not that those things are bad but the needed tolerances seem to be vastly different.) With a focus to be honest on getting real bang for the buck rather than the most expensive thing out there. Hopefully that is actually possible in this case.
When I first got started with woodworking and buying tools I made the mistake of trying to go cheap and buying tools from Harbor Freight. While there may be a few gems, and I have a few, their 10" sliding compound miter saw IS SO NOT ONE OF THEM. I tried to make some cuts recently just to square the end of a board and found that I can move the saw head left to right by at least 1/4 of an inch when it is extended without intentional effort and more if I really push. In looking to see if I could "fix or reduce this" I discovered that much of that flex is happening inside of the bearings on the slide rails. So this thing is going in the trash. I suppose if I was just cutting up firewood it would be fine but for anything more accurate it is just atrocious.
So in the last couple of weeks I have been researching miter saws online. Reading every review I can get my hands on. And if you listen to them Compound Miter Saws (CMS) and Sliding Compound Miter Saws (SCMS) are either the best tool ever made and how did they live without them or the absolutely the worst and were taken right back. I have been reading on DeWalt, Makita, Bosch, Milwaukee, and the Festool Kapex (which I keep seeing in online/youtube videos). But the problem for me is that many of the reviews are all over the place.
So in reading these review I have come up with some pretty fundamental questions. Some reviews claim perfect cuts, and all the others for the saw make and model refer to massive degree failures, crappy quality, no dust collection, and wobbly blades from each and every manufacturer. I.e. no one is the stand out winner. Some of this is clearly personal preference by the reviewers but I can't tell the difference between that, a lemon, and a saw that is truly best avoided. Except now in the case of the HF special.
I do not at this time make much in the way of fine wood projects, outside of turning, but I hope too. I am working my way in that direction and would like to make things for my 3 young children. At this moment I am trying to make the "grandma gate" I mentioned to keep her and the family that visit her safe. I tried to just square up the end of some relatively long boards, about 7', and found that was really unwieldy on my table saw after giving up on the HF SCMS. I tried to cross cut the boards I had purchase into 28", 32", and 38" lengths on my table saw and this was for my shop layout and my skills/experience dangerously unwieldy. So a CMS/SCMS seems like a good idea for doing this kind of work. Cut it down, hopefully accurately and then go on thru the rest of the milling process.
Given that I assume, unlike me, many of you started out some time ago, and I would assume have upgraded tools a time or too. Do any of you creekers have suggestions that you might want to share in regards to this process and especially on a CMS/SCMS?
I swear it seems that everyone online now has a Kapex saw but I watch so many videos I might be mistaken and getting a bad sample size. That is a truly great looking saw, I even went to woodcraft and checked it out, but over $1300 is just out of my price range at the moment. Even the $500-$600 that every thing else that seems to be in the running makes me flinch just a tad. But this time I want a tool that will last "for a good long while" rather than the $100+ I put into this HF piece of junk that is now just wasted bucks.
Are there any other miter saws that you all would feel comfortable recommending to a relative beginner with somewhat modest to middling aspirations? Does one model or brand strike you as the top of the heap or even just "better" than most? Also is a 12" a necessity or is a 10" good enough? Sliding or a non-sliding saw? Etc... Seriously I am open to answers and suggestions from one and all.
Sorry to pester and annoy but hoping you will all let me pick your brains just a bit as I feel totally stuck on this one. I get that a table saw can do most if not all of this work once you master it's capabilities. But after what felt like 100 test cuts trying to align the miter gauge and discovering the the TS sled I made a few years ago, but never really used, was warped beyond all belief I am clearly not all that capable with it.
Thanks,
Joshua