Does a woodworker really need a sliding-compound miter saw?

[Bill Graham]

I just thought I'd throw this out and see what comes back.

Personally: I cut my teeth back in the dinosaur age when a RAS was the preferred cutoff machine, a good one weighed in at several hundred pounds and took a day to set up. But you could get a dead-nuts straight crosscut at 90 degrees up to 24" wide depending on how big a saw you wanted to buy.

Now we have the lightweight saws that do everything and tilt every which way but upside-down, but they only cut 12" at 90 and more-or-less straight. Even the most expensive saws with the best blades can't produce a straight cut to furniture-grade standards on a standard FAS board(8" or less), much less at 12". I realize this is subjective but I have yet to get a crosscut from my Kapex with the Forrest Chopmaster blade that I can hold up to a light against a straightedge and not see gaps in the cut. To me, that's not furniture-grade quality. Back in that dinosaur age when I cut for a trim crew with a 12" B&D Pro compound miter saw, it was good enough for what we were doing but it definitely wasn't furniture-grade.

We all have table saws that have remarkably precise bevel adjustments and miter gauges that equal or exceed the accuracy of the tablesaw, where's the need for a chopsaw that doesn't compare in accuracy? If you're not a trim carpenter how do you justify the need for a tool like this to use in your shop, other than convenience? And do you need to spend $500-$1500 and the space it occupies in your shop for that convenience?

Like I said, I'm just throwing this out for discussion. Let's hear your thoughts.

[Victor Robinson]

Agree, total luxury and not necessary. Before I started extensive remodeling and trim work in my house, my shop didn’t have a SCMS. I actually got rid of a Hitachi CMS I had taking up space and collecting dust. My TS and crosscut sled were more than sufficient for all my crosscutting needs as I wasn’t needing finish cuts on pieces longer than 4 ft. But at that time I also did much smaller woodworking projects.

Will I get rid of my Kapex when I’m done with all the reno work? I’m not sure, but squeezing it into a permanent (and usable) home in the shop is definitely going to be challenging.

[Derek Cohen]

What is the need? I guess if someone was butt joining with floating tenons, the end must be spot-on.

A cross-cut table saw will square panels and the ends of boards. Ditto to break down long rough sawn boards. I prefer this. I do not own a SCMS.

I use a shooting board and hand plane to square ends of drawer fronts.

Mouldings are sawn on a mitre box and then shot with a plane.

Tenon shoulders (of M&T joinery) are chiseled square, with traditionally sawn cheeks. I do not use floating tenons (I do have a Domino but do not use it when building most furniture).

So, I do not envisage ever owning a SCMS (noisy, horrible machines).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chris Hachet]

What is the need? I guess if someone was butt joining with floating tenons, the end must be spot-on.

A cross-cut table saw will square panels and the ends of boards. Ditto to break down long rough sawn boards. I prefer this. I do not own a SCMS.

I use a shooting board and hand plane to square ends of drawer fronts.

Mouldings are sawn on a mitre box and then shot with a plane.

Tenon shoulders (of M&T joinery) are chiseled square, with traditionally sawn cheeks. I do not use floating tenons (I do have a Domino but do not use it when building most furniture).

So, I do not envisage ever owning a SCMS (noisy, horrible machines).

Regards from Perth

Derek

I agree completely.

[Bryan Cramer]

I am pretty much on par with everyone else. i have an old 10" Makita on a folding cart stand. It is used for construction work, trim and breaking down boards. It is very handy when building shop projects too. I don't want to dedicate space to a shop made cabinet stand with extension wings so the stand I have folds like a wheel barrow and is perfect to tuck away in the corner or roll it on site. Everything else is cut with the table saw or by hand.

[Brian Holcombe]

I’ve tuned my Kapex to crosscut accurately. It won’t show light when I use a square and backlight to check. You can adjust using the three screws along the front, it takes some doing.....more than I expected.

[Bill Bukovec]

I would say that for woodworking it's nice to have, but not needed. Especially if you have a tablesaw. I use my miter saw a lot for construction type projects. Building chicken coops, installing trim, and framing, etc.

[Robert Cherry]

I have both. I see them as two very different tools. I think the RAS, when set up properly, provides a better and more square cut. It is my go-to tool for cross cutting in the shop. I don't use it for angled cuts. I have a Bosch sliding miter saw for angled cuts, which it excels at. Importantly, dust collection on my RAS is far more effective than on my miter saw.

[Mike Henderson]

I have a Kapex and it works great for me. I only wish it was a 12" instead of a 10".

Mike

[Ed Labadie]

No, at least in my world.

I've an old Milwaukee 10" scms, fine for framing, thats it. I won't attempt to use it for any highly accurate cuts. It deflects like no other, a long bevel cut is an exercise in futility.

Whether it gets cut on the ts or an ras, I'll take the extra time.

For small cuts straight or angled sometimes I'll use my old Mikwaukee chop saw, after some modification it'll cut dead nuts.....but very limited capacity. Very handy when a dedicated saw is needed.

Ed

[glenn bradley]

You are seeing the typical polarized answers on this. Folks that use 'em wouldn't want to be without. Those of us that do those things another way don't really care. I moved to making those types of cuts other ways just due to not having the footprint for a dedicated SCMS or RAS. Having one in the shop would be cool if I had extra space. Mine lives in the shed and comes out for trim jobs and the like.

[Christian Setla]

I had one for years, a Hitachi job. Nice and accurate, but I just could not dedicate the space to those pesky linear rods sticking out the back. In the 10 years I had it, the only time I was actually glad I had it was when I had a bunch of fence boards that needed to be dog eared. Other than that, it was just too much work to set up for a cut, so I used something else.

Today there are several saws that have the linear rods mounted towards the front, and thus not in the way. But, in the end, I decided it's just not worth the effort for me and the kind of work I do. I'm also not planing on building another fence!

I think it's one of those "depends" question, which is why it seems people are so polarized.

Christian

[Andrew Hughes]

My Bosch glide has chopmaster on it. And it earns its space in my shop small shop I can get flat cuts on most anything even hickory.
If it didn't I would find a saw that did.

[Robert Engel]

My experience is the same: the reliability of a RAS to cut true every time. It is just not going to happen unless you have the old iron or a very expensive model - an never change a setting!!.

A miter saw, OTOH, I would expect to get repeatable accurate cuts. I would be sorely disappointed if I had an expensive saw like a Kapex with unrepeatable results.

Therefore I use a RAS for a rough cut. I do final cuts on either a tablesaw sled or my Jessem miter gauge. If I'm looking to be dead on accurate, I go to the shooting board.

[Wayne Lomman]

Well said, Doug! I also strongly disagree with the basic premise that everything must be X vs Y. Think things through and there are always a range of options. Some we may like, others we may not.

In this case, the different saws have different uses and these uses can change with the job at hand. Use what you have that does the best job and suits the task at hand. Flexible thinking makes for better craft workers.

And to those who hate the noise of a mitre saw, stop being cheapskates and buy a workshop mitre saw, not a worksite mitre saw. Do you really think good workshops use throw away plastic rubbish and send all the workforce deaf? A workshop mitre saw is a solid machine made by professional machine tool manufacturers with a quiet , continuous running motor that is a dream to use. You can't buy one at your local big box hardware. Cheers