Accurate cuts on a compound miter saw (CMS)

[Mike Manders]

I really avoid using my CMS in the shop because I haven't found a good dust control solution. It sprays a huge cloud of dust and chips that covers everything within 10 feet. I much prefer the table saw + sled if I'm working accurately on small parts.

That said, it's great if I have a bunch of flooring to install or other construction work. I just drag it out onto the patio and aim the cloud at my neighbor's place ;-) If anyone has a good suggestion for controlling the mess on a big 12" sliding CMS it might see more use in the shop.

[Ole Anderson]

I have a Milwaukee 10", but if I need dead on accuracy, I go to my TS and a sled which I adjusted using the 5 cut method to get within a thou at 12 inches. I laughed when I first read that you can get that kind of accuracy. Just get a piece of plywood a little bigger than a foot square and trim, rotate and trim, repeat until you have rotated the board 4 times, then get a small offcut on your fifth cut. Use a caliper to measure each end of the offcut. Shim your back fence with a piece of a playing or business card and repeat until each end of the offcut is within 4/1000" and you have 1/1000" for a single cut on a 12" board. Don't be surprised if your 12" board ends up at 10 inches square by the time you dial it in. I don't see why you couldn't do the same on a slider or RAS using a different method of adjustment.

I hear you on the dust collection of a miter saw, mine is not quite so bad as I have a hood on it with dust collection, but, yea, it does spray stuff all over, but I would say I am catching 90-95% of the sawdust. I just installed 400 sf of Pergo in my basement and it was so nice to walk 25 feet to the TS with full dust collection for ripping and cross cutting that material.

[Erik Christensen]

only thing I would add is you mentioned crown molding... the kapex angle finder with the crown molding accessory makes it totally easy to cut perfect interior/exterior crown miters was a revelation to me - I could hang crown molding without a coping saw... YAH. I loaned the saw to a buddy who is NOT a craftsman.. after half a room of training I apprehensively left him to it.. he & his wife did the rest of their house and it looks dang good

[Greg Portland]

I am in the market for a compound miter saw and would like advice on type (slider vs glider vs fixed) and brand. The most important quality to me is repeatable accuracy so that I can precision cut rails, stiles, and mitered frames. For accurate cuts on boards wider than 10-12 inches, I will use a crosscut sled on my SawStop. I will also use the CMS to rough cut long lumber up to 8 or 10 inches wide and occasionally cut crown molding. Finally, I don’t have a lot of room behind the saw so a standard slider is out. From most reviews it seems like the Kapex is the best saw for what I want but at a premium price. Any other options that would meet my needs? Am I stupid to think I can get precision cuts on a CMS? Thanks.

Sure, you can get precision cuts. If you are not moving the saw around then I would strongly consider an industrial option like CTD, Omga, or Kalamazoo. These machines are incredibly accurate and beefy (real 3HP motors, a few hundred pounds of cast iron, etc.).

If you're looking for something portable (or < $1k), I would check out the latest Milwaukee CMS... IMO it's a big improvement over their older models (from 2 years ago).

[Greg Portland]

only thing I would add is you mentioned crown molding... the kapex angle finder with the crown molding accessory makes it totally easy to cut perfect interior/exterior crown miters was a revelation to me - I could hang crown molding without a coping saw... YAH. I loaned the saw to a buddy who is NOT a craftsman.. after half a room of training I apprehensively left him to it.. he & his wife did the rest of their house and it looks dang good

Does this operate differently than the Starrett ProSite?