question on miter saw needs

[unimog]

Hi,

I was all ready with a plan in hand to make a new miter saw cabinet/cart with extensions, when I started to have doubt. Do I need a miter saw or are there other tools that can fulfill the same use? My shop is small and space is always in need.

The miter saw has been used up to now for the following application:
- to cut rough sawn board to length before milling
- final dimension cut for long boards
- crown molding

But the same applications may be achieved with other tools or set up already in hand and/or relatively inexpensive jigs.
For example, a circular saw or a jig saw could be used for rough sawn board to workable length.
Maybe using a hand saw to get close to dimension on long boards and than using a shooting board and plane to get the correct length.
A miter sled on the table saw or a miter box and hand saw may take care of the crown molding.

Is there anything that I will be missing if I drop the miter saw from the shop?
I sure will not miss all the dust that it makes.

Thanks in advance for any comment or experience shared,
E

 

[Jeff]

I've never had a miter saw and don't need/want one in a 2 car garage shop with no dust collection system other than the shop-vac.

Cut in longer lengths with a circular saw and final cut length on the tablesaw.

 

[nn4jw]

Depends on your work habits as much as anything. Unless a board is just too wide for my miter saw I do all crosscuts there. It sits there ready to go all the time. You can certainly do crosscuts on a table saw, especially if you use the correct blade and a crosscut sled for accuracy, but the trade off is setup time. So I use my table saw almost exclusively for ripping. For me, cutting a miter on a long board on a table saw can be a lot harder to do accurately, especially if you're doing that accurately to both ends of a longish board. With a table saw you are moving the board as opposed to moving the miter saw which can be more of a challenge as board length goes up. People certainly did that work completely with hand tools for centuries though.

 

[petebucy4638]

Coming from a construction background, I like having a good miter saw around the shop. I just replaced a Dewalt 706 with a new Dewalt 780. You can make very accurate cuts on a table saw, thus eliminating the need for a miter saw, as long as the lumber that you are cutting is not so long that it will not fit on the table saw or if it just becomes too ungainly due to size or weight. Though a miter saw is not a "must have" tool in a small shop, most people that I know who have a home shop have a miter saw.

One of the issues that you deal with when you use one tool for many different functions is that you often find yourself tearing down one setup to make another cut. One of the great advantages of a miter saw is that it is always ready to cut a board. Changing a miter saw from square cuts to miters to beveled cuts, thanks to common indexing presets, is fast and precise.

Pete

Hi,

I was all ready with a plan in hand to make a new miter saw cabinet/cart with extensions, when I started to have doubt. Do I need a miter saw or are there other tools that can fulfill the same use? My shop is small and space is always in need.

The miter saw has been used up to now for the following application:
- to cut rough sawn board to length before milling
- final dimension cut for long boards
- crown molding

But the same applications may be achieved with other tools or set up already in hand and/or relatively inexpensive jigs.
For example, a circular saw or a jig saw could be used for rough sawn board to workable length.
Maybe using a hand saw to get close to dimension on long boards and than using a shooting board and plane to get the correct length.
A miter sled on the table saw or a miter box and hand saw may take care of the crown molding.

Is there anything that I will be missing if I drop the miter saw from the shop?
I sure will not miss all the dust that it makes.

Thanks in advance for any comment or experience shared,
E

 

[Sp00ks]

My miter saw use goes in waves. Around the 150 year old house projects it's indispensable. For my wood working projects I may be able to do without it but I sure am glad it's there if I need it.

Recently I was building a 4" tall display box. I discounted the miter saw at first because I was afraid it wouldn't be accurate enough. My table saw wouldn't make a cut that tall without tilting the blade at 45 and my experience hasn't been very good when doing that. I haven't tuned the miter saw up to this point. I checked it out with a few different squares and it looked good so I made the cuts and from the factory it's spot on, no gaps. Again, I'm glad it's there.

 

[Skymaster]

Sliding 12" miter saw is almost a shop in itself. Construction backround also close to 40 yrs best all around tool one can own. far far far superior to a radial arm

 

[Brogan]

I don't (yet) have a table saw so perhaps my opinion will change once (if) I do, but I have found my SCMS to be invaluable and can't imagine doing without it.

I used it for my last project (steps) for everything from cutting the stringers to the baseboard.

 

[junquecol]

Build a roll around miter saw stand, with fold down wings. For DC, Photog published over at Woodnet.net many years ago using a "Big Gulp" that was fastened to MS. This way, DC swung with the saw. I have this on my old DW 705. Connects 4" hose to DC cyclone.

 

[Barry W]

After investigating building a fold-down "winged" miter saw stand, I built an eight foot long table for my SCMS earlier this year. I have the space and did not like the complexity of the winged stand so I went with the longer table. I like the convenience of having a cross-cut saw ready to go at any time and not having to change blades on my TS if I am ripping - I don't much care for combination-cut blades. The SCMS is very sweet now after a fellow NCWW member brought his eight foot Starrett straight edge over today and helped me get all parts in perfect alignment!

 

[Pop Golden]

​Me too Barry. I have an 8 ft. stand with a miter saw (not a slider) and my RAS. In my experience with selling and using miter saws the slider is not accurate It has side to side flexibility. Sorry Skymaster those sliding rods are not in the class when compared to the heavy RAS arm. No flexibility here.

Pop

 

[Henry W]

Hi,

I was all ready with a plan in hand to make a new miter saw cabinet/cart with extensions, when I started to have doubt. Do I need a miter saw or are there other tools that can fulfill the same use? My shop is small and space is always in need.

The miter saw has been used up to now for the following application:
- to cut rough sawn board to length before milling
- final dimension cut for long boards
- crown molding

But the same applications may be achieved with other tools or set up already in hand and/or relatively inexpensive jigs.
For example, a circular saw or a jig saw could be used for rough sawn board to workable length.
Maybe using a hand saw to get close to dimension on long boards and than using a shooting board and plane to get the correct length.
A miter sled on the table saw or a miter box and hand saw may take care of the crown molding.

Is there anything that I will be missing if I drop the miter saw from the shop?
I sure will not miss all the dust that it makes.

Thanks in advance for any comment or experience shared,
E

I have used the miter saw for most of the cuts you mention, and have used most of the alternatives as well (except the shooting board). Generally the miter saw wins - even though my Dad's hand saw lessons of so many years ago have stuck quite well.

I do not have a permanent setup in my shop, rather the MS simply is stored under my TS and pulled out as needed (small, messy, over-crowded shop). I have even cut trim pieces so long (16') that they needed to stick out the door of the shop to be cut. I couldn't possible build a level bench (in my shop) long enough to cover my needs. Rather my uses are so wide ranging, but relatively infrequent, that I just set up supports when needed.

It is not a perfect solution, but as long as I am doing WWing (or remodeling or trim or flooring work), I expect to have a miter saw.

 

[Skymaster]

es ho k. Most folks myself included do not own a COMMERCIAL RAS. I have a 10" craftsman that is used as a junk collector, it HAS play in it also, and yes I tried to adjust it out. IF I ever clean it off it wood be only used for ruff cuts. Bosch scms does not use rods, and can be backed up to a wall. Much gooder than slider on rods.

 

[unimog]

You all make good points.
I will make a cart for sharing the space with an oscillating sander.

I noticed few comments about the proximate precision of the miter saw. I indeed, have a similar reservation; even with a resharpened blade (96 teeth from Freud) it can be noted a deviation in the cut from top to bottom. May be a new blade may help with a better cut. What blade do you prefer on miter saw?
And for the one that had experience with both 10 and 12 inches blade diameter, do you have a clear preference for precision?

 

[Brogan]

I have a Freud finish blade on my 12" and there is indeed deviation from the top to the bottom, no matter how much time I spend trueing the blade.

Cross cuts on small stock (e.g. 1") are fine, but when cutting 2x4, there is a noticeable angle on the cut.

 

[Jeff]

Cross cuts on small stock (e.g. 1") are fine, but when cutting 2x4, there is a noticeable angle on the cut.

That's an interesting finding. If you can see the angled cut, that's a lot of deviation (not a few tenths of a degree). Take a look with a try-square? :icon_scra

 

[Jeff]

Bosch scms does not use rods, and can be backed up to a wall.

An interesting design for a "folding arm" that eliminates the rods. Take a look at some of the pics for a better view.

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-GCM12SD-120-Volt-12-Inch-Glide/dp/B004323NNC

 

[Jim Roche]

​Me too Barry. I have an 8 ft. stand with a miter saw (not a slider) and my RAS. In my experience with selling and using miter saws the slider is not accurate It has side to side flexibility. Sorry Skymaster those sliding rods are not in the class when compared to the heavy RAS arm. No flexibility here.

Pop

I'm with Pop. I have a 12" miter Saw and a RAS. I use the miter Saw ALL the time. I have it recessed in a long bench
which makes it really convenient. You may not have the room for a long bench but I find my miter Saw earns its keep.

Jim

 

[luckyGoose]

It's a question of convenience and accuracy. Anything that a miter saw does can be done with a circular saw or jig saw etc. But you will almost always spend more time cutting with those tools than a simple down swipe with the miter blade. In addition to cutting long boards, I use the miter saw for all cuts that are within its capacity, it's just so much quicker than the table saw.
I'd say for the sake of quick (and often repeatable) cuts, you couldn't go wrong with a good miter saw.

 

[tarheelz]

Since my miter saw exploded in 2015, I miss it from time to time.

Without it, it's a trade off. I now have the improved accuracy of my table saw compromised by the infuriating exchange between ripping and crosscutting set-ups on the table saw.

 

[zapdafish]

I didn't have a miter saw until I got a super awesome deal on one but I still find myself not using it very much just because it is so loud. The main need for me is to shorten a board and these are the tools I go for depending on the situation and what I have piled up on my tablesaw, hehe. 1) handsaw, 2) jigsaw, 3) tablesaw.

If I need precision I pull out the crosscut sled for the tablesaw. If it's too thick for the crosscut, thats when I use the miter saw. For example, thick beefy table legs.