Accuracy and Repeatability in Sawing

calver · Post by **calver** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:07 pm

If you were looking to make several repeat cuts that demand accuracy and repeatability, would you use your SS or a sliding compound miter saw for miter and compound cuts?

Thanks,

Dave C.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:26 pm

Because I don't have a sliding compound miter saw, I'd make mine on the Shopsmith. I'd use an extension on the miter gauge or Miter Pro (555404) or use my MiterSet and install a stop on the extension so all pieces would be the same length.

If I had a compound miter saw - guess it might depend on how long of pieces I wanted and how long the wings of the saw are.

Are you planning to cut compound miters? Or just 90 degree cuts? Excellent repeatability can be accomplished on the Shopsmith by using the rip fence and a "starter block" on the fence. In this case, the fence doesn't even have to be perfectly parallel to the blade.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:01 am

I have the Shopsmith, a Radial Arm saw and compound miter saw (not slidding)

Here is what I have learned. For fast work like doing moulding in a house and etc. nothing beats a compound miter saw. I can finish a doorway in just a few minutes, and a whole house in couple of hours with a compound miter saw.

For finish work what requires cross cuts I decide between my SS and Radial arm depending on the length of the wood to be cut. If the wood is much longer than 3-4 feet it goes on the Radial arm. Anything less I usually do on the SS unless I have it set up for something else.

I try to keep my Radial arm set at 90 degrees but will change it if need be.

I think compound slidding miter saws are really nothing more than small Radial Arm saws and since I have a Radial arm it makes little or no sense for me to think about a Radial Arm.

I'm one of the few people that really enjoy and like my Radial Arm Saw and frankly I think they are indispensable in a wood working shop.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:48 am

calver wrote:If you were looking to make several repeat cuts that demand accuracy and repeatability, would you use your SS or a sliding compound miter saw for miter and compound cuts?

Thanks,

Dave C.

Hi Dave,
The ShopSmith does a good job at most of the things it is designed to do. It is also designed to do ALL of those things, taking up less space then a bunch of stand-alones. If I needed to make "several repeat cuts that demand accuracy and repeatability" of the type that can be done on a sliding compound miter saw, I know that I can also do them on my ShopSmith; however, if I HAD a sliding compound miter saw, I wood probably choose to use it, as it is a stand-alone designed for that purpose and probably a bit faster then doing it with my Mark V.

Like Ed (the one in Tampa), I also like Radial Arm Saws. There is nothing wrong with buying and using stand-alone equipment. I have several pieces that share my shop with my Mark V. I am fortunate to have enough room for them. As long as I have a shop, I will use my Mark V. I like it. That does knot mean that I will knot use other equipment as well.

iclark · Post by **iclark** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:59 am

calver wrote:If you were looking to make several repeat cuts that demand accuracy and repeatability, would you use your SS or a sliding compound miter saw for miter and compound cuts?

Dave,

it really depends on the cuts and the accuracy required. for the SS, it depends on how well aligned your SS is, whether it has a lot of run out, and whether you have a good sled.

for the miter saw, it depends on the run out, the stability and stiffness of the slide and pivot, and whether it is set up with a table extension support that you can put stop blocks on.

longer boards bias the choice toward the miter saw.

I'll second Ed's appreciation of the radial arm saw. my father had one when I was growing up and it served us well. if you can get one that actually passed a QA check, then it is a marvelous machine.

Ivan

foxtrapper · Post by **foxtrapper** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:59 am

Your choice was the shopsmith or the compound miter saw. Since you specified compound, I'm going to speculate that you're interested in a compound angle. Now a shopsmith is a neat tool, but tilting the table to get an angle cut makes things darned awkward, especially if the board is of any length.

So for this scenario, making a compound angle cut, I'd rather use a compound miter saw. Couple of stops carefully located and I can repeat the cuts all day long.