Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.
paulmcohen wrote:OK, what I got so far is Sliding Crosscut saws are expensive (but I happen to own one). They are limited to ~16" and you may not be able to backup the wood (mine has a plastic backup plate). What I am still missing is within the rules above if you have a choice why pick one. In the case of Norm he has three choices and sometimes on a project he uses all three and I can never guess which one or why.
When I watch Norm I can pretty much guess which way he is going. If he is going to make angled dado's or half lap joint he almost always uses the RAS.
Also if he is cutting an angle on something like a tapered leg where he will need a jig to hold the wood correctly again he will go with the RAS.
He uses the mitre saw for any cut where he has a number of pieces that need to be the same lenght and cut on an angle (like molding).
He uses the tablesaw and bandsaw for nearly every other cut.
I have a good Dewalt mitre saw and Sears RAS I like them for everything but fine woodworking. If I going to cut a joint that is going to be seen I will usually do it on the tablesaw. Today I needed to crosscut some wood that I was going to rout the edges of. I used the RAS. However I needed another piece of wood cut that was going to be butt jointed to another board. I used the table saw and crosscut sled. In both cases I got exactly what I expected. The RAS had some tear out which was okay since the edge was going to be jointed. The butted wood was cut perfectly. I only use my mitre saw for moulding, trim, or if everything else is buried under a project.
[quote="dustywoodworker"]I don't know why he picks one over another but I'd bet it has something to do with what he gets paid for. He is there as a marketing tool]
Dusty
Since his Radial Arm saw, his Tablesaw and his powered Mitre saw are all made and marketed by Delta I don't think that is the reason he uses one over the other.
He would be crazy to spit in an advertiser's face and use something other than their tool if they placed one in his shop. Although he did use the Lamello biscuit jointer over the PC biscuit jointer for years and even now uses their glue bottle.
I like David Marks most of his tools are old tools and in most cases the name is long worn off. However he does seem to favor Festool hand tools but I don't think they even sponsor him.
EdB
You are absolutely right, Ed. All I was trying to say is that Norm's decisions are biased based on who is sponsoring the show for that segment. Since he works for a particular group of sponsors, we repetitively see that equipment manufactured by that/those sponsors.
I don't mean to imply that there is anything wrong with that. We can all learn by watching professions like Norm and we will all develop our own assortment of preferred equipment by doing so.
It would really boost my pride if he were to put Shopsmith back into his lineup of favored equipment but that will probably not happen. Norm started with a Shopsmith in his arsenal but he has moved on, to appeal to a much broader segment of the woodworking audience. I was impressed because I had already bought my Shopsmith and there he was, reinforcing my decision to have done so.
I use the Shopsmith cross-cut sliding table (555535) for almost all of my crosscutting. The miter gauge doesn't get nearly as much use as it used to.
After using Incra's miter sled in a Shopsmith class last year I am seriously considering buying one. Not only will it do angles with fantastic accuracy, but it can crosscut boards two feet wide and with the "flip-stop", can also cut boards to very accurate lengths.
I've resisted buying radial arm and chop saws. They don't handle dust very well and will quickly choke up your shop. They are also powered with noisy universal motors. Universal motors have their place with hand and portable tools. Contractors who have to go to job sites love them. In my opinion however, they are not a good choice to power stationary tools in a shop.
Ever consider the jointech smartmiter. Its on sale right now and I have seen the demo in person and was very inpressed. They have a two part video on the website that is worth watching also. http://www.jointech.com/smart_miter.htm
