Miter saw for perfect 5" crosscuts

[Frank Shannon]

I want to buy a miter saw that can make perfect 5" 90 deg crosscuts. The classic hold it up to the light with a try square and none shines through thing. Every time, on both planes. I'll spring for the best blade in the world and any type of stabalizer or siffiner that would help. I would prefer 110v but 220 will be ok. I need good dust collection. It may never see a pine board of any dimension and it may never see a piece of crown molding. My budget is $1300 plus tax. What do I buy? I'm I dreaming?

I can't wait for a used saw to appear on a classified. Got to have it now.

If you can suggest a new RAS that makes perfect 5" crosscuts at or below my price point that would be great too.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
DeWalt DW713 10" non slider, no fancy lasers basic single bevel CMS.
I just checked mine with my new Starrett square & it's dead nuts on.
Runs about $219 @ Lowes.

Stick a DeWalt 40 or 60 tooth blade on it and it will make really smooth cuts - for a while.
Stick an 80 or 60 tooth Freud blade on it & it'll make baby bottom smooth cuts.
Stick a Forrest on it, and it will make baby bottom smooth cuts a lot longer than the Freuds will.
(I just happen to prefer the Freud blades - YMMV)

If you have ~half a day to twiddle around with one & your material is short enough, consider making a crosscut sled for a table saw.

I have both & use them all the time for various things.
It all depends on whatit is & how many pieces I have to run.

Edit to add:
You have to do your part too to get "perfect" cuts.
Check the alignment, clamp the material in place & use a good stand.
Even my low cost Ryobi does "perfect" cuts w/ a good blade, clamped workpieces & mounted on the miter saw stand once it's dialed in.
The difference between the Ryobi and the DeWalt is that I have to check & dial in the Ryobi more often.

[Ryan Sparreboom]

I've heard many many horror storys about the innacuracy of Dewalt miter saws, don't bother. It's a jobber saw at best, and not even a very good one at that.
If you want the best, and your budget suggests you do. Buy yoursellf a new Bosch saw. I just got the 4212L and it's fantastic, dead accurate out of the box. Literally the dead square crosscuts (up to 9" wide on that saw), and thats measuring with a machinists squre. NO LIGHT! I hook up my shop vac to the Bosch and it keeps it very clean.

Or look in to the Milwaukee saw, I almost sprung for one of those. It has the digital miter angle readout to adjust angles within 0.1*.

For ultra fine crosscuts, on a 10" blade you want 80 teeth, and on a 12" blade, you want 96teeth, ATB.

Hope that helps.

Ryan

[Frank Trinkle]

+1 on the Bosch units. I own the 4410L 10" Slider and it is deadly accurate! Long reach... 5" no problem.

Amazon sells them with free shipping under Prime. Virtually flawless out of the box and very ergonomically designed.

I have a Freud Ultimate Cutoff 80T on mine and it leaves a cut that looks like I sanded it with 400 grit.

[Chip Lindley]

Frank, Hold Out for a good deal on a Delta (or Rockwell/Delta) 12" radial arm saw. These are ALL-cast-iron and a used one will run you less than your $1300 ceiling. They are Heavy! Accurate! and *Just What You Need!* Of course, you will have to *set up* the saw to cut square, according to factory recommendations. Once set up, the RAS will give you the square cuts you desire!

A negative hook 60T blade such as Freud's LU91 will give you glass-smooth cuts! GoodLuck!

[Greg Sznajdruk]

I have 2 Dewalt 12 inch saws one is a slider don't understand why some folks think these saws are not accurate. Both of mine are dead on go finger. If you like to tinker and do adjustments rather than woodwork then a RAS is what you need. I've got a 1956 Dewalt and it will go out of adjustment just sitting in the shop.

If your budget is $1,300 then maybe look at the Festool suppost to be the ultimate. Don't have hands on because for a miter saw the price is way out there.

Greg

[Prashun Patel]

Do you have a tablesaw? I'd suggest a good miterfence instead.

[david brum]

I have an Hitachi 10" slider that I really like. I set it up to cut square a few years ago and it hasn't deviated since. I always use the square and light test. I got it because it has surprisingly good dust collection and is fairly compact.

My only complaint is the noise generated by universal motors.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Any chop or slider SHOULD do that, and I'm suprised that anybody would accept anything less. My Makita 1013 with the better stock blades has been doing it for going on 7 years now.

[Frank Shannon]

Do you have a tablesaw? I'd suggest a good miterfence instead.

I agree with that. I'm using a homemade sled for all those cuts now. I'm looking at the Incra 5000. But I think I would get a little more productivity cutting rails and stiles at the chop saw. Set and keep stops for stiles for the upper and lower cabinets and never move them for instance. The thing will always be there ready to go.

I'm just a one man outfit working out of my garage but I've got to get faster.

[Frank Shannon]

Any chop or slider SHOULD do that, and I'm suprised that anybody would accept anything less. My Makita 1013 with the better stock blades has been doing it for going on 7 years now.

That's the information I'm looking for. I'm starting from zero knowledge here. I've never had even a decent chop saw so it will be new to me. I've got a GMC 10" slider. Ever heard of that? It was an open box special for $100 I picked up about 5 years ago. It's junk but ok for cutting 2x's and for painted trim. You can adust it to square make a good cut but's it's stricly hit or miss. Too much play in everything.

When I go look at them at the stores I find that every single model of every single manufacturer gives a little when you hold the handle and wrack it. The $1300 Kapex actually gives quite a bit. Apparently my unscientific test is not valid and that's what I figured, hence the post.

Great info, keep it coming it's greatly appreciated. I'll be buying the next week. I'm leaning toward the Incra track and stop for the fence because of the saw teeth.

[Randy Carnley]

I agree with the Bosch. Check my thread for the one I am selling with a Delta extension stand. Can't beat the cut or the price.

[Frank Shannon]

I have 2 Dewalt 12 inch saws one is a slider don't understand why some folks think these saws are not accurate. Both of mine are dead on go finger. If you like to tinker and do adjustments rather than woodwork then a RAS is what you need. I've got a 1956 Dewalt and it will go out of adjustment just sitting in the shop.

If your budget is $1,300 then maybe look at the Festool suppost to be the ultimate. Don't have hands on because for a miter saw the price is way out there.

Greg

The Festool Kapex is where the budget number came from, that and the $1100 low end Omga.

I had pretty much dismissed the RAS because the good new ones are thousands and I can't wait around for Craigs list. The Omga RN700 which looks to be a good value with it's 27" crosscut is $3300. It's a beautiful machine that would crosscut lower cabinet parts as well as rails and stiles but I just can't swing that.

[Frank Shannon]

Hello,
DeWalt DW713 10" non slider, no fancy lasers basic single bevel CMS.
I just checked mine with my new Starrett square & it's dead nuts on.
Runs about $219 @ Lowes.

Stick a DeWalt 40 or 60 tooth blade on it and it will make really smooth cuts - for a while.
Stick an 80 or 60 tooth Freud blade on it & it'll make baby bottom smooth cuts.
Stick a Forrest on it, and it will make baby bottom smooth cuts a lot longer than the Freuds will.
(I just happen to prefer the Freud blades - YMMV)

If you have ~half a day to twiddle around with one & your material is short enough, consider making a crosscut sled for a table saw.

I have both & use them all the time for various things.
It all depends on whatit is & how many pieces I have to run.

Edit to add:
You have to do your part too to get "perfect" cuts.
Check the alignment, clamp the material in place & use a good stand.
Even my low cost Ryobi does "perfect" cuts w/ a good blade, clamped workpieces & mounted on the miter saw stand once it's dialed in.
The difference between the Ryobi and the DeWalt is that I have to check & dial in the Ryobi more often.

Thanks for the info. I've looked at that saw. It looks like a very good value. I can go the extra for the 12". Would that be better?

So you're saying that if you dial in the Ryobi you can make cuts good enough for cabinetry and it will stay in tune for a little while? You see I didn't know that. I assumed that a saw like the the Ryobi would never be square. Certainly worth the money because it's so cheap but really only good enough for framing and painted trim. That's very interesting.

I can go get any commonly available saw today. I'll probably pay a bit more and get it from my local woodwooking store because I need him to stay in business. I just needed to know if I was spinning my wheels. I was afraid that any common name brand, even Festool, was not up to the job of making cabinets. I need to clamp the rail to the style and get a hair line glue joint that is square on both axises. I wondered if I'd have to go with something like an Omga or one of the saw rigs that picture framers use or just stick to the table saw. I've made all my cuts on a sled in the past so I just didn't know. I didn't want to make a purchase without some reasonable assurance I'll get what I need.

The info I'm getting here is fantastic, greatly appreciated.

[Brent Leonard]

I have never been a DeWalt fan. Call it more of a "prejudice" that came about when I built homes in my college years (and a few more).
I can't tell you why I will not consider DeWalt, other than that. But the many HUGE Dewalt believers most likely disprove my prejudice.

That being said,
Bosch seems to be the leader in quality and precision. Festool is tops too, but I have never been able to accept their prices.

I use my table saw for perfect crosscuts.

[Michael Wildt]

I think you got a lot of good replies already. One thing that was a requirement of yours was dust collection. The only one I have seen being really good is the Festool. Not sure about the Bosh on that nor Dewalt.

[Eric DeSilva]

Where are you located? There is a guy in the Woodbridge VA area that has a warehouse full of OMGAs... 3PH, but selling them cheap. Former deck construction co. going out of business.

[Jeff Duncan]

What are you going to be doing with this saw that makes the ultimate perfect 90 so important? Any new chopsaw once tuned should give you a 90 degree cut. I have an Omga and they're great saws for making dead on cuts all day long without a sweat. In a shop with a lot of product being cut I highly recommend them, but for light use they're probably a bit excessive. The dust collection is actually well designed and works pretty good. They're also not portable at a bit over 200 lbs IIRC for my 14".
The DeWalts for me are inexpensive jobsite tools that do a decent job for what they are. They're lightweight which is good for portability, but it's the portability or rather the actual transporting of them which tends to knock them out of alignment.
Of course there's also CTD and Pistorius which both make top of the line saws with prices reflecting the quality. Really depends on what your needs are as to what will be the best tool for you.
good luck,
Jeff

[Greg Cole]

My DW716 is pretty accurate. Then again I try to stay out of the brand name bashing, that bandwagon's awful full here. :rolleyes:
Buy a decent brand and dial it in. If you want it to stay dialed in, don't drag it outside for building a deck, fence or general construction jobs & don't loan it out to a buddy or neighbor.
I don't use it for the most precise cuts as I'd rather use a good miter gauge or a sled on the TS for cabinetry-furniture cutting tasks-purposes.

[Jonathan Spool]

I only use my miter saw to cross cut stock that is too long to be acurately handled on my table saw. Or, if I am on a job site an whacking out flooring, trim or siding etc.

If its precision you are looking for, and you are interested in cabinetry, my 2 cents is to invest in a good tablesaw.

[David DeCristoforo]

If you have $1,300 to invest, you want this:

http://www.omgainc.com/productfamily_detail.php?cid=2&sub_id=0&pid=9

...trust me.

[Frank Shannon]

Where are you located? There is a guy in the Woodbridge VA area that has a warehouse full of OMGAs... 3PH, but selling them cheap. Former deck construction co. going out of business.

I'm in Texas but I would pay shipping if he's willing to box one. I can't use 3 phase.

[Neil Clemmons]

Frank -

I have the Kapex and have been very pleased with it's accuracy and dust collection. There are a lot of discussions on it on the festool owners group forum.

You might also consider the Milwaukee 6955-20 which I have heard is a great saw.

Good luck -

neil

[Larry Edgerton]

I use an old Delta cast iron workhorse with the jackshaft drive for cutting all of my cabinet parts. Its the best I have found other than the Omga. I have their radial arm saw and love it.

Of the currently available off the shelf saws I like the Hitachi 10" slide compound the best. Omga not included......

I do not like a 12" blade for fine work. They have too much tendency to wallow in a compound cut.

[Larry Edgerton]

Where are you located? There is a guy in the Woodbridge VA area that has a warehouse full of OMGAs... 3PH, but selling them cheap. Former deck construction co. going out of business.

Got a link? I have three phase........

[Jim Kountz]

Any chop or slider SHOULD do that, and I'm suprised that anybody would accept anything less. My Makita 1013 with the better stock blades has been doing it for going on 7 years now.

I couldnt agree more Steve, well said. If I couldnt crosscut a 5" board perfectly Id throw it in the trash.
And I love the guys who say a Dewalt saw cant do this and is not accurate. I laugh my butt off everytime I see these posts!! Some people are really ill informed!! I have 4 yes four different Dewalt saws and I welcome anyone to come on over, bring your best squares with you and try my saws. With the exception of the one that fell out of my truck a couple years ago, any of my saws will crosscut perfectly.
I'll hold the light for you if you want. Any takers? Lets make it interesting and put a few hundred on it!!:cool::cool:

[Frank Shannon]

I'm a FOG member. And that pretty well describes my feelings about the Kapex. The finest, most innovative SCMS ever made, but....... I've followed all the discussions there about the Kapex. From an emotional standpoint I would be happier with a Kapex than anything else I could buy, including the high end chop/miters costing thousands. That's the Festoolian in me; but I've got to control my emotions and be logical here. If a pukey yellow DeWalt is the better way to go then so be it. But I'll be darned if I'll plug my CT33 to $219 DeWalt chop saw. On the other hand, if an almost as cool Omga is the way to go so be it.

Do you crosscut for furniture parts parts with it? When did you buy it and what were your motivations. I'm really interested in that 5" and under range because I do fine with the wide stuff on my MFT and there's a lot less of that anyway. How about the grinding, you had any of that?

[Frank Shannon]

What are you going to be doing with this saw that makes the ultimate perfect 90 so important? Any new chopsaw once tuned should give you a 90 degree cut. I have an Omga and they're great saws for making dead on cuts all day long without a sweat. In a shop with a lot of product being cut I highly recommend them, but for light use they're probably a bit excessive. The dust collection is actually well designed and works pretty good. They're also not portable at a bit over 200 lbs IIRC for my 14".
The DeWalts for me are inexpensive jobsite tools that do a decent job for what they are. They're lightweight which is good for portability, but it's the portability or rather the actual transporting of them which tends to knock them out of alignment.
Of course there's also CTD and Pistorius which both make top of the line saws with prices reflecting the quality. Really depends on what your needs are as to what will be the best tool for you.
good luck,
Jeff


Thanx for replying, you're just the person I need to talk too. You must be cutting furniture/cabinet parts with that Omga.

Once purchased and installed this saw will never move unless the shop is rearranged. It will be used for cabinet and furniture making, not trim carpentry. That being establish I'd like to pick your brain a little further.

Say your volume was less. Would you still buy the Omga?

What's the differenct between an Omga and the common brands, i.e. Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, etc. And remember, the saw will never be moved and will only be used for cabinets and furniture. It will never see a door jamb. Is it simply that the volumn would kill the common brand or is it more? Are the cuts substatially better on a saw such as the Omga as well as supporting more volume. The tone of the bulk of the replies is that it is more a question of volumn.

Or if your volume was less would you not even cut door and face frame parts at a miter/chop?

What about long rails and styles for pantry doors? Awefully convinient to lay those long boards down on a chop platform rather than stick them off the end of a sled probably without a stop. Don't know why I hate pencils so much. Maybe it's because they've lied to me and let me down a time or two.

Do you have some sort of automated stop system like a Tiger Stop? If not do you have some method for permanent stops for standard lengths?

With the 14" 3hp you must have something like the T 50 350. Retail on that saw today is close to $3000 for 3 phase. For lighter use what do you think about the lower end Omga, say the T 55 300? It's actually a couple of hundred less than a Festool Kapex.

Sorry if I'm prying. You may not want to totally spill your guts about your work processes to the whole wide world. Thanx again for the reply.

[Frank Shannon]

I use an old Delta cast iron workhorse with the jackshaft drive for cutting all of my cabinet parts. Its the best I have found other than the Omga. I have their radial arm saw and love it.

Of the currently available off the shelf saws I like the Hitachi 10" slide compound the best. Omga not included......

I do not like a 12" blade for fine work. They have too much tendency to wallow in a compound cut.
If you didn't have the Delta would you buy the Hitachi or an Omga?

[Frank Shannon]

I couldnt agree more Steve, well said. If I couldnt crosscut a 5" board perfectly Id throw it in the trash.
And I love the guys who say a Dewalt saw cant do this and is not accurate. I laugh my butt off everytime I see these posts!! Some people are really ill informed!! I have 4 yes four different Dewalt saws and I welcome anyone to come on over, bring your best squares with you and try my saws. With the exception of the one that fell out of my truck a couple years ago, any of my saws will crosscut perfectly.
I'll hold the light for you if you want. Any takers? Lets make it interesting and put a few hundred on it!!:cool::cool:
Jim,

What about the little DeWalt, the 10" miter, DW713? Others seem to like it and really looks well worth the $196 I see it for at Amazon. What about the 715 an 716. It would be nice to have belt driven saw so that leads me toward the 716.

What do you think about 10" vs 12". Some think the 10" is better for fine cuts.

One thing I haven't mentioned in my critera is that it would be great if I could get the saw up close to the wall. So that leads me toward a non-slider or the Festool Kapex. I am a commited Festoolian (or maybe I should be committed as in put away) but I have serious doubts about the value of the Kapex.

[Frank Shannon]

If you have $1,300 to invest, you want this:

http://www.omgainc.com/productfamily_detail.php?cid=2&sub_id=0&pid=9

...trust me.
Actually I want this.

http://www.omgainc.com/productfamily_detail.php?cid=2&sub_id=0&pid=10

Cooler motor placement. And I do trust you, there's no question that the Omga perfectly meets my criteria. It's kind of a no brainer if I'm willing to plunk down that kind of cash. And the tool freak in me tells me that it would be so way cool to show off a saw none of my non-woodworking friends had ever heard of.

"It's from Italy."

"Really? I didn't know they made tools in Italy."

"Yea, they make some of the best saws in Italy."

"Italy? Why can't they make them here?"

"Because there are some jobs Americans won't do."

But I've got to be analytical here. If I wasn't being analytical I would have bought the Kapex 6 months ago and convinced myself it was perfect whether or not it was. Such is my Festool mania. That's where my $1300 budget figure came from.

Let me ask you the same question I've asked others but it a different way. When the face frame comes out of the clamps could I even tell that the parts had been cut on an Omga vs. a garden variety miter saw from a home center? Assuming the common saw is not worn out, is well tuned and performing up to specs?

[Frank Shannon]

I've been cutting all my face frame and door parts at the table saw. I use a homemade sled. It's square but not super accurate for length or very fast, I don't have rule on it and I just use a clamp as a stop for repetitive cuts on parts up to about 3' long. I don't have any kind of stop for long parts, just measure and line up the mark with the kerf cut on the sled. I suppose an Incra Miter5000 would be an improvement and only costs $280 and the stop goes out to about 60". I've looked at that.

But wouldn't a miter saw mounted in a permanent cutting platform be much faster? Say with an Incra or Kreg ruled track with multiple stops? It would always be sitting there ready to go. Crosscuts on long pieces would be just as easy.

[Dewey Torres]

Frank,
A lot of what you post tells me you are a newbie. That is not a bad thing ok but we can help if you are willing to listen.

Some of your responses contradict each other but without going into that let me point out some key things on this post:

1) You are willing to buy a blade stiffener... those things are very controversial and most pros can't tell the difference with or without them
2) You have a homemade sled... why is it not cutting perfect? You have not built it correctly of it does not pass the "square/light test" you talk about. You can use playing cards as shims to get those things dead on! Also if you add an extension arm to them to can make multiple repeatable cut far beyond the width of them: See this post second pic with adjustable stop arm (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=957659&postcount=8)
3) You need to get faster... that implies you are trying to make money/ or streamline production for a reason other than money. In most cases that streamlining costs LOTS of money and time to get a shop set up to do the operation. Even then it is hard to make a profit so good luck if money is what you are after.

In closing I would suggest you post plenty of pics showing your setup and what you don't like about your miters and believe me we can solve it! We are here to help!:)

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello Frank,

So you're saying that if you dial in the Ryobi you can make cuts good enough for cabinetry and it will stay in tune for a little while? You see I didn't know that. I assumed that a saw like the the Ryobi would never be square. Certainly worth the money because it's so cheap but really only good enough for framing and painted trim. That's very interesting.
That's correct.

Getting "perfect" 90* cuts with even a low end CMS is just a matter of taking the time to align the head to the fence.
W/the lower end ones, you should check the alignment often, as I alluded to above.

What I can't do with the Ryobi, is trust the settings and/or the detents & I can't go from a 90* to a 45* and back again, without setting it up again using a digital protractor &/or the Starrett.
Also, while it stays at a true 90* to the fence, it does drift - after a time - from a true 90* to the table.

All in all the Ryobi has been a very pleasant surprise. I picked it up on impulse on a Black Friday sale 2 1/2 years ago for $59.00. I didn't expect a whole lot out of it - but - I figured at that price it was worth taking a chance.


I've got a GMC 10" slider. Ever heard of that? It was an open box special for $100 I picked up about 5 years ago. It's junk but ok for cutting 2x's and for painted trim. You can adust it to square make a good cut but's it's stricly hit or miss. Too much play in everything.

I had that exact same saw & had the exact same experience - w/the exception of being able to get the left & right sides of the fence aligned straight.
I paid $199.00 for mine. I returned it after the fence split in two one day after about three months of use.
I also have a low end 8 1/4" Workforce slider w/all the expected play for something @ that price point.

Re: 10" vs 12"
Mostly personal preference. I went 10" because 10" blades are easier to come by locally in a wider assortment. I can also use them on the TS.
YMMV. The 10" is a bit lighter and more portable - and my DW713 does travel, so I went that route.

[Andy Bardowell]

If you are looking to drop that kind of coin on a saw Frank then go for the best and Rockler has it for exactly those dollars.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=19901&cookietest=1

[Jeff Duncan]

Well you've done your homework, mine is the T50 and it is a great machine. A couple things that make it superior are the construction, all cast iron instead of aluminum. Induction motor instead of universal meaning you get a real 5 hp motor unlike the smaller universals.
I bought mine used (like almost everything else in my shop) and so I paid about what a new DeWalt slider would cost. I replaced several parts (they're customer service is great to deal with BTW) and have a saw that will last a couple lifetimes.
As for what I use it for well.....just about everything and anything. I don't do a huge volume just a one man shop. I also don't really delve into furniture too often, I do a lot of cabinetry, interior doors, and general woodworking projects. I don't have a tigerstop as they're too expensive for the volume of work I do.
I hate to say but I still haven't set up a decent platform for my chopsaws, it's on the to do list. The shop I used to work for had several Omga's and each had a mechanical stop system. Worked fine for what we needed, again the tigerstop is an impressive system, but you have to have a lot of volume to make it pay it's way.
Most of my cabinet doors parts still get cut on the slider as it's just faster and I'm used to it. Once I get around to putting a decent stop system in place I may change that though.
I guess my opinion is that I'd buy one again in a heartbeat, I really dislike light duty tools and regret every time I purchase one. But I also think any decent chopsaw should be able to give you accurate cuts without much trouble. Especially when it's not being moved around to different jobsites. The Omga's (and CTD's and Pistorius etc) really are made for volume. machines that get used all day long in a shop environment need to be beefy or they die quickly. I'm sure the smaller versions are every bit as well made as the T50. Also remember that part of the price with tools like the Kapex and DeWalt sliders are the engineering that goes into making them do compound angles easily and accurately. With the Omga's (well most of them anyway) your just getting a straight miter, no bevel setting. Lastly, I would seriously doubt that anyone would be able to tell the difference between a cut made on my Omga vs a cut made on any other well tuned chopsaw.
Well I don't know if any of this really helps you make your decision, but glad to share what little I know:)
good luck,
JeffD

[David DeCristoforo]

What I can tell you is this: I have owned Makita, Delta, and Hitachi machines. The Hitachi is my personal all around favorite. BUT... The Omga is what I bought when I needed a stationary saw that would be used exclusively for 90 and 45 degree crosscuts on a production scale. It is completely rigid and totally accurate. You cannot twist the saw out of alignment no matter how hard you try. OK, maybe if you were Hercules you could. They are "no frills" machines and the cost is reflected in the obvious build quality, not in "features". My only "issue" with the Omga was that it took so long for the blade to spin up that having a trigger switch was a PITA. So I rewired mine with an "on/off" switch. Other than that, for the use you have described, these machines have no equal (MMHO).

[Mike Henderson]

I have the Bosch 4212L and have been very satisfied with it.

Mike

[Frank Shannon]

Thanx for the help and yes I am a newbe and yes I'm going to try to make money. Not in cabinetry, I'm not up to that but in specialty stuff, toys, fancy mail boxes. Super tricked out wooden toys for rich kids, whatever.

I'm developing skills in woodworking but also metal working and decorative concrete and art glass. I'm in love with architecture, particularly Prairie Style, Bungalow, Green and Green, all that. The builders around here have not gone in that direction and everything, even custom, is pretty much late 20th century vanilla. I think there may be a potential for retrofit. Because frankly even the stuff in the million dollar range although pretty, has no class at all, just well made rubbish so to speak.

My sled cuts perfectly. But doesn't have a rule or stops. I'm definately going to make a sled like that. Or I may get an Incra 5000 or maybe even a Jessem Master Slide. So I'll have that capability when needed.

But I'd rather leave the table saw set for ripping and do production narrow crosscutting at a dedicated station if that's practical. I've got a Festool MFT rig for crosscutting up to 24" that is a real gem.

And I really appreciate what you said and I will be calling on you.

[Eric DeSilva]

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/tls/1109153569.html

Not affiliated. Ad says $400. Dunno if he'll ship or not.

[Larry Edgerton]

If you didn't have the Delta would you buy the Hitachi or an Omga?

I have the two Hitachis, an 8 1/4" and the 10", a Dewalt [anchor], and a Makita. You can't put the Omga In the same catagory as any other saw including the Festool.

I still really want a Omga, but I also want a lot of other things. A job would be nice. :( Work is dead here so no new tools this year.

One of my suppliers sent me over a Kapex to try, and I'm sorry but I see absolutely no advantage for my work over the Hitachi 10" [the simple one]. The only advantage I could see is the close to the wall thing, but the way I use a saw that is not important. It was a no sale for me. Besides, they are both green.....

[Frank Shannon]

Jeff,

It helps immensely and I appreciate you and all the others taking time to reply.

You say you cut your door parts on the slider. Do you mean a sliding miter saw or a sliding platform on a cabinet saw saw or a sliding table saw?

What about tear out on the Omga? Is it a non-issue or dealt with with sacrificial fences or something?

Based on all that I've heard I've formulated a plan. The Omga is exactly what I need but I feel that I'll be throwing money away if I don't try to find a used one. So I'm going to hunt high and low for a deal on a single phase used Omga. Meanwhile I'm going to go ahead and get one of the small 10" miter saws this weekend because they happen to be on sale right now at the home centers. If I find an Omga within a week little saw goes back unopened. If I can't find one then I'll mount the little saw in a platform that can be retrofitted for the Omga and put a good blade on it. And while I'm hunting I'll work on getting the shop wired for 220v which I need to do anyway because I plan to upgrade to a cabinet saw soon. Lastly, I'm going to upgrade my crosscutting capabilities at the table saw. I'll either build and improved sled with a rule and stops or just go with one of the commercial ones, Amazon has the Incra Miter5000 for $283, it has a 64" telescoping stop.

If the little saw performs, the hunt for the Omga will become less urgent. If the little saw doesn't perform initially and I haven't found an Omga, it gets take back and exchanged for one of it's cousins. If it performs but then dies down the road, and I still haven't found a used Omga I'll go ahead and buy a new Omga. I'll do what I can warranty wise on the little saw and give it to one of the kids.

Thanx again.

[Jeff Duncan]

Hi Frank,
I use an Excalibur slider on one of my tablesaws which works pretty well for my needs. If you have a good blade you shouldn't get much tearout at all. What I tend to do if I'm cutting small parts like glass stops, is make a sacrificial fence out of plywood. This gives a cleaner, safer cut in small parts and also allows me to cut faster as I have a very definitive space to line my cuts up with.
Remember that if you buy an in-expensive chopsaw, the first thing you'll want to do is replace the cheapy blade they come with. That by itself will improve the quality of the saw. You may find that it does just what you want and you don't need to spend the extra cash on something better. But if you do want the Omga then used is always my first choice.
good luck,
JeffD