What do you use for accurate crosscuts?

[Bryan Cramer]

I was just wondering what do you use for accurate crosscuts in solid wood (not sheet goods) like, for an example, cutting the stiles and rails for a door where squareness is essential? I was using my sliding miter saw, but I learned the hard way that it wasn't cutting perfectly square when I used it to cut the stiles and rails for my doors. Then every door glued up slightly out of square. Now I aquired a better tablesaw and I am using a cross cut sled to make square crosscuts. I still use my sliding mitersaw for jobsite and rough work. I do have a raidal arm saw, but it is a older cheaper one making it inaccurate for anything but rough work.

[Alan Bienlein]

I use my scms for cross cutting stiles and rails for face frames and doors. I took the time to set the fence at 90 degrees to the blade when I got it and haven't had a problem with it since I got it in March of 2009.

[Bill Huber]

I use the table saw with a sled, once set up it is spot on and I have no problems with it.

[Paul McGaha]

My cross cutting station consists of a 10" sliding miter saw (Hatachi) and a pair of Biesmeyer miter saw tables and a Biesmeyer Stop.

I use a 3 ft table to the right of the saw and a 6 ft table to the left.

This works well for my cross cutting needs.

PHM

[Rod Sheridan]

I voted other because I use a format style saw.

I previously owned a cabinet saw, and used a sled.

I've never used a mitre saw in my shop, they're a waste of space in my opinion. Now, if I did on site work, a mitre saw would be a neccessity............Regards, Rod.

[glenn bradley]

Tablesaw and sled = perfect cut.

[Alan Lightstone]

Tablesaw plus sled.

[Bruce Page]

Table saw & Incra 2000 miter gauge for < 12” wide. Table saw & sled for wider.
I would probably have a Norm type miter saw station if I had the room. As it is, my miter saw lives on the floor under my lathe.

[John TenEyck]

Radial arm saw here. Always ready and with a length stop on the fence it's deadly accurate.

[Michael Peet]

I use the table saw with a sled, once set up it is spot on and I have no problems with it.

+1 on this. A tablesaw with a crosscut blade and well-tuned sled is hard to beat.

Mike

[Brent VanFossen]

I use a table saw with a crosscut sled. I can cut a piece up to 24" wide, so it works equally well for solid lumber or sheet goods. For shorter narrower pieces, I have an Incra miter gauge on the table saw.

[David Kumm]

Hammond Trim O Saw. Dave

[Sam Murdoch]

I was just wondering what do you use for accurate crosscuts in solid wood (not sheet goods) like, for an example, cutting the stiles and rails for a door where squareness is essential? ]

My 7-1/2" Makita Sliding miter saw. Properly set up it is very accurate and I can provide stops for repetitive cuts for long stock always fully supported.

[Van Huskey]

Radial arm saw here. Always ready and with a length stop on the fence it's deadly accurate.

+1

@Rod, I love you man! I wonder if you owned a Northfield #4 (which if anyone doesn't know is a "table" saw) you would have voted other since it is technically called a variety saw. Don't worry I do understand the point but Hammer does call them a table saw at least on their NA web sites.

[James Baker SD]

I voted other, because right now I cannot do accurate crosscuts and that is a problem I need to solve..

[Ray Newman]

I voted “TS”.

Since I do not make large projects, the Incra 1000SE miter gauge on the Uni-saw works very well and is dead-nuts on. Sometimes I will use the Hitachi 10CSF -- think that is the model -- SCMS. The ol’ Hitachi is also very accurate and has repeatable settings.

Think if the need arose to cut large, bulky, or heavy pieces, I would re-install the sliding table on the Uni-saw. Next to a sliding table, probably a well constructed double runner cross cut sled works just as well.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Table saw user here. Do not own a miter saw. Just don't have the space. If I had a stand alone shop with an entire wall to devote to that much wing span, I'd love to have one. I use a crosscut sled or an Osburn.

[Mike Cutler]

My Jet has a crosscut sled, and the General has a Mast-R-Slide.
The Mast-R-slide is really nice, but sort of a pain to set up initially.
Crosscut sleds are relatively cheap,and are highly accurate if built properly. A good sled will last the life of the saw.

[Carl Beckett]

Tablesaw.

Used to use a sled, but upgraded the miter to an INCRA miter and its great for the small stuff (extends to 24", and has two built in stops that work great).

Wider panels still get the sled

[Mark Engel]

I use my Grizzly sliding table saw for crosscuts when accuracy and squareness are critical. Never could get my Dewalt SCMS set up well enough to produce acceptable results.

[HANK METZ]

My DeWalt RAS does up to 25" crosscuts for me, anything wider- very rare- I have the home center do it on their panel saw, which is the right tool for the job. Back in the day when I used to do it all myself, I'd use the 50- inch "Clamp 'n Tool Guide" and my Sawboss for wide crosscuts. The typical face frame and casing stock is easily handled by the tool and is no particular challenge to accuracy.

- Beachside Hank

[Dan Chouinard]

My Grandfathers DeWalt RAS. Oh, how I love that saw for crosscuts under 14". Shop made sliding stop for repeats. Purr's like a cat. Love it.
+14" crosscut on Unisaw with Delta Sliding Crosscut Sled.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Both SCMS and TS. As said before, once set up, the SCMS works perfect. It is built into a station. For panels over 14" and up to 32" I use the Dewalt sliding table saw wing on my Grizzly. For really small cuts I have the Incra 1000SE mounted in a home made sled.

I purchased a '55 Dewalt RAS that still needs to be restored. Once completed, I will keep this dedicated to 90* cuts.

[Shawn Pixley]

I use table saw with sled, table saw with miter gauge, and sliding compound miter saw depending upon what is set up and with which blade. Depending upon the size of the piece to be cut and what blade I have in the table saw, I choose accordingly. The sled and the miter gauge are both dialed in. The sliding compound miter gauge has never given me something out of square (I spent a bit of time getting it very precise) but I prefer the table saw. Depending upon what I am making, I might take a swipe through the shooting board if it is a 90 degree cut. With the projects I have been doing lately, few cuts are 90 degrees. I almost never cut sheet goods.

[Bryan Cramer]

Thanks for all the responses! When I was just starting wood working my first shop project was a huge miter saw stand using old cabinets and an old counter top for wings. That was before I had all my other tools (and knowledge) and I could dedicate a wall to the stand. Now i wish I would have just bought a miter saw stand that was colaspable to save space. Some of my home improvement projects use construction lumber so I still use the saw alot. If you have room a miter saw or a radial arm saw setup is nice for rough cutting long lumber or a quick crosscut for jigs, support boards, etc. My table saw is still my go to tool for accurate crosscuts in both sheet goods and solid wood. I can live with out a dedicated miter saw station, but it would be hard to not own a miter saw.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I voted other since the answer depends on what it is I'm cutting.
I use:
- Table saw and sled for small and/or narrow pieces.
- DeWalt DW713 non-slider for long pieces.
- Festool TS55EQ track saw to gang cut pieces that are too wide for the 10" Miter saw and are too long to ride comfortably in the TS sled.


I voted other, because right now I cannot do accurate crosscuts and that is a problem I need to solve..
Accurate crosscuts aren't all that difficult to do.
A properly tuned tool and/or jig, full support of the stock being cut, making sure the stock being cut doesn't move and using a good solid mechanical stop is really all it takes.

Someone here has a sig line that's a quote from Abe Lincoln(?). It reads something like, "If I had to chop a tree down in 10 hours, I'd spend 9 hours sharpening the axe."
That same idea goes along with using a CMS and/or a TS & sled.

The real challange to both your patience and your wallet is getting the right tool to tune the tools.
A Starrett or similar quality square, a known good and accurate straight edge and a good and known accurate protractor are required.
W/out them, it makes the task of truing the tool/jig an excersize in futility.

[Mark Ashmeade]

In order:

RAS. I have a longarm Delta, so it's the go to tool for this operation.
Mitre Saw. Bevels and mitres are easier to set up for one offs. If I needed several repetitive cuts I'd set up the RAS though.
Table saw with sled. Rarely used since I got a decent RAS. Still have the capability though, and is good for short pieces.

[scott spencer]

+1 on this. A tablesaw with a crosscut blade and well-tuned sled is hard to beat.

Mike

+1. The mechanism of a good TS are simply beefier than the mechanisms of a SCMS and even a CMS.

[Prashun Patel]

I think any of the tools are accurate. The key for *me* is using a stop block. Getting the miter angle just perfect is easy with trial and error. It's holding the piece properly so it's not pushed or pulled out of alignment during the cut. A stop block does this for me.

[Glenn Kramer]

14" and less: Bosch 12" Axial sliding compound
14" and more: Jessem Master-Slide on a SawStop TS.

Both are very accurate. Previuosly use a Unisaw with a sled.

[Jeff Duncan]

I use my table saw with a sled for most cuts. To be honest though I don't worry much about rails or stiles being cuts exactly square....as long as they're close enough it's fine. When I cope my rails I remove about 1/32" of material on each end, this ensures that I get a full profile cut, and that they are dead on square. Stiles don't need to be square either as I'm going to do a finish cut on the door after glue up. That's when it needs to be dead square and the table saw does a nice job of it.

good luck,
JeffD

[Cary Falk]

I use a Table saw with my JessEm slider or incra 1000SE.

[Dave Novak]

Other - Minimax combo

[Neil Brooks]

Whatever's free, and has an acceptable blade on it, at the moment -- TS w/Incra, TS w/X-cut sled, TS w/panel sled, CMS, RAS ......

I'm more lazy than particular, and get pretty accurate results with any/all of the above :)

[Curtis Wilkerson]

Other: Hammer K3 sliding table saw make crosscuts painless.

[BOB OLINGER]

I use my DeWalt miter saw. I don't have a good miter guage for my TS. But, regardless of saw used, the final and most important step is squaring the piece after the gluing, using criss-cross measurements to guarantee it drying square.

[trevor adair]

Voted other... Festool TS55 on MFT/3 table.. set the stop and get perferct square and length for each rail and stile..

[Randy Clements]

Anyone else use an old miter box and backsaw?

[Michael Mayo]

I voted other because I have a Dewalt 12" SCMS and now and dead perfect crosscut sled on my TS3650. If it fits on the tablesaw then I use that but if it is a long piece of stock then i use the SCMS. Either one does a fine job it just depends on the stock length.

[Clint Olver]

Sliding table on table saw.

C

[Dennis Puskar]

I use my 12" Rigid SCMS for accurate crosscuts.

[Larry Edgerton]

All of the above.......

I have a sliding tablesaw along with a couple of cabinet saws, an OMGA, and about a dozen chop saws, and if the power goes out a handbox and a Lion trimmer, so no shortage of choices. Whatever works best for that job. I don't see it as a one answer question.

For styles and rails I have an old cast iron Delta jackshafted 10" that is massaged perfect in all planes. It is a dedicated saw for just that, does not leave the shop, and has been giving me perfect results for many years.

For larger jobs I will use the carrage on the slider and cut in batches.

I use the OMGA 14" for larger stuff. It creates so much wind that small pieces make me nervious.

Larry

[Don Buck]

Jointech Smart Miter on my table saw. Fast, accurate, square and repeatable.

[Mike Goetzke]

I replied other because I use an Incra 3000 with sled on my TS but also use a SCMS & my Eurekazone EZ-One bench (a track saw bench).

Mike

[Don Morris]

I voted other as I wasn't sure if my TS sled should be listed as TS.

[Charlie Ross]

Incra 1000SE, with the Incra miter sled. It's a great set!

[Bill Stephenson]

Most of the time I use a sled & table saw. For long stock I will hand cut with a back saw and finish up on a shooting board if it's 6 inches wide or less.

[Neil Brooks]

I really don't know if I LOVE ... or hate you guys/ladies..... It's on its way :D

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415fXb%2ByT1L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[michael case]

I have used both a sled and slide miter station for years. I finally, gave up on trying to get truly repeatable accuracy out of a slide miter (both Makita and a Bosch over the years). I built a dual metal runner sled that can handle panels up to 24" and bought an Incra miter for smaller stock. I found these systems to be far more accurate than any SCMS I ever used.

[Guy Belleman]

I use the table saw with a sled, once set up it is spot on and I have no problems with it.

+1
Have a couple of sleds of different sizes, but once made and adjusted for accuracy, the sled is my most valuable cutting aid.

[Mark Dorman]

I do Randy. Langdon Miter with a Disston back saw. I also use a bench hook and a shooting board.

[Clint Baxter]

Another one of those who uses multiple systems. Use Kapex SCMS for long boards, TS with Incra Miter 5000 for wider than 12" as long as they are not too lengthy. And use the MFT3/TS55 for wide items that are also lengthy. As has been said here earlier, any of them can provide you with square cuts.

CB

[Russell Hudson]

Have been (and still do) use a sled (on a dedicated table saw) / but I disagree about it wearing out / we make cabinets here and my bar stock that runs within the tables slots (and I use both slots, two bars on the sled), wear over time as does the back fence that the material sits against / saving grace is that making another isn't that terrible to have to do / I use 1/8th inch aluminum for the sled's base / time to make another / if anyone has some info about building them, I'd love to read more before I make my next one

[Cliff Furman]

Most of my cross cuts are done on my Red Star ras. Real short pieces are cut on a small sled.

[Thomas L. Miller]

Incra miter sled, shooting board LV Bevel Up Jack.