Sliding miter saw or radial arm saw?

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'm thinking about getting either one or the other.
This will be a permanent fixture in the shop & I can make room for either one.

There's usually a bunch of used RAS on Craig's list - - and/or - - Black Friday is coming up soon and there's always good deals on tools.

Any real advantage or disadvantage to one or the other?

[George Makra]

Both do the job very well. the miter saw is quick to change settings and the higher end ones can almost match a radial arm saw on compound cuts.
If I were to get one I would get the Bosch dual glide saw.
The radial arm saw is rock solid but takes longer to change settings however you can run a dado stack on the saw.
And finally you see radial arms saw for sale used, miter saws not often and then I would be hesitant to buy one.
In the end my preference is a radial arm saw. I have an older Rockwell Delta and its a very good saw.
I have used a older DeWalt and if I were to do it again I would get an older Dewalt.

But in the end both are good and it just personal preference.

[Earl McLain]

Rich--after a Craftsman RAS that cut square 90 deg as long as I didn't move it, I replaced it with a Dewalt sliding CMS. Worked better, and is plenty precise for framing...but it takes some fiddling to use for woodworking. Finally found a mid-1950's Dewalt GWI radial arm saw. After replacing the motor bearings and building a "Mr. Sawdust" top, it is easily the highest quality tool I own. I still rip on the table saw, but almost all of my cross-cutting and mitering are on the RAS. Holds a set well, and angles are easily repeatable. Still have the slider, and for construction projects and such it's great (and easy to roll our to where i'm working)--but my RAS is a woodworking machine. In either case, selecting and using the correct blade geometry is vital for both good performance and safety.
Good luck.
earl

[Tom M King]

I use both. If getting only one, get the sliding miter saw. There are too many bad choices available for RAS's.

[Robert Engel]

If I were getting one, no question it would be a sliding miter saw.

With the exception of "old iron" or very expensive saws, they are notorious for losing settings, being underpowered, and last but not least, can be dangerous to use, mainly because of the tendency to climb cut especially thinner material.

A miter saw is generally better at repeatable, accurate crosscuts (again, with exception of old iron/expensive saws). Dust collection is also usually better. Many can be set to depth for use of a dado blade.

That said, personally, I use both only because I've always had a RAS. I would not go out and buy one now since I have a miter saw. I use the RAS mainly for rough xcuts. I keep it set at 90° and (hopefully it stays there) and keep a . I keep a fine tooth blade on the miter saw for more accurate, finish cut.

[John K Jordan]

Rich,

One thing - the RAS will do a variety of things. The motor head on my 1970 Craftsman would tilt until the shaft was vertical and swivel 360 degrees. Besides crosscutting, I used mine for ripping, cutting molding, dados. I mounted a sanding drum for smoothing curves and a Jacobs chuck to make a horizontal drill "press" - I used it to drill accurate holes into the ends of long boards. It's easy to turn the entire motor so the shaft is vertical for horizontal slots in the side or the rare slot in the end of stock. I made a number of jigs, platforms, and hold downs for safety. The dust collection was horrible. It takes up a lot of space but fine when my shop consisted of the RAS, jig saw, electric sander, and a few hand tools. I used it almost a 1/2 century ago to make furniture for the house and things like this, well worn by three sons and two grandsons:

396467

I have other tools now to do everything I need so I gave mine away. The RAS is great if you have the space and very accurate if you adjust it so. I bought a Bosch Glide compound miter saw when I built my workshop. It's better for carpentry and on a stand with wheels so I can easily take it to the site when putting up an outbuilding here on the farm. That's where mine is now.

You might search the forum - a thread not long ago discussed all this.

JKJ

[James Cheever]

Another vote for the SCMS. Easy to adjust and setup. Only real downside compared to a RAS is it's inability to take a dado head. However, considering the potential safety issues, that may be a good thing.

[Jim Becker]

RAS only if you can find a really good, heavy, professional version like the old Dewalt or similar, IMHO. The one advantage of the old, heavy RAS is dado-blade capability which can be handy for laps and dados in timbers, etc. Otherwise...SCMS is pretty versatile and can also be portable if you ever needed it to be.

[Darcy Warner]

Unipoint, like a miter saw on steroids.

[Andrew Seemann]

SCMSs are easy to find in the store, smaller in footprint, and if set up and used right, just fine for most woodworking. I've used two Makitas for the last 20 years, and they certainly haven't held me back. I wouldn't mind having a RAS for the overhead dado capability and a longer crosscut, but all that seems available on CL is old 70s Craftsmans (and clones) or old iron saws with no new parts available. I'm also not sure that I would want to dedicate the space to it, I'd almost rather get an edge sander (which I don't have) than an RAS (which mostly would be redundant with the SCMS I do have).

[John TenEyck]

I have both, and like having both. A RAS is far more versatile, you can run a dado stack, raise the blade off the table, and turn the blade horizontal if needed. But a SCMS is quicker to adjust from one task to another, and portable if needed. At one time I said I'd never give up my RAS, but now if you told me I could have only one I would pick the SCMS. Never thought I'd say that.

John

[Art Mann]

I owned a Craftsman RAS for about 20 years. I used it a good bit like John Jordan, with the shaft in the vertical position as a sort of molding machine. I seldom used it for miter cutting as it would invariably be out of square when it was returned to 90 degrees. It required squaring several times a year regardless of how I used it. I now have a Bosch GCM12SD gliding miter saw and it performs better in most ways. I would like to have another RAS but not a Craftsman.

[Terry Therneau]

I would put radial saws into 3 camps: the true industrial machines (e.g. a 16" blade), the home machines made by the industrial companies (largely Dewalt and Delta), and everything else. When they became popular there was a race to the bottom on price, and you just don't want one of those. The owwm.org site is a good place to read discussions of the better ones. Later Dewalts -- after the name had been bought and sold twice and the arm wasn't cast iron -- are squarely in the so-so camp BTW. I just looked on my local craigslist and see 5-6 of the good saws, 2 industrial, and 30 of the also rans. It's not hard to get a good one, but you need to do your homework. Get the right blade, again not expensive but not found at the local big box (wrong tooth geometry). Then they are a pleasure to use.
Given a good radial arm versus a good SCMS which is better? It depends on what you do. My dewalt cuts 13" perfectly square, but cutting 45s for trimming a window is much faster on a miter saw.

Terry T

[Zac wingert]

What about a 10 inch sliding miter saw V. a 12 inch not sliding? Not to hijack. Didn’t know some had dado capability.

[Scott Braun]

It really depends on your use for it. Like others I have both. the RAS (craftsman I've had for 20 years) serves me well and is in a stationary set up, even though its on a mobile base. My Hitachi 12" slider is on a folding stand which comes in real handy when I want to move it. I do use the slider more than the RAS but I wouldn't want to be without either. Oh, the RAS is usually set up with a dado blade stack. Oh and one other thing that RAS can be turned and used for ripping if you need, and I even have a molding head for mine.

[Kevin Delgado]

They're similar, but different tools. You said you're keeping it stationary, so that is fine for either. If you ever think you'll need to move it outside or to a work site or what have you, go miter. List out the things you anticipate using it for. If all you're doing is narrow-ish cross-cuts and miter cuts, then miter is probably all you'll need (and that Bosch mentioned above is very nice, and compact due to its design).

If you think you'll want to rip, dado, make molding, etc, and you don't already have other tools with which to accomplish those tasks, then you would be fine to consider a RAS, which are quite versatile. Just stick to the advice about getting an older heavy cast iron model, and be diligent in learning how tune and to use it properly. I have limited space so having a RAS allows me to do a few different things with just one machine, but I'm just a weekend tinker kind of guy. Put all your needs on paper and you'll be able to tell what you need more easily.

Of course, you can always get both! ;)