An SCMS opinion question

[Don Morris]

I like my Hitachi 10" SCMS except for...the fence and height opening. When doing some projects, like wide crown molding, I've often wished I had a 12" SCMS with a taller fence, like one I've seen on a Bosch or other brands. Am I alone in this feeling? Because I'm on the verge of putting mine on Craigs List or somewhere and upgrading to a 12" with a taller fence. I've looked into just increasing the height of the fence on mine but that isn't so easy. And you guys out there with 12" SCMS's and tall fences that are happy with your particular brand...I would be happy to hear your review of it.

Isn't it interesting...on all my power equipment: TS, jointer, BS, router, the fence is a critical part of how well it performs!

[Jamie Buxton]

The intent with a sliding miter saw is that you cut molding while it is flat on the table. Used that way, the 10" slider has a larger capacity than a 12" non-slider. Pull out the saw's instruction manual, and learn to use those weird angles like 23.8 degrees. The saw even has marks on it to show them.

[Don Morris]

I bought into the Cut & Crown system for doing crown moldings. It uses a form on which I place the crown molding so I never have to change the SCMS from the left side and always at 90degrees. Simplified the task immeasurably, but with tall moldings I just make it under the blade. The form is stable up against the short fence. On other projects is where the short fence creates some wobble. I see crown moldings being nested on tall fences on 12" models and while I wouldn't use it for that, since I have the Cut & Crown system, the tall fence would be handy on those other projects.