Thread: How good right out of the box?

Originally Posted by Colin Howkins

Yez pay yer bucks, yez get what yer pay for.

You would think so, but Wongo found different, see here. I don't think you could pay any more for a biscuit joiner type tool than you pay for this one

My table saw - a Ryobi BT3100 - requires perpetual alignment. I sometimes think the mice in my shed adjust it as retribution for my periodic murder of their kin. It is my own fault, though ... when considering support for the saw I should have realised that the number of web pages on aligning this saw was directly proportional to the need to do it.

the only tools i have fount that work correctly first time out of box are hammers

Originally Posted by fubar

the only tools i have fount that work correctly first time out of box are hammers

Touche'

In my limited experience sliding mitre saws are really not about fine woodworking.

They are designed for carpentry and portability and hence they have some limitations. And yes I do know most of these companies dont advertise this terribly well.

You CAN get the makita to cut a very good mitre but it will never come close to your felder or any half decent tablesaw with a mitre sled. The exception to the rule maybe the Festool Kapex, although I cannot be sure as I have not used this myself. I have used hitachi, my Bosch and Makita. The mitres are good but no where near as good as what I get from my tablesaw despite getting the saws adjusted perfectly.


regards

Marios

Don't know Marios, Roger Gifkin manages to make some award winning boxes with a SCMS.

Agree Fred, they can be made to work, but it is not a tool designed for precision.

Roger has basically turned his SCMS into an upside down table saw using various jigs. This is not viable for someone who needs to use the saw for things other than just box making. And more to the point I can do all the cuts he uses for box-making on my tablesaw, much more safely. On the other hand the SCMS was worth every cent when I built my shed...

You can make pretty much any tool work if you understand how the tool is meant to work and how its put together. I remember with a great deal of work I got a $99 gmc compound saw to cut at 90 degrees, it did the job...


regards

Marios

I have a Bosch scms it was acurate out of the box it I have used it to make a picture frame with no need for guilitine(sp)

I have a Dewalt 305mm SCMS (gift from my kids) and it was accurate out of the box. One of the things I like about it is that the stops are easily adjustable if needs be. The other thing is it has a much shorter travel than most and this may help to keep it accurate.

Adjusting the laser guide on it was a bit more time consuming but well worth the effort.

Cheers,

Chipman

Makita SCMS was accurate to 1/10 of a degree out of the box. Checked all the angles with a Wixely Angle gauge.
Also checked returns, it changes between all angles accurately.
The only thing I'm not overly happy with is the flex in the arms, tried a rebate cut with it on a small job, cutting 6mm wide rebate that was 3mm deep and it flexed up to 1.5mm, making some cuts 4.5mm deep others 3mm. Most of the problem lies with the operator not keeping even pressure.

As for SCMS not being accurate and tablesaws being more so, I find it to be opposite but it depends on your tool of choice, the SCMS is my tool of choice, others prefer tablesaws and can cut just as accurately as a SCMS.

The SCMS is used for a lot of very small work as well as cabinet making, also used a Ryobi for years, it was good but every time you changed angles you had to cut and adjust until it was right, even with the stops adjusted.

I don't want to be a a pain in *&^^% but a decent table saw will always be more accurate than a decent SCMS

Look at the way a SCMS is constructed compared to a table saw. Most SCMSs have a relatively heavy motor suspended from 1 or 2 rails in mid air and have an often inadequate table or fence . How can you possibly compare this to a fixed motor, and precision ground cast iron table???

You may not notice the difference cutting a 4x3 but how about cutting a mitre on a 200mm board?

Marios

I know what you mean Marios, but there are some scms's that can do it and there are plenty that won't!!!! I would never use the bosch at work for anything other than framing....just not accurate enough...then again the old woodfast cabinet saw leaves a bit to be desired too.

I am a part time woodwork teacher and I actually take kids stuff home to cut it on my dewalt as I get better results.

I don't like using a scms for cutting trenches or rebates (dewalt is really limited in the width it can do too) and will use a router for doing that (or a table saw if I have access to one.)


Cheers,

Chipman

Originally Posted by fubar

the only tools i have fount that work correctly first time out of box are hammers

Bang on,mate....