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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    Red face Compound Mitre Saw - To Slide or not to Slide?

    Hi all; I'm looking at compound mitre saws and wondering whether to get a large (300 mm) CM or a 250 mm Sliding CM saw. Whilst the slider costs more and gives a wider cut, it won't cut to the same depth. More importantly though, will the non-slider give consistently more accurate cuts over its lifetime, given it has less moving parts? It's for occasional use and whilst I'm tempted to the GMC or Ryobi price mark as a result, I would still like the best achievable accuracy. Any help the oracles can give would be v.m. appreciated.

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  3. #2
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    Oct 2004
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    Melbourne
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    depends what you want to do with it... the slider is more versatile especially if you dont have a table saw but if you get a cheap one there is a real possibility that it will never cut straight. If you have the money go for a slider, Bosch, Hitachi or Makita, they are all good. Theoretically a on slider whould be more stable especially at the lower end of the market, but dont expect miracles...

    I recently bought a GMC non slider model. I have to say out of the box, there was no way in hell this thing was ever going to cut straight. The fence was not flat and the adjustments did not allow adjustment to the point of making a straight cut.

    After using some double sided tape and attaching a flat fence and filing the holes on the fence for more adjustment... it now works ok and gives a reasonable cut. It still isnt perfect but its close.

    I suppose if you are using this saw for anything that requires some accuracy avoid buying the cheapies particularly if you are not any good at problem solving or mucking around trying to adjust the damn things.

    Whether you get a slider or not you will need an engineers square or other decent try square.
    You can never have enough planes, that is why Mr Stanley invented the 1/2s

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Too close to Sydney
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    1,385

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    Weight is also a consideration in the two types. Simple drop saw is about half the weight I reckon, but there is a trade off.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
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    NJ, USA
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    123

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tilly
    Hi all; I'm looking at compound mitre saws and wondering whether to get a large (300 mm) CM or a 250 mm Sliding CM saw. Whilst the slider costs more and gives a wider cut, it won't cut to the same depth. More importantly though, will the non-slider give consistently more accurate cuts over its lifetime, given it has less moving parts? It's for occasional use and whilst I'm tempted to the GMC or Ryobi price mark as a result, I would still like the best achievable accuracy. Any help the oracles can give would be v.m. appreciated.
    I went with the GMC 250mm Redeye SCMS. The laser really isn't bright enough to use outside in the day. I like the performance I got good angles on mine, though the only angles I cut from the scale were 45 deg., the rest I set from a protractor. It handles 2x softwood and 5/4 hardwood nicely, too. I got nice clean cuts with the stock blade.
    ___
    T.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Perth WA
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    Squizzy

    "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" {screamed by maths teacher in Year 8}

  7. #6
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    May 2005
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    For what its worth,

    I bought a Hitachi eight & a half inch slider some years ago. As mentioned in another post, I'd come to the conclusion that the Hitachi was a good quality brand and have not regretted that decision. I would have liked the bigger saw but my budget at the time was reached at $850 (10" saw was <> $1300 at the time). My brother who's a building pro has the bigger saw and is very pleased with it.

    The other reason I went this way was that it had twin slide tubes whereas the Makita and DeWalt had single tubes. Mine gets a lot of use and at nearly 10 years of age, is performing very well...

    I guess also that any comments need kept within the context of those made in the GMC/Triton post...

    Cheers,
    Keith

  8. #7
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    Sep 2003
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    Mid North Coast
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    As the owner of a Ryobi SCMS (with the single slide) and a GMC table saw I wouldn't make the same mistake again. I purchased because of a tight budget but if I could do it all over again I would buy a good table saw and make a few jigs to do almost everything the SCMS can do.
    My comments are only in the context of my home hobby workshop where a tight budget dictates the purchase of the most versatile tools.
    There is obviously a need for an SCMS in areas where a lot of work needs to be done quickly.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Sydney
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    Talking Greater capacity

    I'm the proud owner of a bosch blue slider. Did a lot of research on this and the main thing was the width of the timber you could cross cut. From reading lots of reviews the go was either the Bosch or Makita for cabinet work, nice and accurate however it pays to check the calibration of the units before using them for anything other than making firewood.

    As for price the sliders are more expensive, having said that I got mine for $700 at Dural bunnies - normally they are a lot more. I think they got the price confused between the straight mitre saw and the slider but who am I to argue with them

    Martin.

  10. #9
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    May 2005
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    Morphett Vale, SA
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    348

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    Quote Originally Posted by keith53
    The other reason I went this way was that it had twin slide tubes whereas the Makita and DeWalt had single tubes.
    I just got a Mak LS1214 & it's got twin slide tubes...maybe that's only a more recent thing though considering when you bought yours :confused: .

    Tilly, I had a Ryobi which fortunately I was able to offload at a garage sale. It never cut straight, was almost impossible to adjust to make it straight & the laser would line up about 5mm from the blade no matter how much I tried aligning it. Never again. The big Makita is great

    Reg

  11. #10
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Melbourne
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    Just don't try an cut F5 with it like i did on mine.. Bent the arm and buggered the saw..... Thats one Tuff F5 i'll tell ya !
    Cryogenics is cool.........

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Canberra
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    I've got the GMC twin rail slider. I put in a better blade and have never looked back. It cuts pretty square and the angles are not too bad.

    One thing that a slider can do that a simple CMS cant is to make trenching cuts (or whatever others call them). You can set the depth of the cut and slide the saw back and forth to make a trench/rebate etc. Obviously the CMS can't do this as it doesn't have the slide function. The downside to the scms is the space it takes up.

    If you are buying it for fine woodwork, buy a table saw instead. If you are buying it for a deck/wall framing etc, get the scms. If you are buying it for picture framing, and other similar jobs, buy a decent CMS with a good 60 tooth blade (or get an aftermarket blade).

    For my purposes, I bought the GMC slider for a deck project and I only ever use it to rough cut stock to length - I tend to use a sled on the triton WC for the last cut.

    my 2c worth

    Trav
    Some days we are the flies; some days we are the windscreen

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Perth
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    12

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    I recently purchased a Hitachi 10inch SCMS.

    Use it for rough cutting longer timbre to length but also use it for accurate final cuts in long lengths (sheoak at 1.8m long, 110mm wide and 35mm thick). I had always found trying to cut such long lengths, and heavy lengths, accurately at the table difficult, even with a sled, or perhaps I just needed to build a larger sled.

    Mark

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