Thread: Cross cut sled V SCMS

If you cross cut long stock, a SCMS is still much easier to use than a table saw with a sled.

I used to take my long stock to my mates workshop and cut them on his big sliding panel table saw but since I got my SCMS I haven't needed to do this. I still co and see hi to cut up large sheet goods.

I realize that a SCMS takes up a lot of valuable bench space but if this is a problem you could consider putting it on jackable trolley that fits under a bench. Mine fits ute the LHS wind of my TS.

if I do the trolley thing Bob then that creates the dust problem hint hint.

Wish Blastgates would get their act together, I hate how when using the SCMS you do one cut the blast gate opens but by the time its fully opened you have finished the cut.

Originally Posted by Tonyz

if I do the trolley thing Bob then that creates the dust problem hint hint.

Wish Blastgates would get their act together, I hate how when using the SCMS you do one cut the blast gate opens but by the time its fully opened you have finished the cut.

A basic shop vac and a 3D printed sawdust deflector does a fair job on dust collection on my Bosch glide saw for 1-2 cuts
Because it's on trolley if I do more that this I wheel it outside.

Originally Posted by Tonyz

I hate how when using the SCMS you do one cut the blast gate opens but by the time its fully opened you have finished the cut.

That's why I have mine on a manual switch with the auto blast gate. Switch is mounted just below the saw so I'm now in the habit of switching it on so it's ready in time to do the cuts.

Originally Posted by PFH

That's why I have mine on a manual switch with the auto blast gate. Switch is mounted just below the saw so I'm now in the habit of switching it on so it's ready in time to do the cuts.

interested please give more details, my brain cannot work out how to do this. To have the blast gate open(ed) manually and then just use the saw as per normal, when finished all your cuts turn the blast gates off. but how?

i would have both if you have the room.

if you had to have only the TS you can always look at a decent battery circ saw and a quickly speed square.

Originally Posted by Tonyz

interested please give more details, my brain cannot work out how to do this. To have the blast gate open(ed) manually and then just use the saw as per normal, when finished all your cuts turn the blast gates off. but how?

Sorry, should have been clearer.

I have one of the auto blast gates with manual controller rather than automatic controller. See the first two pics on the ABG page - I have the 150mm MANUAL controller for my SCMS.
So I have to remember to switch it on so that the blast gate opens before starting a cut. For me it's an ingrained habit now - I have a mental image of dust going everywhere so I just have to turn it on first!
Opening the blast gate starts my DC via the limit switches that ABG sell.

Hope that's clearer!

Originally Posted by PFH

Sorry, should have been clearer.

I have one of the auto blast gates with manual controller rather than automatic controller. See the first two pics on the ABG page - I have the 150mm MANUAL controller for my SCMS.
So I have to remember to switch it on so that the blast gate opens before starting a cut. For me it's an ingrained habit now - I have a mental image of dust going everywhere so I just have to turn it on first!
Opening the blast gate starts my DC via the limit switches that ABG sell.

Hope that's clearer!

hey thats great, I have several of their blast gates all auto, couldnt understand why anyone would want a manual control.
guess what I'am ordering next week?

Fair enough!
At one stage I plugged in a lamp to the same power board as one of my machines so I could use the auto blast gate as a manual one.

Unless you run separate exhaust fans it's better to leave the DC running in between cuts and for a few minutes after you finish all cuts as it helps clear any escaped fine dust.

Hi Tony

I have been considering the same issue for quite a while now, and haven't yet decided. My Makita chopsaw is 20+ years old and I have never liked it - too noisy, too inaccurate, too rough and safety issues. Don't trust it; don't like it!

I use sleds a lot and like their versatility and accuracy. But once you put a longish bit of timber on a sled then things become rather awkward. It doesn't really work very well. Remember, you put the timber on the sled and then slide everything past the saw blade!

For a while I used the "sliding saw feature" on a Triton. This worked reasonably well but set-up is so slow I tended to bypass it.

My current thinking is something like a track saw on a Festool multifunction table. Or some development thereof.

Was scheduled to visit Europe early in lockdown and was considering looking seriously at a Mafell push-pull saw system. But the landed cost would have been over $6,000 - ouch!
Mafell Erika | Mafell AG

My present thinking and not promising it will stay this way, is to keep the SCMS.
This means changing its position so I can make better, easier use of it. To do this means a complete new bench with cupboards and drawers underneath, and the Bosch drill on the other end.

This may be crazy but the benches that both sit on are very second hand kitchen pieces where nothing slides the way it used to.

So am now designing a 2.8M bench (2, maybe 3 different units bolted together) so I can run 150 dust pipes behind, get the sparkie to set up power points instead of running multi boxes off multi boxes, and have a lot of fun with the new table saw creating no dust.

Mentioned it to wife and she just rolled her eyes, (really I was hoping for a little encouragement) and she said, "what about the list I gave you?"

I think with all the jobs Ive got listed I will be finished around 2026

I use a variety of methods depending on the job…

1: Handsaw. KISS.
2: DeWalt chop saw mounted on a folding worksite trolley.
3: Triton WS dedicated to overhead cutting only (I have another for normal work)
4: Hand-held circular saw in a Kreg Accucut jig thingy.
5: Crosscut sled on an old contractors saw.

All my tools are mounted on wheels as they are stored in one half of the garage and my “workshop” is under the carport; essentially I pull out whatever saw is appropriate for the job in hand. The chop saw is probably the easiest option most of the time but it’s also the one I could easiest afford to lose. Never owned a SCMS; I don’t like them at all.

TonyZ,

May be your new ubeaut bench will shorten the lead time from 2026 to 2025 or so?
Could be worth a very timid mention to The Minister for Everything?
Bets of luck!!!