cms vs scms

[nospam_coloradotrout]

Now that 12" CMS are everywhere, what are the pros/cons of the CMS vs SCMS?

I have the 8.5" Hitachi SCMS that was the rave back then. It cuts 2x up to 12" 90 deg. Other than that, I cannot think of an advantage of it over the current 12" CMS. The one disadvantage that I see is it consumes about 32" of front to back space, while a CMS would only take

24" or less.

Other than the obvious cutting capacity, when would at SCMS be preferred over a CMS. (the 12" CMS cuts about 8" wide 2x at 90 deg.)

I'd also haved to believe the SCMS has more "play", thus less accurate.

I do not have a RAS - dont plan to get one. I do have a TS and crosscut sled.

[Andy Dingley]

If you have a decent depth stop, you can use a slider to cut dadoes or halved joints.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[nospam_coloradotrout]

[Tim Carver]

Well, to me, being able to cut almost 12" versus less than 8" is a big deal.

Also, one thing that's easy to do with a SCMS is to make a quick scoring pass when you're cutting melamine or nice ply, followed by a full slide cut (as opposed to chopping down, like a CMS has to do). I just do the score cut by hand without using the depth stop on my PC SCMS, although you can set a depth stop if you really want to. The end result of combining these techniques is a much improved cut quality for materials prone to splintering. I do this all the time, but I've never heard anybody else mention it.

One last thing - you really don't need a 12" SCMS, a 10" SCMS has about the same capacity except for the ability to stand up large crown molding. I personally don't like working around a 12" CMS located up on a bench, because of the amount of blade that's exposed (I have the

12" Makita CMS, it's particularly bad about this). There's just something about that monster blade being close to my chest that really bugs me. When I use my 12" CMS, I usually have it down on the floor where it doesn's seem so initimidating. In general, the 10" SCMS is much more relaxing to work around.

Tim Carver [e-mail]