Laser question

Stores don't have their SCMS plugged in so I can't see if a laser is worth having.

Here's my main concern: will a pencil mark on a dark colored wood like walnut (hard to see under the best conditions) be visible under a laser?

I currently just pull the saw blade down (NON slider) to the wood and align the mark with the edge of the blade. If I get a sliding miter saw, I'm PRESUMING that while the saw is in front of the wood, the laser light will shine towards the rear where a narrow piece of wood is against the fence and will indicate the cutting path without having to move the saw to the rear and hold it down against the wood. IS THIS TRUE?

Dave

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David
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My new DeWalt 718 does that. The laser lines up the cut beautifully when the saw is up and back and pulled forward. The line appears slotted momentarily when the saw is lowered due to the blade guard, but the laser line returns and is bright, crisp, and clear throughtout the cut. BTW, the laser on the DW is switched separately from the blade switch, which means the laser is always on (well, as long as the saw is plugged in) which is a nice feature. This saw was a recent purchase and the sliding Bosch was the closest contender. One thing that really influenced my decision towards the DeWalt is after talking with a Bosch rep at the local WW store, he said the laser on the Bosch slider comes on ONLY when the saw blade starts. FWIW I didn't like that concept. One of the beauties of the laser is you can mark a short point and long point of an angle, and "connect the dots" with the laser to make an angle cut without knowing what the angle is. I mean sure, I could break out the sliding bevel and get the angle before the cut is made, but in a production environment, it's much faster to let the laser connect the dots and just make the cut. Furthermore, I've cut a few pieces of walnut and the mark is still hard to see on the darker woods. The laser is intensely bright and thin, but it won't light up the cut mark for alignment. Your best bet here is to have a brighly lit shop. --dave

"David" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

Reply to
Dave Jackson

Thanks, Dave. I'll take a look at the instruction book for the Makita if I can find it on line to see what triggers the laser.

So dark wood IS a problem for the laser to indicate the pencil line. I suppose if I had a lightweight, easily moved piece of stock, I could turn on the laser and slowly move the stock until the pencil line just "disappeared" under the laser line? does that sound feasible? Or is the more practical solution to find a white pencil?

Dave

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David

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Doug Brown

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nospambob

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