Sliding mitre saw anyone?

[Andy Hall]

Or visiting local A&E department....

[dennis]

You have never made tools have you?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I do have a sliding mitre saw - but a B&Q one. Which can just cut 12" shelves etc. Anything less would be a real pain. Means a 10" blade, though and is of course much larger overall. It's not perfect but excellent value

- I couldn't have justified the 500 quid plus for a 'name' one.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I doubt it. Like all such things they tend to teach only the 'correct' way and leave out the practical bits you'll need for DIY.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's likely to be far more accurate than cutting by hand or with a hand power tool - for the average person. Not everyone will want it for cabinet making and it's likely to be more than adequate for joinery.

In other words a fiddle player won't get the best out of a Stradivarius.

[Rod]

The only electric thing I was ever allowed to use in woodwork was the gluepot. :-(

[George]

Confusious say Man who get distracted is silly bugger.

[DM]

Andy do you want to try writing this again, or was every sentence meant to be contradictory?

I'm sure you know what you meant to say, but it is difficult to interpret anything from it.

cheers

[Andy Dingley]

A non-sliding chop saw chops. It doesn't do anything else. As a result, they're of little practical use for anything - butt joints and that's about it.

Stick a slide on there, with a depth stop, and the assumption is that you get wider cuts. This is true, but not really that useful either. Unless you pay several hundred quid you don't get _enough_ width to cut more than a narrow skirting. If you do pay the full whack for a big one, you've still only bought a flimsy unbalanaced radial arm saw.

What the really useful benefit on a sliding mitre saw with a depth stop is, is its ability to cut halved joints quickly. _Now_ you've got a useful tool for simpler carpentry, particularly chicken coops and shopfitting or stud walls.

Incidentally, if you want a cheap radial arm saw, just find someone who's got one and wait. After they've scared themselves shitless when ripping went wrong on it, offer them a fiver to take it away. While they're still shaking, they'll be only too glad to see it go. Then went you get it home, lock the head so that it can't be swivelled for ripping any more.

Cheap chop saws have a habit of using funny spindle diameters so you can't replace the blade, either for a better one, a new sharp one, or for a more appropriate choice of tooth. 30mm is standard though and there's a big range.

[Andy Hall]

Sure, but always safe ones.

[dennis]

So how do you know it isn't safe? Do you always jump to unfound conclusions or is that just here?

[George]

My cheap ebay one cost £80

I can't fault it,gives accurate cut after cut ie no resetting of its adustents. The blade is 254x25 which isn't a standard blade size realy but screwfix do em along with Tooled-up and probably elsewere if I look.

:-P

[stuart noble]

You obviously don't know what Andy's definition of accurate is. What equipment are you using to verify said accuracy? I fear you may need to upgrade to something frightfully expensive.

[George]

Well if I cut a piece of 2x2 I can't see daylight on the cut edge using a set square like I was taught by my woodwork teacher ie if I can see daylight between the cut surface and the edge of the set square then its not flat.

If I cut or mitre a piece of 6" skirting either vertically or flat on its face then it'll be true with the same said setsquare. Oh! and the setsquare is accurate as well ie now and again I'll put it against a square metal block of steel that I milled when doing training in an engineering machine shop.

:-)

[Andy Dingley]

What are we talking though? Carpentry, cabinetry or horseshoes? For the crude softwood carpentry for which I'd use a chop saw, I'm not really that bothered about accuracy or precision. For the tasks where I do care, a chop saw is just the wrong sort of tool to even make the cut, let alone make it accurately.

My beef with the simple chopsaws is that I just don't have much need in my life for simple butt joints.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Hall saying something like:

Ah, ffs, change the record.

Actually, these days - I think your laser's stuck.

[Martin Bonner]

Really? I thought that prior the national curriculum, the only legal requirement was religious education (which could be opted out of by the parents).

Which makes it unlikely that you were educated in the days of the national curriculum :-)

(Actually, I am assuming that the school was in England or Wales. I believe that some schools abroad still do O-levels)

[Andy Hall]

Solid state.....

[Andy Hall]

It's more reasonable to present the proper tool for doing a job than an unsuitable one from an unsuitable supplier.

[Andy Hall]

Like any woodworking machine, a SCMS is designed in a specific way to meet certain safety requirements. This particular family of machines, like radial arm saws of which these are a cousin, will do a very good job if used properly, with proper guards in place and not modified outside of the manufacturer's design.

Do you know what the safety implication of filing from the depth stop is?

Do you know what the effect of fitting a larger blade will be on stopping time or the forces on the machine?

Did you ask the manufacturer whether he was prepared to under-write modifications?