You bring up a lot of points that I've been mulling around in my head.
Specifically, do I really need an expensive saw for what I am doing. Not
really. I was even looking at $99 model at Sears and thinking that may do
the trick. It might have been a 10" saw. My main concern is finding a saw
that will cut/tilt along the diagonal for I need to cut up two 4x4 or 4x6's
to make a matching angle. Like this /\.

Will I make it a hobby? It's tough to say right now. Even if I did, I
wouldn't need it for any fine work, as I am not that mechanically inclined.
I do need something that will cut a 4x4 or 4x6 at an angle and mitre. I
will also need to cut some 2x10 or 2x12s', but like you said I could use my
circular saw for that. I'll look into a folding mitre saw stand. That way
it wouldn't take up too much space for storage.

Just curious, a couple people mentioned the fence in their replies to me.
You mentioned 'adjust the fence'. What is the fence?

"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 03:30:40 GMT, "Charlie S."
wrote:

Need to cut up a number of 4x4's and 4x6's. I've already cut a number of
4x4's using a 7.25 inch circular saw. Found it too difficult to get a
straight cut even using blocks and penciling all the edges. Being
dis-mechanically inclined doesn't help.

Went to HD to check out what they had for 12" Mitre saws. Based on my
needs
the salesman recommended either a Rigid or a Ryobi. The Rigid came with a
stand and sold for $279. The Ryobi sold for around $230. The Ryobi
seemed
to have a better clamping mechanism and had a basic, clearly marked ruler
at
the surface. The Rigid didn't seem to be clearly marked for measurement.
The salesman told me the Rigid was a better seller. Probably because it
come with a stand. From outward appearances the Ryobi seemed like the
better unit. Then again, for $50 a stand comes with the Rigid.

Do you plan on making a hobby of using the saw, or is it just for a
one-off job? I do construction for a living, and make furniture as a
hobby, and I use a $99 Black and Decker chop saw with a good Freud
blade at home, and it gives me the same good results as the Dewalt and
Milwalkee saws at work. To be frank, I can't see why you'd need a
$250+ saw for a small odd job here and there. If you're set on
getting a big shiny one, I'd recommend the 12" Porter Cable compound
miter saw or the equivilent Milwalkee- they're both good tools, and
will look nice in your garage. You can buy a folding miter saw stand
from Wolfcraft for about $60 or the Porter Cable one for $219- both of
them work, but the PC is shinier. In EVERY case, it is the sawyer,
not the saw, that makes the difference in the finished product- none
of them will measure and lay out your work for you.

Or you can take a step back and decide what you really need, and if
it's more modest than professional grade, get a cheaper one with a
stand (Pro-Tech is a decent one, and very cheap) and you'll save
yourself a good hunk of cash. Use a little of that cash to get a
decent blade.

Here's a bit of a rundown on what you're looking at. A compound miter
saw head angles two ways- it miters, and it tilts. The nice thing
about this is that you can cut exterior corners for crown molding with
one cut, and you can cut angled tails on soffit pieces that are too
wide to stand up in the saw. If you're not doing at least one of
those two things, I doubt you need the blade to tilt for any other
reason. A simple miter saw only cuts miters. They're a little less
common these days, but Black and Decker has one and it works and feels
just like a Dewalt. Any of them will work, some may require adjusting
the fence. You can still cut trim and even crown molding if you spend
an hour with a coping saw and a file to learn how to install trim
correctly (IE, coping the inside corners) You can cut soffit tails
with the circular saw you mentioned, and by the time you'd ever get to
that job, you'll know how to cut them straight, or you'll have already
given up. The nice thing about the simple miter saw is that there is
one less thing to check to make sure you have accurate cuts- and they
are a lot less expensive.

Forget the slider unless you're planning to crosscut a whole lot of
12" planks and don't have a table saw. Be prepared to pay a lot more,
and/or spend a lot of time fiddling around with it if you like
accurate cuts.

I realize from reading previous posts that Ryobi generally stands for poor
quality and some of you wouldn't buy Ryobi product under any circumstance.
However, I don't plan to use this every day. For now I just need to cut a
few 4x4's or 4x6's. Most of the cuts will be straight across a few will
be
at an angle. Eventually, I am sure they'll be more projects that will
require some cutting.

After Google searching I came up with a sight reviewing sliding Mitre
saws.
They appear to be better. I presume they are different from the regular
Mitre saws and more expensive. I wasn't quite certain on the concept.
This
may be beyond my needs.

I'm torn between getting either a Rigid or Ryobi or checking out the 'Want
Ads' for a used Mitre saw. If I were going to do all my cutting in one
day,
I would probably rent a unit. However, I need it for a longer time frame.
Any suggestions?

Also, I am not all that familiar with cutting. But, from little I've
done,
it seems the utility of the table or stand is almost as important as the
saw. I used an old kitchen table to cut my other boards. It wasn't the
easiest thing to work with. Lucky, I had someone to hold the boards for
me.
The salesman recommended rigging up something on my own using plywood and
2x4's. Again, suggestions are welcome.

A folding miter saw stand will make your life a whole lot easier. If
you don't need one, the one I've got just happens to be exactly 3.5"
inches from the table to the bed of the saw- which means that I can
get by with a couple of 2x4s nailed together on end as a temporary
*stand* for the lumber I'm cutting.

Good luck with your project- just don't get too taken in by shiny ads!
Patience and thought will help you more than any tool you can run out
and buy.