Hi all, I am considering selling off my Craftsman 10" RAS in favor of a
12" sliding CMS.

The reasons for this a

1. The RAS can be tough to set to a precise angle other than the preset
stops at 90 and 45

2. RAS likes to bite into wood and jump out at me - especially when
making mitres/angled cuts on thicker stock.

3. I'd like to build a workstation for a CMS that includes large tables
on each side - something like what is featured in the current issue of
Workbench, or just about any other mag on a regular basis.

Any recommendations on a new CMS?

Anyone in the Pittsburgh area interested in a RAS?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

"Mike" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi all, I am considering selling off my Craftsman 10" RAS in favor of a
12" sliding CMS.

The reasons for this a

1. The RAS can be tough to set to a precise angle other than the preset
stops at 90 and 45

2. RAS likes to bite into wood and jump out at me - especially when
making mitres/angled cuts on thicker stock.

3. I'd like to build a workstation for a CMS that includes large tables
on each side - something like what is featured in the current issue of
Workbench, or just about any other mag on a regular basis.

Those are all good reasons (well, the first two anyhow. Why couldn't you
just put the RAS on one of the workstations?) I prefer a RAS. Good luck.

Mike wrote:
....
Any recommendations on a new CMS?
....

FWIW (and coincidentally, I leafed thru it last night waiting for local
weather) a recent FWW did a review--the author's selection was Bosch as
"Best Overall", Milwaukee as "Best Value". I have no direct knowledge
of either--I don't have SCMS, "just" the DeWalt 12" CMS--I like it very
well but it isn't a SCMS if that is a must...it would be nice to have a
little extra reach at times, but for me personally I don't think it
would be worth the price differential.

well but it isn't a SCMS if that is a must...it would be nice to have a
little extra reach at times, but for me personally I don't think it
would be worth the price differential.

I'm not set on a sliding saw - I just figured that I'd need the reach.
How wide of a board can you cut with the 12" CMS?

Mike wrote:
Hi all, I am considering selling off my Craftsman 10" RAS in favor of a
12" sliding CMS.

The reasons for this a

1. The RAS can be tough to set to a precise angle other than the preset
stops at 90 and 45

2. RAS likes to bite into wood and jump out at me - especially when
making mitres/angled cuts on thicker stock.

3. I'd like to build a workstation for a CMS that includes large tables
on each side - something like what is featured in the current issue of
Workbench, or just about any other mag on a regular basis.

Any recommendations on a new CMS?

Anyone in the Pittsburgh area interested in a RAS?

Thanks in advance.

Mike


I bought a Bosch 5412 on Amazon recently. I like it quite a bit, makes
really accurate cuts so far:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...427958?ie=UTF8

I mounted it on this Rousseau mobile base, which again has so far fit
the bill:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...8?ie=UTF8&s=hi

I added sections of 2 x 2 angle iron to the "wings" of the base to
stiffen them & act as fence extensions.

I did buy both at Amazon, which at the time had a 10% off deal on the
saw & free shipping, cheapest price I found, even though living in WA I
had to pay sales tax.

Dan

Mike wrote:
well but it isn't a SCMS if that is a must...it would be nice to have a
little extra reach at times, but for me personally I don't think it
would be worth the price differential.

I'm not set on a sliding saw - I just figured that I'd need the reach.
How wide of a board can you cut with the 12" CMS?

2x8 @ 90. 1x9+. I don't know exactly what it is at 45 offhand. I
think it's something around 6-1/2" for moulding height. You can gain a
little extra width by using a false table to raise the stock a little
for 1x or 2x material, of course, if it's "just a smidge" narrow for a
particular cut.

I did notice to my surprise that it appeared from the Amazon site that
DeWalt has discontinued the CMS in favor of the SCMS although it looks
like there are units still available at this time. I did notice one
review on the DW705 there that voiced displeasure about the table
tilting upward when the miter lock was engaged--I've done _A LOT_ of
compound miters and have never noticed the issue that individual
raised--I don't know if whether the saw was cut back in precision of
manufacture from the time I first got mine (it was almost a new product
at the time and has been long enough ago I can't begin to even estimate
the actual age any longer--at least 10 yrs, I would say) or whether he
was "just lucky", but I have never had to readjust it in all that time
and it was still "dead on" the last time I checked. It's roughly half
the cost of the SCMS.

I won't say it's the only or even the best, but I certainly have been
satisfied (although there is that caveat that it is quite old and I
can't really compare to the present-day one).

BTW, the RAS--to me, they're two completely different tools w/
basically different purposes. Unless I were _extremely_ limited in
shop space, I would keep the RAS even w/ a CMS or SCMS (and would (as
in have) do the same thing regarding the RAS vis a vis TS argument as
well). I would as soon give up the bandsaw as either the RAS or the TS
although if forced I could make do w/o any one of the three, I
certainly would not voluntarily choose to do so. IMO, YMMV, $0.02,
etc, etc., ...

dpb wrote:
Mike wrote:
...
Any recommendations on a new CMS?
...

FWIW (and coincidentally, I leafed thru it last night waiting for local
weather) a recent FWW did a review--...

Actually, I just noticed that is for 10" SCMS, not 12" so the price
differential isn't nearly as much when compared against 12" CMS.

The 10" SCMS will match the 12" CMS on width of cut at the cost of some
height--precisely how much will depend on the particular saws, of
course. Whether that is a major problem would depend on the purpose
one intended to use it for--if one is planning on or uses a lot of
really large crown mould, then the 12" could be well worth the extra
$$. If only 3-4" moulding is expected, the 10" could well have all the
capacity one would need. I'd tend to avoid the 10" CMS choice,
however, for that reason.

I really like my dewalt 12" SCMS
"Mike" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi all, I am considering selling off my Craftsman 10" RAS in favor of a
12" sliding CMS.

The reasons for this a

1. The RAS can be tough to set to a precise angle other than the preset
stops at 90 and 45

2. RAS likes to bite into wood and jump out at me - especially when
making mitres/angled cuts on thicker stock.

3. I'd like to build a workstation for a CMS that includes large tables
on each side - something like what is featured in the current issue of
Workbench, or just about any other mag on a regular basis.

Any recommendations on a new CMS?

Anyone in the Pittsburgh area interested in a RAS?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

On 28 Aug 2006 07:20:24 -0700, "Mike" wrote:

Hi all, I am considering selling off my Craftsman 10" RAS in favor of a
12" sliding CMS.

The reasons for this a

1. The RAS can be tough to set to a precise angle other than the preset
stops at 90 and 45

2. RAS likes to bite into wood and jump out at me - especially when
making mitres/angled cuts on thicker stock.

3. I'd like to build a workstation for a CMS that includes large tables
on each side - something like what is featured in the current issue of
Workbench, or just about any other mag on a regular basis.

Any recommendations on a new CMS?

Anyone in the Pittsburgh area interested in a RAS?

Thanks in advance.

Mike


I too started out on a RAS and certainly understand each point you
make.
I currently use a RIDGID 12" CMS. It has gone 2 years and I'll be
replacing it soon with either RIDGID top of the line or the Makita 12"
SCMS