Mitre Saws?

[scoly]

Have the opportunity to buy the Hitachi C12LCH for $180.00. Perfect condition. The problem is I have no idea how much use it would get. Am in the process of doing some trim at the house but once that is done where and why would I need it? I've never owned or used a cms. Where do all of you use it the most and is this model and price a deal?
Thanks for any and all suggestions, thoughts, uses, etc..
Steve

[LarryG]

Oh, man, you have no idea ...

A CMS is like a drill press. You just cannot imagine how handy they are until you have one. I use mine for virtually all cross-cuts up to the capacity of the saw (about 9-1/2", for a 12" non-slider) and sometimes even more than that, by cutting partway across and flipping the board over to finish the cut. And of course it does virtually all my miters and short bevels.

Gary Rogowski names a miter saw as one of his five essential tools. They are, in order (if memory serves): band saw, jointer, router, miter saw, drill press.

Can't speak to the quality of that saw or how good a deal that is, but you'll not regret having a CMS in your arsenal.

[Bob Webb]

Have the opportunity to buy the Hitachi C12LCH for $180.00. Perfect condition. The problem is I have no idea how much use it would get. Am in the process of doing some trim at the house but once that is done where and why would I need it? I've never owned or used a cms. Where do all of you use it the most and is this model and price a deal?
Thanks for any and all suggestions, thoughts, uses, etc..
Steve

BUY IT, YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT. DON'T LOOK BACK. ESPECIALLY AT THAT PRICE.

I have it and use it alot and like it even more.

Bob

[Sawatzky]

If you ever build a cabinet with a face frame, you will have to cut the pieces with it. The CMS was the fist power saw I bought and use it on every project I have ever done. No matter how small or large of a project the CMS gets tons of use. I would say it is more important than a table saw.

[scoly]

Thanks!
Didn't take much persuading. Guess I was leaning to start but your comments sealed the deal. Got the lead on the saw from a friend. Turns out it is a reconditioned by Hitache saw for $179.00. Looked at the display which appeared brand new. Hope the one in the front seat of my car looks the same and was assurred that it would. Funny thing is that I was considering a DeWalt 12 inch at a pawn shop that looked like it had been in the back of a pickup for the last 5 years. They wanted $169 for it. Looking forward to getting the Hitache out of the box and trying it out tonight.
Thanks again for the feedback and the little nudge.
Steve

[supper shaun]

Great price for the 12". See the link for Hitachi ranges http://www.frozenwarrior.com/~pricew...p?value=554110

One suggestion on the Hitachi, as I used to have the 10". Put some type of nail polish or some other adhessive on the bevel gauge. The 10" was only attached by glue and it started to peel off. Maybe it's different on the 12".

I returned mine just because I had only used it twice and it kinda scared me to have things peeling off. Then I got a chance at a Dewalt that was price incorrectly. The Hitachi was really great while I had it.

[drumpriest]

I won't dissuade you from purchasing a miter saw, I find mine useful, I would argue with Sawatzky though, about it being more important than a table saw. You can certainly build a face frame cabinet without a miter saw. Very recently I have finally built an accurate cross cut sled for my TS, and I find it more useful than my miter saw for a couple of reasons. (no chip out, seems to stay aligned nicely, no deflection)

If you are going to be done trim in the house, I couldn't imagine doing it without a miter saw, but for furniture, the TS will probably see a lot more action.

[scoly]

Bought it! Only managed to unbox last night. Never even plugged it in but did check it out. Looks brand new.
As to the table saw vs. miter if I could only have one it would surely be the ts but time will tell for me.
Will be doing trim throughout the house over the next month. Have already done one room and will admit to the desire for a ms. Had a dewalt in the house for a day or two and could see the advantages. Today I'll spend at work reading the manual when possible to aquante myself with the settings, adjustments, and features. Lots to learn.
Just couldn't turn it down for the price. After having the dewalt in the house and seeing how much easier it was for trim than the ts I had been looking for a ms at a good price. Only ones I had found were at pawn shops (looked worn out) and a few fair deals on 10" saws. Felt the 10's were a first step and that I'd regret not getting a 12.
Thanks again.
Steve

[thestinker]

I bought a 10 several years ago. One of these days I want to upgrede to a 10 or12 slider, but I will need to find a deal on one. I use my CMS more than my table saw. For quick," I need a board cut to this length" there is nothing easier or quicker.

RS

[scorrpio]

Having a machine with a moving blade that can crosscut immobile long stock is very useful. For most, it's either a CMS or an SCMS. I have a radial arm saw for this purpose - and it gets a great deal of workout on about every project. If I did not get a great deal on a used RAS, I'd definitely get a miter saw.

One advantage miter saw has over a RAS is that when you doing trimwork, you can set it up right on the spot, while RAS stays in the shop. This, of course, turns to disadvantage when friends/relatives try to borrow it. Noone so far has tried to borrow my RAS.

[JimD]

I have both a RAS and a 10 inch CMS. I think the CMS is much easier to be accurate with and also much easier to use for angles. I use the RAS for 90 degree cuts beyond the capacity of the CMS. I will probably upgrade to a 12 inch CMS someday to do larger crown moulding and wider very accurate cross cuts.

Jim

[onedash]

I have a 10" PC and its good but I sure wish I had more capacity. Never would have guessed I would be buying such wide boards. I'll cut half way through and flip it to finish. I try to use cut list plus to reduce waste especially with the bubinga I have been using. I cant square up these huge heavy boards on the jointer first so I'll chop em to a managable size a little long then hit the jointer and do the final cut back on the miter saw.
I want a Jessem Miter Gauge but you still cant crosscut 8 foot boards.

[scoly]

Finally got to use the cms a bit this weekend. What a pleasure. The laser was on the money though set from the factory for right of the blade. Very easy to cut the line and no setup. Just mark and cut. In the past with a long board I had to pivot the saw, set up supports, put on the mitre guage, fool with setting the angle and cut. No more. Just mark, set the angle, and cut.
Will be doing most of the base molding in my house over the next few weeks and can already appreciate how the cms is going to help. Am going to be looking for a new blade. Supplied blade is less than satisfactory. Any suggestions?
Thanks again for the input.
Steve

[SARGE..g-47]

You might look at the Freud LU91R012 72 tooth with a -5 negative hook. A little pricey at $79.99 but you need a blade especially made for a cross-cut or slider and that relates to negative hook to keep the stock pushed to the fence as a slider or mitre cuts on a up-stroke. Whatever you get.. just make sure it has negative hook and high tooth count if you're doing trim.

I purchased a Hitachi 10" SCMS on close-out from Lowe's several years ago for $229 when the lasers came out. I had no clue if I would use it, but I knew it was a deal and that most trim men in the Atlanta area prefer the Hitachi. A bonus here in Atlanta is that the Hitachi hd.-quarters and service center is about 8 miles from my home.

Well.. things evoled after not knowing if I really needed it. I mounted it on one of those portable mitre stands, but I took the legs off the stand and left it mounted to just the lock down base with built on extensions. Mounted that permanently to the top of a MDF cabinet I built with an open front and put it all on a HTC mobile base.

I dropped a Shop-vac 6 gallon vacuum in the open bottom of the base and tied it down with velcro straps. So.. I have a highly mobile SCMS that has it's own dedicated dust collector and with the extension pushed in when not in use, takes up much less room than those legs on that protable stand that angle outward.

Do I use it? It has replaced my table saw for cross-cutting period and takes care of the few trim jobs I have around the house at this late point of life. I can cross-cut up to about 16' length and around 13" wide. The TS gets to keep a dedicated 24 Tooth ripping blade on board as I do a lot of that. The only time it gets a cross-cut is on the rare occasion I use MDF or ply to finalize solid panels after being sized down with a Tru-grip and circular.

The Hitachi has been good to me... very good indeed!.... Any regrets.. Yep.. that there wasn't a 12" SCMS Hitachi and being closed out at that price ha.. ha...

Have a good day or evening... regards

[scoly]

Sarge
thanks for the blade input. Have a friend that works in a door shop. Buys freud blades for their cms 50 at a time. Gets a great price. Will be talking to him.
Steve