I just got my issue yesterday and was glad to see a review of 12″ sliding miter saws as I’m thinking about getting one. I see in the review of the Dewalt there’s a mention of doing dadoes with these saws. I did not know you could dado with sliders.
Can all sliders do dadoing?
I’m gonna get the Dewalt saw anyways as I already have their 12″ dual bevel miter saw and LOVE IT. Anybody with the Dewalt 12″ slider care to post their opinions on it?
Paul
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Replies
As far as I know, all Sliders can do dadoing. It's a simple adjustable stop mechanism that you flip down to allow the blade to slide at whatever height off the table.
I have the Dewalt 12" slider. It's a good saw. I got it because it has the highest vertical cut capacity for crown (I do a lot of that), and baseboards. Also it has detent stops on the bevel, I guess they all do now.
I like the Makita 10" an awful lot, if I didn't do the big crown work so much I would have gotten that. The Bosch is supposed to be good but it's heavy & lunky so I'm told.
Festool makes one that's supposed to be the bee's knees but it sells for almost 3 times the price of the others.
Truth is you'll probably end up using your non slider more than your slider. I'm not saying don't get one, but I have the old DW705 and I do probably 90% of my cutting with it. Size & portability is the reason.
This topic has been discussed to death in here and you might want to do a search.
Good luck.
I mostly want a slider for doing cabinets.
Paul
I don't know what your situation is as far as shop setup, but if your fabricating cabinets and that's what you're buying this saw for, I would think about making a really good panel cutting box for your table saw. If you have a decent table saw, nothing is more accurate or reliable than a well made cross cut box.
When I had my shop I had one with 3 interchangable throats. One for regular straight cuts, one for 45 degree cuts, and one for dado work. It's important to have zero clearance when you're cutting ply & crosscutting for cabs.The good thing about the 12" slider though is that it is so versatile.
Yeah I've seen LOTS of those box plans around but figuring out which one is the best is a task in itself.
Paul
Never heard them called boxes, always hear them as cross-cut sleds.Funny thing is, when I was making mine, I followed some plans exactly as I saw them from somewhere, cause I'd never used one really and didn't know what I needed.As soon as you build one though and start using it you immediately know how it SHOULD'VE been built and what exactly you need from one.Another interesting point is that as handy as they are for large cross cut stuff, they are also super handy for tiny stuff - say, repetitive blocks 3-5" or so. Makes cutting super small pieces very safe and easy on the tablesaw - even safer than on a miter saw.Julian
"As soon as you build one though and start using it you immediately know how it SHOULD'VE been built and what exactly you need from one."Boy isn't that the truth? I've probably made six or seven of those sleds over the years. I keep modifying stuff on them.
I've used the Dewalt 12" slider for dadoes
quite a bit.
First off, it's a very nice saw. Big to carry around tho,
and the dust collection is a joke.
The dadoe lever is plastic and has some flex in it. So
some attention is required to maintain an even depth.
I found it one of the most convenient methods of making
a dadoe.
I have the Dewalt 8" slider. Nice saw. There is a metal flip-down stop that adjusts to cut dados ... really slick. I use it frequently. One thing though ... the part of the dado next to the fench might need to be cleaned up, or else put a filler piece against the fence, cuz the centerline of the blade doesn't go back far enough to cut a consuistent depth dado all the way through the board.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Maybe it's my somewhat marginal skill, but I've never been happy with dadoes done by a SCMS. They're OK for rough carpentry, but I wouldn't call them 'woodwork'. There is too much flex in the saw body for the depth stop to be effective. You're better off with a router or better yet, a nice dado blade set on a table saw.
On the other hand, there are a thousand other things that a SCMS does a wonderful job of....
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€