jimbite

My old Craftsman RAS has a controlled feed motor on its carriage, ensuring that the carriage does not lurch forward, catching the blade in the stock. I have it built into a long table that allows me to crosscut long stock safely. With the right blade, I can make a crosscut in hard stock that has almost a perfect finish.

Yes, it does require some occasional fussing to make sure that it cuts absolutely square. Not much, though, for a consumer grade product. Certainly not any more than I do for other power or hand tools.

Compound miter saws are great for framing work, because they are lightweight and portable. I use mine for that all of the time, and I get reasonably accurate work. There is no way, though, that I could ever get the accuracy or finish in a crosscut or dado that I get with my old Sears RAS.

Please tell me: How does one safely crosscut a twelve foot long board on a table saw? How, too, does one get a dead accurate crosscut or dado when you can't see where the blade is in relationship to the work? Perhaps there are some techniques that I could stand to learn, so please enlighten me.