Just have to give major kudos to those who piped up in response to my queries about sliding compound miter saws, hammer drills and circular saws. The Makita SCMS is an absolute joy to have in the shop, has really made life easier. After re-visiting the hammer drill thread, we bought a Bosch SDS Rotary Hammer that Nick used today to test the old cement steps. WOW!!!! He is very impressed! It’s much more what we need than was the less aggressive Makita (non-SDS).
Haven’t had a chance to try the little Porter Cable 6″ saw, but no doubt it’ll be great too. You guys are quite the crew!
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
Replies
FG, we just try to follow your lead! Thank you for all of your very helpful insight and research!
Realized this morning I'd forgotten to mention the Makita impact driver + drill/driver set. I can't imagine building this deck without them!!
Thanks for the compliments -- it's fun for me, waking up in the am, watching baseball in the pm, spiced by Knots, LOL.
Current woodworking is rather boring but terribly important -- aforementioned deck. Working our way up to when the front steps come out and we try to remove the old cement steps underneath.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Oh, cement. We replaced about 4 yards of concrete sidewalk at our house not long ago, and the old stuff sat in a pile covering the space that My Young Bride intended for her new flower garden. My problem was twofold: 1) I didn't really have a place to put it; 2) Old concrete is heavy.
Somewhat providentially, the old wooden lid on my parent's 60 year old dry well recently caved in. They have been connected to the city sewer line for a long time, so the big hole looked like a good place to put the broken up concrete. It took our younger son, a friend and me the better part of a day to take three loads of various sized chunks of concrete in his 1/2 ton pickup to fill it up, but now MYB can at least see where her flowers will be. All I have to do is get the chips and gravel out of her dirt, churn it up, mix it with enough mulch and manure and topsoil for it to become reasonably fertile and she will have her garden spot.
And now she wants a Norm Abram trellis bench for the East end of the garden area.
Do you have any lineament for my aching back?
Wow, that's a chore-and-a-half!! We have an old well too, but it hasn't caved in yet. Not sure what we'll do with the cement when it's chipped out, but it will probably be smaller pieces than what you had to deal with.
Linament? You want linament? I've got scads of the stuff, LOL. Back pain and I are intimate, long-time acquaintances. It's a daily balance of stretching, strengthening, and drugs, LOL.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Sorry, I forgot that you suffer from chronic back pain. My intermittent backache probably doesn't begin to compare with your constant pain. I do some stretches as well which seem to allow me a few hours of sleep per night, and over the counter meds if it gets too bad. Go ahead and hang on to your linament.
>Decided to throw yours down instead of bring what was down there back up.Reminds me of the Arlo Guthrie Alice's Resturant/Thanks Giving story about the "half a ton of garbage".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7C0QGkiVo
Edited 10/5/2008 5:12 pm by roc
We thought about that when we buried my friend's recently expired license plate somewhere down in the pile of broken concrete. Sometime in the next century or so, some industrious CSI type will be sifting through all of that and send a cyber citation to my friend's heirs for illegal or improper dumping or defacing the planet or whatever the current bugaboo is at the time . . .
You may be able to get anything that you want at Alice's restaurant, but the slow wheels of justice will churn on . . . just ask Arlo Guthrie.
I had another Guthrie song running through my head last night, who knows why: "I don't want a pickle, just wanna ride on my motor-sicle" (spelling to reflect pronunciation, LOL)
Love Alice's Rest-au-rant.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Maybe 'cause you worked real hard and now you need to get out on the open road for a while and take it easy.http://video.aol.com/video-detail/red-dwarf-rebellion/376519408If you have never seen this show before don't worry it is "safe". Unless you watch too many of them in which case you go nuts. But that is not a bad thing. Leo Buscaglia says when people think you are crazy they give you allot more room for behavior. We can listen to him 'cause he has a PH.D. : )If you are interested the sets and make up get much better over the years. This is one of the first episodes and a bit low budget. The guy painting is a house cleaning service robot and the guy in the bunk has spent the whole day trying to reprogram him to lie and be independent and thinks he failed. Near the end of this clip is the chopper ( space chopper ).The decor is a long story. And they are on a supply transport ship millions of light years from Earth. The guy in the bunk was in a stasis chamber ( brig ) that didn't open for a million years because the rest of the crew was wiped out by a disease caused by the guy in the bunk by accident involving his contraband pet cat he smuggled on board.We may be setting some kind of record here for a wood working chat getting off, off, off topic. Enjoy.Edited 10/6/2008 4:57 am by rocEdited 10/6/2008 5:51 am by roc
Edited 10/6/2008 6:03 am by roc
Will have to view the video next time I visit Doc's Marina Restaurant, which has free cable wireless. My DSL has been pokey and videos just aren't working. Sounds weird-fun.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Red Dwarf is one of my all time favorite shows. A true classic.
I LOVE Alice's Restaurant. My hippie sister brought home the LP when I was ~12, and I fell in love with it. "We decided that one big pile was better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up, we decided to throw ours down." Classic! LOL "Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie; I put that envelope under that garbage." Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
what is the link to the scms
I'm just sayin'
"what is the link to the scms" Hmmmm, not sure I follow, unless the underlined "joy" has you thinking it was a hyperlink. Nope, just emphasis. That used to drive Splintie crazy, LOL!
The saw is similar to this one, but without the light, and with narrower stock supports. Sweeeeet!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
sorry, I ment what is the link to the tread where people here suggested to you what saw to get?
I'm just sayin'
Hi, Andy. OK, I understand now! This is the thread, but I was spurred on by a specific Craig's List find, the 12' Makita SCMS, which I did end up buying and absolutely love. Note that the Craig's list ad that was link is long defunct.
You will find one person, IIRC, who really hated his Makita. Others have reports about this brand, that brand. Don't know if there's enough info there for a general "which saw?" decision.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG,
This post answers my question(s).
Thanks again!
Pete
Edit:I wrote this just as you were answering mine. I meant the thread you gave Andy. Sorry if there is any confusion!
Edited 10/7/2008 8:39 pm ET by PCM
thanks for the link, tell me haw the saw is in a while when you've used it a bit.
I'm just sayin'
I can give you a report-to-date: It is equipped with a Forrest Chopmaster blade, in excellent condition. I've cut more plywood than anything at this point, and it's done a great job. I've also cut some very narrow and thin molding. That molding gave me a strong appreciation for the way the clamp is designed and how well it works. Not only will it hold a large piece of plywood or other stock solidly, it will also hold a 1/2" wide, thin piece of molding snug against the fence. The clamp doesn't interfere with moving stock back and forth to get it lined up (unlike the clamp on my Bosch) as the foot moves independent of the shaft.
Lots of other pluses and minuses will become apparent down the road, will let you know how it goes.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
cool, with the slider, is there any side to side shaking when it is extended?
I'm just sayin'
No "shaking" but to really answer how exact it is (e.g., if there's any inaccuracy due to the sliding action), I'd have to do some very precise cutting, as for a picture frame or shadow-box.
I will say, the woman I bought the saw from was a talented and accomplished carpenter (in her "spare" time) who did a great deal of building on her own house, including finish work, which always requires precision. She was quite pleased with the job the Makita did. Why did she give it up? She bought a Festool Kapex.
I thank Festool for putting the Kapex on the market, as it has given a number of us the opportunity to buy previously unaffordable SCMSs!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 10/8/2008 12:36 am by forestgirl
FG,
I am also in the market for a SCMS, and would appreciate it if you could tell me how you made the decision to buy a Makita 12", instead of a 10" _____, or _____, or whatever.
This saw is going to be mounted in a workstation (my 10" Delta MS will be portable for treated lumber, landscape projects), and I am just starting to read tool reviews.
Is the 12" worth the $? Another consideration is I have a Forrest 10" Chopmaster I use on my MS-cuts like glass! If I buy a 12", I will definetly buy another Forrest blade !
Thanks!
Pete
A 12" saw is well worth the extra money! I discovered that when I graduated from an 8.25" Delta to a 12" Bosch (standard CMS, not sliding). The bigger saws can cut, generally, wider and taller stock. But the sweet icing on the cake with the slider is how large of a panel you can cross-cut. Close to 25", by cutting, then flipping over, and cutting again.
You put the wide panel down on the saw, pull the slider toward yourself all the way and plunge into the stock, then push the saw to the fence. Then flip the board over, line up the blade with the cut you just made and do the same thing.
I cut one plywood panel last week that was 25.5". There was a little uncut section in the middle, which I finished off with a hand saw and a rasp.
I suspect the 12" saws have a stronger motor, too, but I haven't actually checked the various specs.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Isn't there some discussions that 12-inch chop saws or SCMS have more deflection that 10 inch saws. I thougt I read that's one reason why the Kapex is a 10 inch saw.
I cannot answer about the deflection from a scientific point as I have done no scientific testing but... I don't see any difference on a 90 degree (straight cut) after switching from a 10" to 12". I do 99% straight cuts on my 12" but when I first got it by chance I had to do some bath-room trim which left a gap.
Ahhh.... deflection me thinks which lead me in search of a full kerf blade for the slider. I changed blades and couldn't correct the gap until I spoke to 3 local trim carpenters about the problem. All of which laughed and told me the same thing... "walking the fence" in local terms but what amounts to the stock creeping when doing angles.
The blade comes in from an angle and instead of pushing to the fence as a 90* cut... it pushes to the side along the fence when the teeth contact. The Fix... hold the stock tighter or clamp it.. add sand-paper to the fence for more traction and slow your normal, aggressive feed rate with the head down to half speed.
Simply.... that fixed my suspected deflection which in my case didn't exist except in my mind. I need the 12" as I do some pretty wide stock and occasionally have 4" stock to cut which my 10" wouldn't do but the 12" will. So.. will a 12" deflect" I don't know but if mine does I have no evidence of it I can see and if I can't physically see it... working with wood it doesn't matter IMO.
Sarge..
"I cut one plywood panel last week that was 25.5". There was a little uncut section in the middle, which I finished off with a hand saw and a rasp"... FG
I use my 12" Hitachi for all cross-cutting which ranges from 10' - 14' rough or S1 coming in to cross-cutting furniture pieces down to actual size. Last Thursday I cut down a magazine shelf 15" wide and the top of a coffee table 24" wide by flipping them over. Any slight ridge from an alignment mis-que is gone with one pass from a very sharp block plane.
Enjoy your Makita as I have used one before the two Hitachi's I have owned and it's a a great saw. With either of those two I can go without the expensive one (you know which) for my varied needs forever and will for that matter.
Regards...
Sarge..
For the panels that are ~22" or less, it's so easy to make a well-matched 2nd cut, since the teeth of the blade will drop into the first kerf when you pull the saw out and drop the blade down to check the board's position. Big advantage over the standard miter saw.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Indeed it is easy and a laser gets you to the promise land a hair quicker. I'm not one to rely on a lazer but... it does help me get in the general area before I fine tune the shot looking for a bulls-eye so to speak.. ">)
Glad you are enjoying the saw and finding some of the advantages of having it...
Sarge..
Maybe the next one I get will have a laser, but I'm OK with the old fashioned model for now!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
The laser isn't a big deal in the least as I see it. It was just on there along with a digital angle thingy. Frankly I don't trust either as they just don't have "the touch" of the mistro himself. ha.. ha... ha..ha..ha..
Regards...
Sarge..
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