SCMS - Help

kmcleod · 22 Apr 2008

OK folks,,,the time has come to think about a SCMS - so advice, experience would be more than welcome,,,,

Couple of things I am wondering about;
front slides - save space...
must be reasonably portable,,,sooner or later I have to return the workshop to Garage duty,,,so need to be able move it,,,

apart from that,,need some views opinions,,,,,

Thanks

Richardhw · 22 Apr 2008

My Dewalt 712 is excellent as far as I am concerned, cuts anything easily is portable enough to take about anywhere and I really can't fault it.
Down sides.
needs room behind for the slides, and is limited to around 70mm depth of cut (very rarely a problem).
I use it most days and haven't seen anything to beat it overall yet.
(waits for differing opinions :? )

Steve Maskery · 22 Apr 2008

I have the Bosch 10".

The rods sticking pout of the back are a pain and becoming increasingly so in my cramped workshop. In EVERY other respect it is superb.

I know of only two with the front guide rods, one by Festool, about which you need to ask Waka, the other by Hitachi, about which I know nothing, but someone was praising it on here recently.

They are both green, so tough if you are superstitious

FWIW I have a Hitachi shopvac that I would't be without, and several Festools, ditto.
S

Richardhw · 22 Apr 2008

Just to add the Hitachi stuff I have is first class too so it would be worth a look

Anonymous · 23 Apr 2008

I was amazed to see a Fox SCMS which appears to have the front guide rods:

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/F36256A

No doubt there are a few others as well.

Dave

OPJ · 23 Apr 2008

I can't imagine the Fox is in the same league as the Hitachi, but that's a very good find. That might depend on the work you do though and just how accurate you need to be.

George_N · 23 Apr 2008

You have to ask yourself how often you really need the crosscutting capacity of a slider? If you only need it rarely you might be better getting a non-sliding CMS. My local B&Q recently had the Dewalt 703 for £169...I bought one and I'm impressed with the accuracy and repeatability of cuts I can get with it. If I need larger capacity I can convert my Triton to crosscut mode (a bit of a pain) or make up a jig and use a handheld CS. I'm sure I couldn't have bought the same quality in a slider for the same money I spent on the DW703.