Mitre saw recommendation

[kraggleflux]

Hey folks,

I'm in the market for a mitre saw and I'm struggling to decide between sliding vs non sliding. Most projects will be 2x6 lumber or smaller and for the foreseeable future portability is important. My requirements seem to point towards non sliding, but advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[john6221]

It all depends on what you want to do. I have a 10" slider and it's good for rough crosscuts when doing framing or decking type projects. But the sliding accuracy will never match that of a table saw, where I can get 0.001" accuracy over a 24" crosscut.

But you're right, sliders are heavy.

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[lthenderson]

It really depends on some things you didn't mention.

Is portability an issue?
Do you ever need to cut things thicker than a few inches?

In general, for most home woodworkers, a simple non-sliding miter saw is more than adequate. If you need to cut larger wider materials frequently, then perhaps a sliding miter saw would be beneficial.

I do a lot of woodworking and only have a non-sliding miter saw and get by just fine. But I also have a band saw so on the rare occasion where I have something too thick or too wide to run through the miter saw, I can do it on that. I've also gotten quite adept at cutting half of a wide board, flipping it over and cutting the remaining half so even though my saw is rated for 10 inches, I can cut boards up to around 16 inches wide with good results.

[Uturn]

Are you doing construction type projects, or furniture?  Construction tolerances are not as critical as furniture, so get a cheaper saw non-sliding.  I believe mine is an old ACE Hardware brand and it does fine.  Circular saws and track saws are great for wider cuts.  Get a quality blade.  I would rather have a good blade on a cheap saw than a bad blade on an expensive saw.  The one that comes with it will probably suck. 

[Spork]

I have a compound miter saw that is non sliding.  I've had it for 15 years or more.  I've wished it was a sliding miter saw for about 13 of those years.

Cutting wide materials accurately is a pain on a non-sliding saw.