Replies

1. 
   basswood | Jul 27, 2008 05:32pm | #1

   There is no right answer.

   Both approaches have their merits, as do both sliders and standard CMS's.

   I take my 10" SCMS to almost every job. It can cut 3-1/4" and smaller crown "in position" and the larger stuff flat.

   If I have a big job with large crown, I use a 12" CMS that lets me cut 7-3/4" crown "bedded."

   Some will argue that cutting flat is more accurate... that it is hard to hold the crown at the proper angle consistently. I think that with a tall enough fence and good crown stops or a jig, that the proper spring angle can be maintained and very accurate cutting can be made easy.

   Cutting "in position" (upsidedown and backwards) is, IMO, faster (less messing with bevel settings) and easier to make fine adjustments for "off angle" cuts (adjust only miter setting--no bevel adj.).

   The miter scale is much larger and easier to read, so a cut can be tweaked by a half or even 1/4th of a degree easily and accurately.

   Here are pics of a couple of my jigs and the two saws I cut crown with. The crown in the pic with the Delta CMS is 6-1/2".

   
1. 
   tashler | Jul 27, 2008 11:54pm | #4

   Hey Brian,I have that stand! Bought it years ago. Good if it' staying at the job for awhile, but it's been sitting in my basement for at least 5 or 6 years.Takes up too much room in the van.Glenn

   Edited 7/27/2008 9:46 pm ET by Tashler

2. 
   misterzippy | Jul 28, 2008 12:55am | #5

   what is the model of that delta- it looks pretty handy

1. 
   john7g | Jul 28, 2008 01:25am | #6

   IIRC Delta quit making that stand. the current one is called a combo planer/saw stand. they dropped the big wheels on the new stand which was a bad idea IMO.  I have the same stand and it's killer.  First thing I did was modify it to permanently install a #12 chord that terminated in a metal 4-way outlet box and permanently installed the base for a swing arm lamp.  the outlets power the saw, the lamp, inline jigsaw and radio.

1. 
   tashler | Jul 28, 2008 04:53am | #11

   That's funny, John. I'm not one to modify things too much. Usually think I'm going to ruin something. But I also put a 2 gang metal box on mine, and have a 50' cord on it.Never thought of a light.I bought a Stablemate Plus100 several years ago. Takes up less room, lighter, easier to get in and out of jobs.If I had more room in the basement, I might have the Delta set up all the timeGlenn

1. 
   AitchKay | Jul 28, 2008 05:18am | #13

   I like upside down and backwards, because if a corner is out of square -- say the corner bead was put on too heavy -- then the adjustment is intuitive. Just rotate the miter table a degree or so. Or if the first piece has slipped down the wall out of its correct spring position (and this tries to happen all of the time), just move the top edge of the crown back away from your table stop jig, or your scribed line, whichever you use.It's intuitive, rather than mathematical. But, hey, I've never done it the compound-bevel-settings way. Let's hear from someone who knows how to make those minor adjustments with the stock lying flat.I'd hate to say that this old dog doesn't want to learn a new trick... AitchKay

2. 
   DougU | Jul 28, 2008 01:57pm | #14

   It's intuitive, rather than mathematical. But, hey, I've never done it the compound-bevel-settings way. Let's hear from someone who knows how to make those minor adjustments with the stock lying flat.

   Its just as intuitive to do it on the flat as standing up. I automatically allow for outside/inside corners having buildup, really no difference.

   I cut all crown on the flat and I'm sure my thinking isnt any different then yours when it comes to allowing for the odd angles that the drywallers leave us, I just have to make different adjustments to my saw then you do, but they are as second nature to me as the changes that you make.

   Really this is just a matter of taste, cutting on the flat isnt any more right/wrong then cutting standing up, its just that we usually have larger crown so I just  made the switch a long time ago to cut on the flat and found that I like it better that way.

   Doug

2. 
   basswood | Jul 27, 2008 07:11pm | #2

   I almost bought that Dewalt 8-1/2" slider, but it weighs 43# that is the same weight as my 10" Hitachi slider and the Dewalt is only a single bevel, but the 10" Hitachi is dual bevel.

   The single bevel would be limiting on crown cutting... lotta flipping stock and head scratching.

3. 
   2hammerhome | Jul 27, 2008 08:37pm | #3

   I also orient it both ways.  But I prefer to use stops and a jig to hold the larger crown.  I use a dewalt 706 (now the 716) dbl bevel 12".  for really large crown that doesn't fit on that saw I use a radial arm saw and a jig.  we are in Phoenix and there are some really big homes with big crown and big built up crown.  The only thing I would saw is the 10" slider doesn't deflect on hard wood like the 12".  otherwise the 12" is a great saw. and it weights about 50 lbs.  if  you can't carry 50lbs at the end of the day....get in the gym brother you need it.

4. 
   PaulGC | Jul 28, 2008 01:28am | #7

   Woody, I cut a lot of 4" crown with a Dewalt 12" dual bevel CMS with an 1/2" piece of melamine bolted to my fence as well as another piece on the table. It's fastened to the fence piece at a 90 degree angel. I have a 2" strip of wood fastened to the table piece of melamine at the distance the crown will stand out from the wall when installed. When I first fastened the fence piece I turned the saw blade to 45 degrees left as well as right and made cuts across the table piece. These two cuts gave me "marks" on the fence piece of where to place my crown cutting line every time. It's very accurate so far and it allows me to work faster.

    I have never bothered with laying crown flat as the upside down & around plus this miter saw jig I made has proven to be very helpful.

    

   Paul

5. 
   DougU | Jul 28, 2008 01:53am | #8

   I cut all my crown on the flat, simply because I can get the best results doing it that way.

    I don't believe anybody when they say that they can cut crown standing up quicker then I can do it laying down, its just not so. But that doesn't mean cutting crown laying down is better just better for some.

   For me at least, I fell that I can get the crown to lay dead flat easier then I can get a board with a little twist/warp/wane..........to lay in the miter box perfectly strait, some prefer it the other way, no real right or wrong to it -  you have to decide which way works best for you.

   I've committed most of the common miters/bevels to memory so it's sort of automatic to set the saw. For odd angled walls you do have to adjust your miter saw to some pretty weird angles when laying it flat but the Bosch angle finder makes that chore pretty easy/quick.

   Doug

    

    

6. 
   MisterT | Jul 28, 2008 02:01am | #9

   see my crown cutting post ...

   I like to cut crown standing if possible.

   In my latest ordeal the Makita 10" DBSCM had cast raised lines for the bevel scale.

   the degree "lines" are wider than the space between them!!

   AND the pointer thingy was almost 1/8th above so parallax was a problem.

   add this to cutting short "corners" to go around bullnose corner bead and you got the makins of frustrating day...

   I have half a mind (DON'T!!) to get a Hitachi 15" Miter saw...

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   "After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion"

   -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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   If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???

1. 
   misterzippy | Jul 28, 2008 04:08am | #10

   yeah- hate to bring the festool kapex into it, but they are way ahead of everyone with their bevel scale- it is a huge radius and the angle is adjustable via a knob on the rail, no more holding it up with your head while you try to move the thing half a degree. Yeah with the makita and the fat pointer and the fat lines, I'm lucky to get within 1 degree of where I want to be on the first try.

7. 
   Sean2112 | Jul 28, 2008 05:16am | #12

   Woody-
   I cut 20,000 lf of crown a year. Sometimes it fit in the stops so well I cut it that way, sometimes I need more control over the angle and bevel, so I cut it on the flat. I will say though, the wider the crown, the better the results when cut on the flat, especially when used in tandem with a Bosch angle finder.