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If you’ve got to make a really accurate cut with your sliding compound saw, you could sneak up on that cut to get exactly where you want to be, but there’s a better way.
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Chuck, why not just use the sonic stop?
Or you could use the DeWalt laser sight built in to the saw, which projects the kerf onto the workpiece. The blue tape looks to be better in bright sunlight, though.
If you don't change blades constantly, why not replace the plastic table insert with a MDF or hardboard zero-clearance insert. That is what the tape is trying to accomplish but the hard surface works better.
How do I view the video? There is no button to activate the video.
Kent,
I had to close the site twice before I got the window to open up.
bwe,
Remember, a sliding miter saw is used to cut compound angles which does not allow you to keep a zero clearance cut line for very long. The tape is a quick set up to cover that large cutout slot. I also don't think a piece of MDF could be fitted into the slot very easily.
Many of us are still using saws without laser sights.
Brilliant! This is akin to the proper way to use a radial arm saw, which is to use a consumable table skin; something like a 1/4" piece of masonite or a door skin, etc., which could just as easily be used the same on the SCMS for a more permanent zero clearance cover. One could stick the skin down to the SCMS table via turner's tape or double-stick carpet tape. If I need to take the standard 90 deg. slot cover off for resetting the angle(s) and then go back to the 90, I find it's easy enough to bring the cover back into position by simultaneously lowering the stopped blade down thru the cover as I adjust the cover.
Also, on my SCMS, I screw a consumable fence face onto the saw's fence. On my saw, a Bosch, the alum. fence is split not just into right and left halves, but each of those has a top and bottom half -- I think most decent modern SCMS have this setup -- so I screw a piece of cheapo 1x4 primed MDF door casing to the top pieces and then set the saw to whatever position I need, make a cut thru the sacrificial fence facing, and voila I have a zero clearance fence that also indicates the precise limits of the kerf and supports the back of the cut.
hey Jeremiahschwenger,
I gotta admit, ya got me on that one.
cheers,
Chuck