honorentheos wrote:Well, I'm not a pro like many who posted. So my tools often come from Lowe's or Home Depot, occasionally Rockler. But my personal experience: I've owned this miter saw for 8 years having built everything from a covered decoratively framed back patio, rearranged interior walls, some custom cabinets and built ins, and have a neighbor who borrows it semi regularly as well. And it's done a very good job, and is going strong knock on wood.
honorentheos wrote:Well, I'm not a pro like many who posted. So my tools often come from Lowe's or Home Depot, occasionally Rockler. But my personal experience: I've owned this miter saw for 8 years having built everything from a covered decoratively framed back patio, rearranged interior walls, some custom cabinets and built ins, and have a neighbor who borrows it semi regularly as well. And it's done a very good job, and is going strong knock on wood.
Jersey Girl wrote:Will. it. cut. a. 6. inch. fence. post. in. one. pass?
99% sure the answer is no. You would be able to do it in two.
If it were me doing the craft project you described using the tools I have, I'd cut the posts using the miter saw using two cuts. Then when I'm finished with the cutting I'd swap out the miter for the belt sander and sand down the ends to get a nice, flat and level surface.
Or you could check with a hardware store if a 14" saw would be able to do it but that will put you into another bracket for the cost of the saw. You could buy a 10" saw as well as a belt sander for somewhere in the same price range. Personally, I'd go with a 12" saw, make sure you are getting a higher amp saw for what sounds like infrequent but tough cutting, double cut and sand. But that's me.
OTOH, if you want to be sure to get do it all in one cut, want something economical, and get some exercise you could just buy a big enough miter box and use a hand saw.
The world is always full of the sound of waves..but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows it's depth? ~ Eiji Yoshikawa
I'm not really following the dimensions but trying.
My best guess is that you want to cut sections of board *across* the grain - a crosscut - either straight or at an angle, but mostly straight. Generally, you'd use a miter saw for that (as others said). For 6" wide, a compound miter saw is your best bet. You can get away with a smaller blade diameter as well, a 7 1/4 inch Kobalt or Ryobi would be great if you get a compound -- will easily cut 6 inches wide. If this is cedar fence pieces, the only thing I'm worried about is to make sure it's free of nails and staples when you cut it.
A half inch to an inch thick of pretty much any wood that's also an inch wide or wider will be more or less safe on a miter saw. Fence wood is also weak enough that you could get a 10$ miter box from HD that comes with a saw and cut by hand just fine.
Your other pile, where you say the wood is 2" thick, raises an eyebrow. I assume you mean construction wood like a 2 x 4 or 2x6. That's also fine for the little compound miter saw. Again, make sure no nails.
Miter saws are safe until you try to cut wood pieces that are too small, too thin or narrow and if the wood is thin and brittle (like mahogany). then simply use a hand miter saw. you can get extremely nice hand miter saws for smaller pieces of wood.
I read a "6 inch thick" somewhere in there. That's getting pretty thick, and a big 12" or chop saw may handle it i don't know. I can cut 4x4 pretty clean on a small battery miter in two passes.
As others said, table saws a pretty dangerous for a list of reasons. but if you need to do a rip cut, *with* the grain, then you can't do that with a miter saw; that is dangerous. At that point, I'd recommend a 10" bandsaw, which is safer than a table saw or a miter saw for ripping.
Lou Midgley 08/20/2020: "...meat wad," and "cockroach" are pithy descriptions of human beings used by gemli? They were not fashioned by Professor Peterson.
LM 11/23/2018: one can explain away the soul of human beings...as...a Meat Unit, to use Professor Peterson's clever derogatory description of gemli's ideology.
a 6 x 6 isn't really 6", so the big 12" miter may cut it in one pass, but even if it can, that's a hell of a lot of saw that's only justified by one operation. With a little practice, two passes will be pretty close and then just sand from there. construction wood will sand pretty fast.
i'd practice with the other stuff first before trying to cut something 6" thick.
Lou Midgley 08/20/2020: "...meat wad," and "cockroach" are pithy descriptions of human beings used by gemli? They were not fashioned by Professor Peterson.
LM 11/23/2018: one can explain away the soul of human beings...as...a Meat Unit, to use Professor Peterson's clever derogatory description of gemli's ideology.
I have another fence post up near the house (snow, it matters) so maybe I can use that for another set of cuts, go over there and watch how the guy does it and what he's using. I don't like having to rely on someone else to do the cuts for me.
Thanks for your replies. I appreciate it.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
a 6 x 6 isn't really 6", so the big 12" miter may cut it in one pass, but even if it can, that's a hell of a lot of saw that's only justified by one operation. With a little practice, two passes will be pretty close and then just sand from there. construction wood will sand pretty fast.
i'd practice with the other stuff first before trying to cut something 6" thick.
With a 12" miter saw you can cut about 4-1/4"+- thick in one pass, depending on the make and model, you have to account for the motor, guard, and where it centers with your saw table. In my shop I have a 12" Hitachi and it cuts 4-1/4 at the fence and 4-7/8 at the center.
A 12" is nice in that you can cut 4x thick material easily and cut the larger moldings with ease without the compound adjustments that take time.
If I have time this weekend I'll do a video on cutting a 6x6 a few different ways...in the end the chain saw will win. I do have a 7-1/4 skill saw that I surgically removed the guard so it uses a 8" blade for cutting 4x and 6x material in production fashion (dlb cuts)...but is illegal as heck now days. I buy this saw for our crews nowdays now days...http://bigfootsaws.com/bigfootproduct/1 ... -big-foot/
yeah with the thickness and rough-cut look in that pic, Mark is right that it's a chainsaw job. if I had to get one saw for everything i guess it would be the compound 10" and two passes. if i had a hunk of that in my shop, I don't have anything for it, but I'd grab a saws-all for the first attempt.
markk wrote:A 12" is nice in that you can cut 4x thick material easily and cut the larger moldings with ease without the compound adjustments that take time.
I can see what you mean, I have a friend who has a 12" and I've used it, it cuts extremely clean, but it's just huge and loud. For any application I've ever had my 7 1/4 is all I've needed (nor has my friend ever needed anything more than 7 1/4). I originally had a 10", not compound, but even that was heavy and loud enough that I got a Ryobi battery powered 7 1/4 (not compound) for smaller stuff, and a year later a gave the 10" away because the little guy did it all. Especially building a fence that included 2x6 and 4x4 because it would have been 2 passes anyway, but being able to carry it around and quiet enough to avoid ear protection. Eventually I got the slider because extremely hard woods became a little much for the little guy to break down.
Lou Midgley 08/20/2020: "...meat wad," and "cockroach" are pithy descriptions of human beings used by gemli? They were not fashioned by Professor Peterson.
LM 11/23/2018: one can explain away the soul of human beings...as...a Meat Unit, to use Professor Peterson's clever derogatory description of gemli's ideology.
I love the 12" Dewalt with the slider, have never ran into a project it didn't do what I needed a miter saw to do while also have been right on the edge of its range for board widths. My neighborhood who borrows it on occasion has a 10" with slider but it isn't able to do 4X4 cuts or wider boards for shelves that mine can. It's all preferences I'm sure but I'm a very happy customer as someone who does DYI home improvement stuff somewhat regularly.
The world is always full of the sound of waves..but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows it's depth? ~ Eiji Yoshikawa