There’s a discussion which covers, among other mathemetical minutiae, a bunch of calculations for setting up a miter saw to cut crown molding. Personally, I have to admit, my eyes glaze over with that detailed a discussion of calculations. I would much rather pursue a simple solution: a tool that does the thinking (and the math) for you.
The Craftsman Professional” 10″ and 12″ Compound Miter Saws require you to do virtually no math to cut crown moldings. Well, you do have to read the large numbers indexed onto the throat plate. I think I can handle that.
In fact, I did: I had a chance to briefly cut with this tool at the Craftsman New Products Expo a couple of weeks ago where they showed editors a bunch of new and upcoming tools. This entailed putting a piece of crown molding on the throat plate, turning the setting to a bevel angle, then moving the stop block also set up for crown molding cuts into place. Then I readjusted my safety glasses, pulled down the D-handle, and cut a piece of crown molding. Whew. No math involved.
Extension bars on the 12″ that let you cut 2×8’s (2×6’s on the 10″) and positive dual bevel stops at 0, 33.9 and 45 degrees left and right mean you can cut big pieces without flipping them over. In total, there’s nine positive detents on the saw.
These 15 amp saws also have other features a laser cutting line, dual auxiliary sliding fences, right and left extension bars, electric blade brake and 2-1/2″ dust port are among them. But, as I said, it’s the cutting crown molding without math that really got me going.
You can find out more about these saws, the 21274 10″ Craftsman Professional model and the 21235 12″ Craftsman Professional, at www.craftsman.com. They’re priced at around $270 and $320, respectively.
