I have had a Ridgid corded power miter saw for several years now. I also have the Ridgid rolling fold-up platform that I keep the saw mounted to. When I need it I just roll it out to my cutting location, plug it into a 12 ga extension cord, and for regular carpentry and fence building it's a reliable decent rig.

But here's my problem. My current project is installing some floating snap-in type laminate flooring and new baseboard trim all around. For the simple parcels, like large squares of flooring sections with no special angles to cut etc., everything is working good. But for cutting various angles and butt-fitting end pieces that I wasn't able to easily use the factory snap-in joint technology, I'm finding my saw to be lacking. For example, if I set my saw to the factory 90-degree cut angle, and check the blade against the fence with my square, it's not exactly 90 degrees. So instead, I set a 90 degree angle manually with my square and lock it down, check it again before I cut, then make the cut. But when I check the resulting cut on the plank with my steel combination square or aluminum square, the angle of the cut on the piece isn't exactly square. No problem if that cut side is going against the wall, which has a 1/8 to 1/4 inch gap from the wallboard, but for the occasional butt-to-butt joint where I compromised a little and didn't need to keep the factory lock-in joint, the squares aren't matching exactly.

So my question is, which brand or price-range of corded cross-cut saw would I need so that I wouldn't have to have this kind of dynamic sloppiness, to minimize this lack of built-in precision, so if I ever replaced this saw with a better one, I could be assured I wouldn't have to deal with this problem again ?

When I originally bought it I didn't think it would give me this problem, even after considering more expensive brands. My problem however is I don't know what brands or price-range or basic specifications and/or features I'd need to know before replacing this saw so I wouldn't have this problem again.

I'm not a carpenter or tradesman, but I do have a personal problem with precision, probably a psychological disorder, but when I'm working with trim or flooring, it sure would be nice to have a saw that if you set the box to 45 degrees or 0 degrees, and cut your piece, that when you check the piece afterwards to see if the saw was accurate, you'd get exactly 45 or 0 degrees. Or if you set it manually, and didn't touch it, you'd still get the same result.

Any advice appreciated, esp. from professional carpenters, professional trim carpenters, anyone in the trades, or anyone else how to solve this problem.

Clueless again.

Have you calibrated it? Instructions begin on page 13.

https://images.homedepot-stati...0ff-7a3a7b257067.pdf

Yes calibrate your saw. I check mine every time I set it up. A cheap saw with a good user and above average blade is better than high dollar equipment.

Make sure saw is set up and then focus on technique.

Without reading the manual, the fence might need to be adjusted.
My Bosch miter saw has this ability.

Woodworker by trade here. We keep an OMGA 370 in the shop and you positively won’t find a better mitre saw than that. It is as perfect as a saw could ever be, however I’m guessing it would be wildly out of what you’re looking to spend.

As others have mentioned, tune your current saw as well as possible and also make sure you have a nice blade on it. I’ve helped friends with this and they have all been happy afterwards.

When you’re checking for square, are you checking multiple places on the blade? Check, turn the blade a quarter or half turn and check again? Also, is it a bevel capable saw? If two dimensions are slightly off it compounds the issue. Definitely calibrate per the link above.

I agree that adjusting the fence / saw setup would be worth doing before you toss the old saw.

That said, I have no problem buying expensive tools if they are better performing than their competitors - but I own a Bosch miter saw on a moveable base. It's a mid-priced saw that I've found to be very, very accurate.

I’ll add that I never check my cuts for 90° using a square. The best method I’ve found if to rip a piece of straight scrap MDF to slightly less than your maximum cut capacity. I do 6 1/2” with something 2’or longer. I then set my saw to the 90° detent. Making sure my fence and table are clean, I make a cut roughly in the center of that piece. I then flip one piece and put both on edge on flat surface. If your cut is square, you’ll see no light between the two, if your cut is off, you’ll see that in double the amount.

I’m certain I’ve done a fairly poor job of explaining that, but hopefully you get the idea. It’s a very fast and accurate way to check for square.

ETA a video showing this method. Skip to about 6 minutes in.

https://youtu.be/iX05oi3HtFY

First of all: Are you certain your squares are square? Most common squares are not.

Neither of my carpenter squares are nearly as square as my best combination square, which isn't quite as square as my woodworking tri-square, which isn't quite as square as my machinists square.

As for most repeatable sliding combination miter saw: Back when I thought to get into fine woodworking, woodworkers generally agreed the best was the Makita 10 in. dual-slide combination miter saw. Mine is a model 1013. Current version is the model 1019, I believe.

(I really lucked-out on my saw. They were more than I could afford at the time. Home Depot had had a falling-out with Makita, or something, and was clearing them out. I got mine for a song. I was ecstatic.)

I aligned mine on all axis' with a tool called the "TS-Aligner Jr." (Sadly, no longer made.) The only thing that was off was the table pivot--by less than half a degree. I reset the pointer. For most common cuts for which there are pre-set detents (90°, 45°, etc.), I just let it lock into those.

I occasionally check my squares against one another, starting with the machinists square and working up, and occasionally check the saw against a square (by making a test cut and checking it). The saw has remained true ever since I checked/aligned it better than twenty years ago.

Lastly: Not all saw blades are created equal. Here I'm not talking crosscut vs. rip, I'm talking blade quality. For just chopping/ripping dimensional lumber for framing it's not a big deal. But, for finish/trim work, and particularly for fine woodworking, the blade matters. Freude blades are some of the best. Freude's Diablo blades are a bit more economical, and nearly as good. One or the other of those is pretty much all I buy.