!2" compound slide miter. I bought a rigid to build my house and havent had any problems with it yet. Wife was scared of it at first but now runs it like an old pro. The only thing I dont like is that it takes a couple seconds to get up to speed. This is my first 12" so it may be a common thing

 

I guess it depends on what you are calling wood working. Doing some remodeling or getting into building cabinets?

If you are only farting around the house doing little projects, do not spend the $$ on the fancy stuff. I have been farting around with this stuff for years and with what I do, I have found out if you spend just a little bit more money than the weekend warrior stuff but no where near the bucks that the more fancy contractor stuff is going for, you will get just as good as a job from it.

You do not have a whole crew of unskilled BoZo's using your tools, so you really do not need too spend the price diff. on the more pricey stuff. The cheaper stuff will work just as good.

I will say this, that bottom of the barrel sears stuff bite's. The only table saw I have seen that could not cut a line as straight as a scroll saw.

 

I think the key here is what sort of projects are you going to be doing????

When you say "wood working" I think of cabinetry etc.... the building of furntiture and other finely crafted projects.

Framing a new garage is a totally different ball game....!

For "Wood Working" I would definitely reccomend a table saw, a good table saw and perhaps a decent jointer/planer are key components of a home wood working shop...

The nice part about a table saw is you can do a variety of cuts...

While a Mitre saw is limited to cross cutting, a table saw can cross cut, rip!!, bevel and mitre cut as well as dado etc!!

Much more versatillity in a table saw.

p.s

I have a 10" Rockwell Beaver that is tried and tested..........