DeWalt Miter Saw Crown Stops

Why I added crown stops to my miter saw setup

Crown molding looks simple until you try to hold a heavy, awkward length of trim at the exact spring angle while dialing in a clean miter. I’ve used jigs, painter’s tape, and the classic “block screwed to the fence” trick. They work in a pinch, but none of them gave me the repeatability and confidence I wanted. That’s why I put a set of DeWalt crown stops on my saw. They’re a small upgrade with an outsized impact on speed and consistency for nested crown cuts.

What they are and how they mount

The crown stops are a pair of steel brackets—one for the left of the blade, one for the right—that bolt to your miter saw’s fence. Each has a slotted arm with a thumb screw so you can slide it to the exact depth your crown needs to sit at its spring angle, then lock it down. Once set, they create a fixed “nest” so the molding registers in the same position every time, vertically against the fence and table.

They’re compact (about 4.5 in tall, 6.5 in wide, and 3 in deep) but heavy-gauge steel, and the pair weighs roughly 1.75 lb. The thumb screws are chunky enough to tighten by hand without hunting for a wrench. Adjustments are straightforward: loosen, slide, square your stock, tighten. The slot provides generous travel; DeWalt rates the slide range up to 12 in, which easily covers narrow cove to wide-profile crown.

Compatibility is good across DeWalt’s lineup. They bolt onto pre-tapped holes on models including DW703, DW706, DW708, DW712, DW715, DW716, DW717, DW718, and the DWS780. I’ve used mine on a DWS780 12-in slider—installation took minutes with the included screws. If you’re running a different brand or an older saw without factory holes, expect to either skip them or carefully drill and tap your fence; I wouldn’t do that unless you’re comfortable with layout and aluminum.

DeWalt backs them with a 3-year limited warranty, 1 year of free service, and a 90-day satisfaction guarantee. For a simple accessory, that’s reassuring.

Setup: a five-minute calibration that pays off all day

Getting these stops dialed in is quick:

1. Cut a short scrap of your crown.
2. With the saw at 0° bevel, place the crown in the “nested” position—one edge against the table, the other against the fence—at its intended spring angle.
3. Slide the left and right stops in until they just touch the back faces of the crown. You’re not clamping; you’re creating two consistent contact points.
4. Snug the thumb screws, remove the piece, and re-seat it to confirm it nests without wobble.
5. Make a test cut at 45° miter to verify the fit on a 90° corner.

From there, I like to scribe a light pencil mark on the fence at the stop edges. If I remove the stops for other work, it takes seconds to return them to the same setting.

Cutting performance and accuracy

The benefit is simple: once set, the crown’s spring angle is no longer something you wrestle by hand. You set bevel to 0°, swing the miter to your angle (typically 45° for standard inside/outside corners on a square room), and cut. Because the molding is indexed by the stops, the relationship between the fence, table, and crown is fixed. That means inside-left, inside-right, outside-left, outside-right—all of your paired miters—line up predictably as long as your measurements are accurate.

On the DWS780, I can batch cut four sides of a room quickly. The stops don’t flex, and they don’t creep. Even on larger crown, once I have outfeed support in place and a hand firmly on the work, the molding stays put. I’ve tried clamping to the fence on delicate profiles; the stops make that unnecessary in most cases, though on long runs I’ll still clamp to manage weight.

A few practical observations:
- Because the stops create a fixed register, you can flip and rotate pieces without rethinking the spring angle. That reduces mental gymnastics and mistakes.
- With factory detents and a sharp blade, miters come together cleaner. The stops won’t change your blade quality, but they stabilize the workpiece at the moment the teeth enter the cut, which helps avoid a slight chatter that can open a joint.
- They don’t interfere with dust collection, and I haven’t had issues with the guard or rail travel at common miter settings.

Ergonomics and durability

These are not delicate accessories. The steel is thick enough that I don’t worry about bending them in a crowded job box. The finish has held up to incidental knocks and sawdust grime. Threads on the thumb screws are smooth, and once tightened they don’t back off from vibration during normal use.

One nuance: the stops contact the back face of your crown. On painted stock, that’s usually fine. On stained or prefinished material, I’ll stick a strip of blue tape on the stop faces to ensure no scuffing—purely a caution; steel-on-wood hasn’t left marks in my experience, but better safe than sorry.

Limitations and quirks

No accessory is perfect, and a couple of things are worth knowing before you commit:

• They index, they don’t clamp. For long or heavy crown, you still need proper material support and good hand placement. The stops won’t prevent a bowed piece from trying to twist; they just give you a consistent reference.
• Extremely tall crown is ultimately limited by your saw’s vertical capacity, not the stops themselves. If your fence height or blade clearance is the bottleneck, the stops can’t change that.
• On some saws, a very steep bevel combined with large miter angles can bring the motor housing close to the stop. For nested crown, you’re at 0° bevel, so it’s a non-issue. But if you leave the stops on for other compound cuts, you might need to slide or remove one to gain clearance.
• If your saw isn’t on the compatibility list, don’t assume a universal fit. Drilling a fence is possible but not advisable for every user or saw.

None of these are dealbreakers for crown work; they’re just the practical bounds of what a simple stop can and can’t do.

Compared to DIY solutions

I’ve built wooden crown jigs that clamp to the fence. They work—but they’re bulky, they can interfere with bevel travel, and they’re never as quick to adjust for a different profile. Painter’s tape and pencil lines help, but you’re relying on hand pressure to maintain the angle, which slows you down and introduces variability. The crown stops hit a sweet spot: they’re compact, dead simple, and return to a known setting in seconds.

Everyday use on site

A typical workflow for me is to rough cut long pieces, install a support stand, set the stops with the actual crown stock, and then measure-and-cut all four corners of a room in sequence. Having the stops set means I can focus on length and miter orientation rather than micromanaging the spring angle. For coped inside corners, they’re still handy; I’ll cut the initial 45° as a guide for coping with a saw or grinder, and the clean, consistent cheek angle makes coping faster.

When a job throws me a non-standard spring angle, the stops earn their keep. I’ll nest the odd profile against the fence, slide the stops until the piece sits perfectly without rocking, and lock them down. That lets me run “miter-only” cuts without pulling out charts or reconfiguring to the flat method.

The bottom line

If you cut crown even a few times a year, these crown stops are a small, smart upgrade that trades improvisation for repeatability. They’re sturdy steel, quick to set, and purpose-built for nested crown. On compatible DeWalt saws—DW703, DW706, DW708, DW712, DW715, DW716, DW717, DW718, and DWS780—they bolt up cleanly and stay out of the way. They won’t turn a small saw into a tall-capacity machine or eliminate the need for support on long stock, but they will eliminate the fussy part of holding the spring angle by hand.

Recommendation: I recommend these crown stops. They’re durable, fast to adjust, and they remove a major source of error in crown work. If your saw is on the compatibility list, installation is painless, and the time you save on every room’s worth of molding more than justifies adding them to your kit. If your saw isn’t compatible and you’re not comfortable modifying your fence, consider a DIY jig—but if you can mount these properly, they’re the cleaner, more reliable solution.