birdwell:You Can NOT easily set a miter saw to make a cut at exactly 45.5 degrees. Why? Because the notch at 45 prevents it. When you go to lock the handle down it just feeds right back into that notch, and forces itself back to 45.
Yes you can. It depends on how your locking device works. My Rigid 12" compound miter saw has those notches as well as ones at 15 and 31.6 degrees for crown work. The locking mechanism is a cam setup and I can put the saw at an infinite number of places and lock it down. If I need 45.25 degrees it stays there.
With avatar movements, which I use for putting and wedges only, those moves represent the notches on my saw. My eyes represent the cam action of the lever and will lock the swing wherever I stop it so the analogy fails. What those moves actually do is give you a very specific, easily attainable starting point that you can come back to time after time without any other aid, the key to being consistent. Waggling the move assures you get the same point every time plus it gives you additional numbers, i.e., before the move and after the moves.
IMO the fewer moves actually makes it easier to play by feel. With a larger gap in the values it isn't hard to use the moves to get you close and then the feel let's you gauge where, in between the moves, you want to be.