Buying first miter saw

[Mitch1963]

Oh,...I operate mine left handed all the time. Get what you want!

 

[Geobound]

I do like the horizontal handle on my Dewalt, but agree that it may not be user friendly for a lefty.

I say that because the trigger on my saw is tucked away in the left hand portion of the handle (just visible in the picture), so if I switch and use my left hand, then the trigger is depressed with my pinky finger.......if that makes sense??

Of course the newer version of these saws could have changed that up some I don't know.

As I said, I've had mine for about 10+ years now.

 

[TheGrooveking]

No.

Diablo blades are only 'good' in the big box store scale of blades.

Get yourself a Forrest blade and don't look back.

A big +1!. You would be surprised how much wobble and chatter and cut inconsistency you will get with cheap blades, IMO Forrest blades are excellent. Also remember to tune your saw everytime you set it up to use it.

I havve an old Makita LS1030 10"miter saw on Rockwell Jawhorse miter saw mount, a DeWalt DW705 12" compound miter saw (nice unit but limited capacity due to the blade shroud/guard design on a DeWalt DWX723 miter saw stand and a Milwaukee 6955-20 12" sliding compound miter saw on Ridgid gravity rise stand.

My next stand will be a Fast Cap Best Fence Pro, having a fast accurate stop system has a huge impact on accuracy. The Milwaukee is a beast to move around. The Festool Kapex is super capable and being its a 10" its light but can cut big, but its big $. I've used a firienda DeWalt DWS780 and that was a nice machine.

TheGrooveking

 

[kctyphoon]

And thanks for the nice words guys.. good luck with whatever u pick..

Edit - whatever you go with, when you get it home, do yourself a favor and check the to make sure that both sides of the back fence are in fact perfectly in line with each other, and then check to make sure the 90 is exactly a 90. You can do this with a framing square if you own one. Lift the blade and place the long end of the framing square tight, stretching against both sides of the fence in its entirety. Make sure there are no gaps AT ALL. after that, lock the blade down, and check the 90 with the framing square on both side. Place the long end against the fence, short end against the blade.. Look to make sure the blade is perfectly inline with the short end of the square, repeat on other side.

My first Dewalt 10" miter saw had a 1/16" gap from one side of the fence compared to the other. It threw off all the 45's when cutting molding for Windows and doors. Not horribly, but enough to be annoying and force me to use caulk top fill the gaps in the molding. Did half my house before I realized what was going on. Never dawned on me to check. 2nd Dewalt was dead on.. Also - like any saw, the biggest difference in how it cuts will be the blade. You throw a good blade on the cheapest saw and it will still cut nice. If your planning on molding think about getting a fine tooth blade if small chips in the cut might bother you. Also - sliding saws are great for vinyl siding if you ever have a need for it. Install the blade backwards (YES backwards), and it will cut the vinyl siding without any chips in it at all.

 

[Trey T]

The fixed rail of the Hitachi is very cool, similar to Festool Kapex. I don't like my dewalt sliding rail, that **** takes up so much space in my 2-car garage, wherever I setup.

If I were to get a 12" sliding, the Hitachi is a no-brainer. I like 10" though and Kapex is what I'm eyeing for if I have to replace mine.

 

[tarbellb]

kctyphoon - Perhaps there is a gem in the rough with that Craftsman. If I ever find myself in a Sears (very unlikely these days) I will check it out. But ive been burned to many times by Craftsman power tools...

Vertical vs Horizontal = easy, Horizontal. Way better ergonomics. Just look at how your arm/wrist move when performing that exact action. Your wrist wants to lay parallel to the ground.

Groove- everybody thinks Forrest blades are excellent, thats why the cost $100+ each.

That Hitachi fixed rail is just a small RAS, kinda nice but might as well get a older RAS with more depth and durability.

Boom, that should cover it.

Oh, OP, sounds like you are getting the Ridgid? Looks like a nice saw for the money.

 

[zkling]

If your damaging the blade or your saw stops working because of wear and tear from changing the blade your doing it wrong.

Not necessarily. Handling a carbide toothed blade opens up potential damage from dropping, bumping while transferring from one machine to the other, etc. Wear and tear is more to be a potential on the arbor and associated surfaces, threads and the like. Unless you very seldom use one or the other, I cannot see the savings of having one blade for the two machines. When I put on a table saw blade it's a good 20min procedure to make sure the flanges are clean, threads clean and then finally run a dial indicator on the side of it to check for axial run out.

 

[Dirtydan69]

I have a 12" Bosch compound sliding miter saw on a gravity rise stand for fine work, trim, crown etc. My everyday "beater" miter saw is the Kobalt 10" sliding compound miter saw. It only bevels one direction but for $179 on sale $199 everyday it is one of the best everyday saws I have found. My 2 cents.

 

[rrich1]

For blades also check out the Freud industrial line. Great blades and cheaper than Forrest blades. They are not the same as diablo blades.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[kctyphoon]

I havet really had a bad experience with buying decent blades from off the shelf in home centers.. most of the real expensive blades are better for things like cabinetry and table saw use. Most molding in HD is not really tough to cut. For anything important you can always throw a piece of masking tape on the wood before you cut it to prevent chipping. For a home owner, the selection of blades in HD should suffice. Again, it's not for a 40 hour a week tool, and 2x4's don't really matter.

For accurate cuts mark the wood with a thin tipped pencil, bring the blade down and line up a tooth from the blade that is facing the outside edge of that line. In other words, you line up your blade to just skim your line. The teeth are staggered, one faces in, the other out.. the amount of material the blade removes is called the "kerf" - hence -"thin kerf blades". If you line up the blade to the center of your line, you'll always wind up just a hair short.

 

[JettaGetUpandGo]

I havet really had a bad experience with buying decent blades from off the shelf in home centers.. most of the real expensive blades are better for things like cabinetry and table saw use. Most molding in HD is not really tough to cut. For anything important you can always throw a piece of masking tape on the wood before you cut it to prevent chipping. For a home owner, the selection of blades in HD should suffice. Again, it's not for a 40 hour a week tool, and 2x4's don't really matter.

For accurate cuts mark the wood with a thin tipped pencil, bring the blade down and line up a tooth from the blade that is facing the outside edge of that line. In other words, you line up your blade to just skim your line. The teeth are staggered, one faces in, the other out.. the amount of material the blade removes is called the "kerf" - hence -"thin kerf blades". If you line up the blade to the center of your line, you'll always wind up just a hair short.

I have Freud blades for my table saw and have been really impressed with them, but bought a Diablo at Home Depot for my miter saw. It's a pretty good blade and wasn't a lot of money.

I design homes for a builder and look at a number of the projects under construction. I don't know what our framers use, but all of our trim carpenters use Diablo blades in a professional environment without issue. Typical homes range between $400,000 and $1,000,000, lots of detail work.

I believe a properly setup tool is vastly more important than the quality of the blade (provided it's the right type of blade for the job and not the cheapest of the cheap).

 

[videomagician]

I've just got it and the stand put together, and I've only made one cut, but I think the Craftsman and miter stand are going to work out! Thanks again for the advice!

David

 

[kctyphoon]

Lol. That's a nice setup.. Easy on the eyes too.. I'm not really feeling the bright yellow or orange colors on tools anymore. What's cool too, is you can buy extra mounts that the saw bolts onto, and swap tools onto the stand in seconds.. You gotta admit that setup is well worth the money. I usually wind up taking the guards off my saws. I'm not saying it's a good idea, but I feel like it gets in the way.. If you get a chance to use it more I'm sure people would be interested in what ya think afterwards.. Good luck

For the record, if someone woulda been looking for a professional "hard use" tool, I'd probably say Makita, Bosch or Milwaukee.. And a rolling fold up stand. You see that sliding Milwaukee saw? It's a thing of beauty..

 

[OrneryDuck]

One of the things I noticed is that Bosch, Makita, and the DeWalt 780 all maintain a similar ratio of user reviews on Google. 4.4-4.8/5 stars overall with into a small margin of bad reviews and an overwhelming number of positive ones. The Ridgid, Craftsman, Hitachi, and the rest of the DeWalt saws have a slightly higher margin of bad reviews (3-5%?) but are otherwise viewed similarly.

I gave a 780 another look as the first in store one had bad bearing feel on the slides and wavered significantly at full pull on the slides with lateral force. The second one I looked at was both smooth and solid; either a newer display unit or the former was just a bad example of a good tool. I'm going to checkout the Craftsman tomorrow and may buy if I like the feel of it. The 780 tends to go on sale onc or twice a year for 399$, or 200$ off. I could get the Craftsman now and a 780 the next time it hits sale and essentially have two saws for the price of one. I'd equally consider the Makita or Milfuckee if they ever went on sale, as they both look fantastic in-person.

 

[mossyboy6]

Under $500? Makita LS1221 without a doubt in my mind.
I have been using one for 10 years. Paired with a nice 80t blade, like a Forrest chopmaster, it slices through trim like butter.

Now, if you have the money, the Festool kapex is the chopper I have ever used, and if I had the need for a slider, it would be the one I would buy.

edit* To add, I would not recommend the ridgid saws for precise work, though for stuff like framing, fencing and some deck work, they do just fine.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

I talked to my brother in law who works for mike holmes and he's tried most of the major brands through their sponsorship deals. He said the crew preferred the dewalt 780 or the Milwaukee the best. They hated the rigid stuff, apparently it goes sloppy rather quickly with heavy use.

Also my neighbor's brother own a power tool repair business and is the local rigid warranty service guy. I mentioned to him that my buddy just bought the rigid 12" slider and he replied "well I'll be seeing him sooner or later".

 

[OrneryDuck]

Played with the Craftsman in-store. It felt like a $199.99 miter saw. They didn't have any left except the display model.

It only bevels in one direction. I also noticed several clearance issues with this saw when used in conjunction with the bevel. I don't think any of that would be a challenge for my use, but a consideration for others.

 

[OrneryDuck]

Went to another Sears that had one unit left in box. Decided for the price, a fair saw was better than no saw at all. I regret not getting the stand though, so I'll likely be back at the store after work tomorrow. My only real disappointment is that one of the slides appears damaged -- thankfully it doesn't seem to impact operation, at least not as of yet.

Pro's:
-Cheap, cheap, cheap!
-Lightweight
-Fits shallow'ish benches
-Slide mechanism is on-par with $300-400 competitors (better than the display model I tested)
-Good feature set (bevel, laser, depth lock, carry handle, etc)

Con's
-Cheap
-Plastic miter detent
-No depth measurements
-No safety lockout
-Slides are not as good as a healthy DeWalt 780
-No dual-bevel

This saw is likely the best among its price point -- sure I may still want for one of the nicer saws but this one was 1/3 of the price and will allow me to get going now, not later. Even with the stock blade and my futzing about, the cut was decent.

New in box
<img src="http://orneryduck.com/images/forums/cman_saw_1.png" width="70%" height="70%" />

In all her glory
<img src="http://orneryduck.com/images/forums/cman_saw_2.png" width="70%" height="70%" />

Slide damage (impact?)
<img src="http://orneryduck.com/images/forums/cman_saw_3.png" width="70%" height="70%" />

Maiden cut
<img src="http://orneryduck.com/images/forums/cman_saw_4.png" width="70%" height="70%" />

 

[kctyphoon]

Let us know what you think after you get the stand.. I have a feeling this setup will grow on you once you start using it.. it's too bad they don't seem to have the same stand my friend managed to get - with the power outlet built into the leg.. it makes a nice set up to throw a shop vac under the saw, and run the hose to the saws dust collection port.. obviously you can still do that, but the outlet was handy.. it's the little things in life... IMO a big reason for picking the craftsman would be the compact rails. In a small space like a basement or garage it's a big plus.

 

[CTyankee]

Blade cost plus swapping with the table saw would put me in the 10" camp. Be aware the sliding compound saws aren't the most accurate for angles, eg miters for a frame.

Yes, I may have a poor quality saw. I also have looked at all, or nearly all, different makes of sliding miter saws and they all have a bit of slop; where I can easily push the blade off track with not much effort. My saw is great for framing decks and houses where a true 90 isn't critical, but ***** at inside finishing. I'm able to make it "good enough" by remembering to push slightly right when doing a 45 right angle, and slightly left when doing a 45 left angle.I'm just a hobbiest when it comes to finishing inside work so I'm not going to spend $800.00 on a saw that I'll use infrequently. However I might pick up a used Makita non-sliding miter just for inside finishing as I feel with just one pivot point there is going to be less chance of "slop".
Just my observations and opinions...worth what you paid for them.

Yeah, I'm sure if i used my slider for cutting 2x framing material on a regular basis, after awhile it might develop some accuracy issues. A quality trim carpenter wouldn't let a 2x4 anywhere near his saw. As to spending 800 to buy a saw capable of accurate work not true IMO.

I won't add anything as to which saw to buy. There are plenty of places on the net to research and compare most models...and definitely a lot more qualified to do so..

 

[OrneryDuck]

Let us know what you think after you get the stand.. I have a feeling this setup will grow on you once you start using it.. it's too bad they don't seem to have the same stand my friend managed to get - with the power outlet built into the leg.. it makes a nice set up to throw a shop vac under the saw, and run the hose to the saws dust collection port.. obviously you can still do that, but the outlet was handy.. it's the little things in life... IMO a big reason for picking the craftsman would be the compact rails. In a small space like a basement or garage it's a big plus.

That does sound like a neat feature! I may 'mod' the stand to suite since I plan to use my Ridgid shop vac for evacuation. I am impressed with the saw given the low cost of entry -- I gave overly critical Pro/Cons for the benefit of potential other buyers, most of those things don't bother me. The only item I would prefer be changed is a metal miter detent instead of plastic.

 

[Bigbandguy]

I had the HF single bevel slider which was fine for an "occasional" use and very basic use at that which ties in nicely with my carpentry skill set. I finally decided to upgrade the blade and proceeded to royally screw up the blade guard. Once I changed the blade the guard would not move with the saw.. Clearly this was unsafe and despite my intense desire to not let it win I could not figure out how to get that guard working. Finally I found a decent CL deal on a DeWalt (12 incher) . Oddly enough the guy I bought the DeWalt from told me about a place that he thought could fix the blade guard on the HF. I took it to them and they fixed it. Sold it and kept the DeWalt. Win/Win

No matter which saw you buy RTFM before trying to change the blade.

 

[OrneryDuck]

it's too bad they don't seem to have the same stand my friend managed to get - with the power outlet built into the leg.. it makes a nice set up to throw a shop vac under the saw, and run the hose to the saws dust collection port.. obviously you can still do that, but the outlet was handy.. it's the little things in life...

Hey kctyphoon,

Looks like the stand you mentioned is still available, at a bit more cost. Still neat and it is nice that it is a collapsible stand with wheels.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-delu...ellerId=Sears&prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2#

 

[kctyphoon]

Yea that's it.. I believe he got it (and I had to almost force him to cause he's so cheap) around the holidays for half price.. And if I remember now, I found the matching small tool folding stand for half price too, that uses the same saw mount, and that what he uses for the small bench top table saw someone gave him..

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I've got the Dewalt 12 inch dual bevel slider with the stand.

I love that thing. In fact, I just used it tonight to install some new baseboards in a bathroom I am renovating. Measured a couple of corners with a guage, set the saw to the right angle and cut. Near perfect seams which I filled with caulk. You'd never know it wasn't one continuous piece.

Point of that story is that while it is certainly possible that sliders are less accurate, I've managed to do both baseboard and crown molding with good results and I am no master of woodworking. Plus, I have certainly done some projects where the extra cut capacity was helpful (e.g. cutting 12 inch shelves)

 

[gml1998]

I also recommend the Bosch GCM12SD, I bought a reconditioned one from cpobosch.com for $500 IIRC and could not be happier. It can sit flat against a wall, is quiet, has great bevel/miter controls and is very accurate. You could not tell this saw from a brand new one sitting side by side, so there's no reason to pay $650 for a brand new one.

This. I own one, it is great, though not very portable .