Good day all,
I’m trying this forum for the first time on the advise of a friend. The question I asked him and now all of you is that I’m in the market for a miter saw and have some questions. Firstly, should I go with 10″ or 12″? Second, given that I have a $100 gift certificate to Home Depot and they have the following choices, what are people’s experiences with the various makes?
Bosch, Dewalt, Rigid, Makita, Magnum, Porter Cable, Delta, Ryobi
It will be used primarily for framing, but probably only light duty stuff for at least a year. I am currently in an apartment, but planning on moving into a house in a year or two. I want to get something good that will make me happy for the next 10 years.
Thanks for any help you can give,
Mike
Replies
If you're using it for framing, you may want to check over at the Breaktime forum and check the archives or "advanced search" feature for "best miter saw" or something like that. This topic has been covered a number of times with people giving varied opinions on their personal preferences.
Good luck. I personally own a 10" Sliding Compound Miter by Makita. No complaints.
I'd strongly suggest going with the 12" size. I had to make the same decision last fall, and am really glad I went for the 12" -- not only the extra cutting capacity, but also the power and heft of the machine. Of the brands you listed, Bosch and DeWalt came out on top for me, although I didn't have access to Porter Cable.
I got the Bosch 12" compound miter saw and absolutely love it. It's built like a tank, holds its settings well, and the accessories (and the saw) were priced better than the competition.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
From my reading around these threads, Makita and Bosch are at the top of the heap.
A lot of the framers (at Breaktime) seem to prefer the Bosch (all the controls are at the front of the machine), whereas I think the Makita may have an edge for the cabinetmaker crowd.
You don't say, but if you're going to frame with it, I assume you want a slider.
I have a Makita 1013 (which is a 10" saw), and it has been terrific -- as long as it sits in a shop, and doesn't get moved around a lot. All sliders are fairly fragile (in terms of holding their adjustments), but this one seems more fussy than others.
On the 10" vs. 12" issue, personally I think it is a matter of portability. You don't gain much in capacity with a 12", and they are a $100 or so more expensive than their 10" brothers. I would heft both sizes, and see which one you want to schlepp around.
I've used the 12" DeWalt slider and own the 10" Mankita slider. There is no/little difference in power, I think the DeWalt has an 9 amp motor and the Makita an 8 amp.
Unless you need the additional cutting capaity the 12" provides (and it's only in thickness, becasuse the sldies offer the same x-cut), I'd say stick with the 10".
I'd say that for 2x faming there is no need for the 12". If you are going to work with a lot of 4x lumber or very large crown moldings, you may want to think 12". But, the blades are more expensive and frankly I don't see a lot of people who really NEED, the extra capacity (people were curring big crown by hand 50 dears ago).
The Makita is a good piece of gear, I don't think you'd be disappointed.
Cheers,
Eric
Asking the question directly: Are you looking for a CMS or a sliding CMS?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
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