[SML] Miter Saw Rec

[Richard John Archer]

We’ve had Hitachi 12”  compound sliding mitre saws  (2)  with lasers in our shop  for a number of years.    We have other  older  brands (makita, skill)  as well but the Hitachi are the ones we use.  After about 10 years the lasers are “tired”  but the saws work great….little to no maintenance other than blowing it off at the end of the day.   Our shop is heated and air conditioned which helps  to keep things good.
The high school in town has the DeWalt 716xps.  I like the blade shadow much better than the laser which is on one side (or the other) of the blade.
All that said…..these are mighty pricey for use once in a while at home.
The Hitachi 12”  non sliding mitre is on sale at Lowes for $199.   Other good saws are near this price point.  You could look at reconditioned saws available online for a bigger bang for your buck. —you can get a 10”  hitachi for about $100 Ditto used or even off Craigslist.
Mike Katz said he did well with  his from Harbour Freight.   Maybe but I’m sure you know that many of these cheaper imported tools are not very consistent  from tool to tool  (those darn sand castings)


Woodworkers journal usually has reviews every few years


Of course,  with your “massive”  new tax returns  you could buy a Festool.    We don’t have a mitre saw ($1500)  but the couple of Festool tools we have are extraordinary.  (probably why Tom Silva has them on This Old House.

DickA

I recently bought the 12" DeWalt 716XPS for my own shop.  The DeWalt XPS (projects blade shadow on workpiece) system is impressive, even if you only use it for direct task lighting while cutting.  It's no gimmick, it works great.  If you can swing it, might as well buy the 12".  Extra capacity can get you out of a jam and might make resale a little easier in the future.  The detent override is great for cutting trim when you are a whisker off of 45.


-Jared

On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:15 AM, Damon Gelb via Stagecraft <stagecraft at theatrical.net<mailto:stagecraft at theatrical.net>> wrote:
I just bought a Hitachi 12" at lowes for my shop.  Great price and so far a great saw, perfectly accurate out of the box.  Easy to adjust, cuts clean.  There is a 10" model as well.  At the college I have had ridged (meh) and a DeWalt (brake died).  We now have a Bosch ($$$)...not worth the extra cost for home use.

Damon Gelb

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