Great for its purpose

This is a good write-up. I have the exact saw and feel the same way. I actually think the slots on the dust collector may be more dangerous because when it clogs (and you obviously know it always does) it starts throwing a ridiculous amount of sawdust in your face. Goggles or not, this is a problem. I’m thinking one way to get around this is to completely remove the side blade cover on the interior of the saw and put a dust chute/dust collection hose there. I may try trowing something together out of MDF.

I also agree with the power switch and blade guard comments. the switch is almost impossible to find hidden under the table and the gaurd does seem to give me issues quite often.

Just curious, but when you pull up on the stand to lock your saw, is there one spring loaded pin or two? Mine only came with one but it seems odd that only one leg is supported by a spring pin. I do have a second pin on the side near the power switch, but I figured there should be two for the other side.

All that said, I love this saw. I’d love a cabinet saw too, but this folds up nicely but provides decent quality cuts.

I’ve had this saw for about 3 years now. You’re 100% on with the dust collection. It’s a decent saw for $400, just don’t expect to do what the big-boys can do. I too bought it because my “shop” is a stolen half of the garage. It stowes away nicely and is pretty sturdy when set up.

My experiences have been different on a couple of points:

• The fence is solid when locked in place, but it doesn’t feel “substantial”. I would have preferred somethign a bit bigger, but that’s personal taste.
• The miter guage that comes with it is just a basic miter gage. Nothing exciting here…and had to be adjusted for zero from time to time.
• I do tend to bog mine down occasoinally. Usually on hardwood crosscuts.

But like I said, for the money it’s a great saw.

-- Kansas City, KS "Nothing is as permanent as a temporary solution"

I have these for my remodeling business…they are great for what we use them for…..and at a 100+ cheaper than the Bosch equal…well woth the money!!!!

-- Don S.E. OK

The dust port sides do come off with very little work, as they just clip into place. It also seems like a bottom can be added without interfering with the operation of the stand. One side of the saw base has an angled ledge and the other is straight. Both sides have recesses and pass through holes which would serve as attachment points. This would help with most clogging issues, but at the cost in effectiveness to the dust collection.

I have not done any of this yet, but plan to in the near future. Should someone beat me to it, please share how well it works. I will do the same if I am the first to make Mk I.

-- P.O.C.

I’ve had this saw a couple years and I like it for what it is. Yeah, it’s not much better than a circle saw for dust collection. I’m glad I got an after market miter gauge (one of the Incra’s) because there was enough play in the stock miter gauge to make problems when making shoulder cuts for tenons. For its size it’s much more stable than I expected, but I don’t like cutting full sheets of ply by myself on it. The blade guard is a little wobbly, as was mentioned before, but it goes on and off so easily that I use it more than I have guards on some other saws. The little micro adjustment thingy works. The storage for fence, guard, blades and wrenches is logical and easy to use. The arbor could be a little longer ( you can’t get 3/4” of stacked dado on safely). It’s “Soft Start” feature is nice but it doesn’t always work. Sometimes it BANGS on and scares the hell out of me.

-- Knowledge Is Responsibility