Excellent accuracy for such a cheap saw. Not such a great blade.

The Black and Decker Firestorm line was a Lowes specific line of tools that was discontinued at the end of 2008. With some of the product offerings pulling them from the market was a good thing to do (I will post a review of the router later), but with some of their offerings, hobbyist woodworkers, and home improvement DIY’ers got left out in the cold.

I purchased my FS1000L on sale in January of 2008, and it has seen extensive use since the purchase. The stand (not included, separate item) is very adjustable, and sturdy. I would not hesitate to compare it to its DeWalt cousins.

The saw has some very real limitations in capacity, based on blade size, and the lack of a slider. But at $129.00 full retail, what do you expect? (Yes Harbor Freight sells a less expensive slider, but this isn’t a Harbor Freight tool…).

The machining on this saw is first rate, which is NOT something you will often see me say about anything presently, or even within the last several decades offered by Black and Decker. But this thing, fit and finish wise is right up there with its DeWalt cousins. If the casing color was yellow instead of orange you might be fooled.

The preset stops at 90, 45, 30 etc… degrees are dead on where they are supposed to be for both the table, and the head.

I only have 2 issues with this saw, and one of them is just too typical of almost any new saw.

#1. The lack of a clamp for the work piece. The comparable Ryobi has one (but lacks the fit and finish finesse of this saw), B&D dropped the ball big time on this. It really should have one. I make do with a HF 6” bar clamp as I can easily reach around stock, and catch the underside of the table no problem.

#2. And this one is typical of almost any new saw. The supplied blade stinks. It dulled very quickly, and the Orange writing no the sides of it transferred to work pieces within 6 months… I would STRONGLY suggest upgrading to, at a minimum, a Diablo 40T General purpose blade. Or better yet, a Diablo 60T cross cutting blade.

I expect to get many more years of service from this tool, however occasionally the lack of capacity when crosscutting REALLY irritates me. There is a possibility that a 12” slider of some sort may end up replacing it…

If you can find one used, and need a basic 10” compound miter saw, this one is really a good machine. But don’t pay too much for it!

-- Trying to follow the example of the master.