best sliding miter chop saw

The Hitachi 12 inch slider is hard to beat… I love mine…

-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ lazylarrywoodworks.com.au For lovers of all things timber...

Why are ya replacing the Mac?
Seems that a DeWalt is a very popular saw among general woodworkers. I don’t have a slider, but if I were to buy one today, I’d look at Makita and Bosch though my DW 10” compound has done well for my needs.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

when wood magazine reviewed miter saws, they rated the makita top tool. what ’s leading to the replacement of the current makita?

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

I have Makita power tools and they have been OK for what I need. If you shop around maybe you might find something better than the one you are thinking off changing.

-- Bob C, Australia. I love sharing as long as it is not my tools

I’ve been mulling this over all summer myself. I originally decided on the Makita, but returned two of them both with the same defect on the bevel lock lever. The model in the store worked find, but I guess my local HD got a bad batch. I currently feel the Dewalt DW780 is probably the best one, but I can’t spend $600 on it.

I bought a Craftsman, not a top-end saw, but it works well for me.

-- Lloyd Kerry; creator of the Kerry-All Pouch, http://www.kerrywoodworking.com

Well, “best” would probably be the Festool Kapex. It certainly is the highest priced SCMS at nearly double its closest competitors.

But “best” for one person isn’t necessarily “best” for another, and you might assign value differently to different features than I would.

That being said, the Kapex is a nifty saw. My favorite features:
- the lasers are dead nuts accurate
- fairly quiet and smooth
- the hold-down is really nice and clamps securely
- trenching feature for quick dados
- light and portable
- good dust collection for a miter saw
- doesn’t need much space at all behind the saw (saw head slides forward on fixed rails)

Personally I’m still trying to decide if it’s worth what I paid for it and if I use it enough to justify it. But it’s a heck of a saw.To me the most important features were actually the small footprint (cramped shop) and the smoothness/quietness.

-- Optimists are usually disappointed. Pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised. I tend to be a disappointed pessimist.

I currently own a Dewalt DWS780 and it’s a great saw. Accurate out of the box and built to last and the stock blade is actually pretty good. Very nice feature is the XPS system that shines light down the blade so you see the exact cut and never have to adjust anything after swapping blades.

Plus Dewalt has a deal every few months that you buy the saw, get a free stand ($200 stand) with it. Either a mobile base one or a full size, either way a great value.

-- Ben from IL

I wouldn’t replace an old Makita (assuming it has the dual slide) with a new one. I have an older 10” and a newer 12”. The newer one is Chinese and clearly not as well made. I suspect the others have cheapened theirs up as well. Maybe Festool, if you have lots of money !

-- Dwight - "Free legal advice available - contact Dewey, Cheetam & Howe""

I have to go with either the DeWalt or the Bosch Glide.

I have an older DeWalt, and it’s rock-solid, huge (an issue when I have to use it in the field), but still accurate and tough – it’s not pretty or modern, when compared to the Bosch Glide or the Kapex; but the do work.

The Bosch Glide will cost about $800, and re-thinks the whole miter saw application. Its dust collection ranks below the Kapex, had quality problems when first introduced, but is $400 cheaper and Bosch quality.

I’ve read great things about the Makita, but don’t know enough to comment – I’ll leave that to professionals on the Forum.
MJCD

-- Lead By Example; Make a Difference

Over the years I have owned a Ridgid, a Makita, a Bosch 10” slider and now have a Kapex. Yes, the Kapex is more expensive but to me it is worth every penny and hopefully it will last a very long time. Once I got over spending the money I was sure I made the right choice. It is extremely accurate and well built.

-- Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. http://www.FineArtBoxes.com

I have the Makita 12. It’s OK. I’m no expert, though. I constantly forgot to turn the laser off and sure enough, it lasted about a month before burning out. The turny knob to loosen the swing is annoying to me because it’s counter intuitive. Always trying to turn it the wrong way (you’d think counter clockwise would loosen, right?) But, by far (for me) the biggest drawback is the huge footprint required. I literally had to build a hole in the wall of my shop and mount it on a 30” counter to get the full clearance! I tried hooking my 2 HP dust collector to it via a step-down. That proved useless. I built a hood/chute into the wall, but haven’t got the DC hooked up to it yet. It’s pretty noisy, too. I wonder if any of the others are brushless and if that would help much?

...and don’t forget to get a cover for it…

-- Lloyd Kerry; creator of the Kerry-All Pouch, http://www.kerrywoodworking.com

Give ellen35 a shout…she has the Bosch slider , and last I knew , she loved it : )
I have a Bosch 12” , but not the slider model , and no complaints with it at all : )

-- When did quiet and quite become the same word ? I'm guessing about the same time as your and you're did.

When I went to replace my remanufactured cheap ryobi saw, I did a lot of reseacch and actually tested a number of 12” sliders.

I spent a few extra coin on a Milwalkee SCMS. One of my major concerns was dust control, this was the best ( aside from the Kapex system which was far too much). I don’t care for fancy lasers, don’t trust them. The Milwalkee has two nice lights on each side of the blade to cut on one side of the line or the other. It cuts square and can rip a board over one foot in width. It has plenty of power and when fitted with a hood connected to my DC, virtually no dust in the air. The digital readout is nice to have and micro adjuster actually works.

-- Mike.... West Virginia. "Man is a tool using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.". T Carlyle