# Ridgid MS1290LZ Sliding Compound Miter Saw



## CedarFreakCarl

Great review. I've got this saw also and it has served me well. Thanks!


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## ferstler

We agree on that one. Incidentally, the photo of the unit fairly clearly shows that dust scoop I mentioned in the review. Note how it tucks right up close to the lower blade guard. That particular scoop if sor wood 1.5 inches thick, when cut at 90 degrees.

Howard Ferstler


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## abeharre

Well said! Thanks for posting the review. I have also thoroughly enjoyed having one, and it has served me well through many different projects: framing walls, flooring, trim and some decking. My only complaint is the laser - it shines down exactly vertically, and as it sits right beside the blade, it's actually about 1/8" off the cut line. For anything but rough cuts, I found it was far better to line the blade up by eye, rather than trust the red dots. Overall, a great saw, and you can't beat the lifetime warranty.

I have also found the stand very handy. A very solid base to work from, it has slide out rollers for supporting long boards. When not in use, it can fold up with the saw attached, roll out of the way and stand verticaly, saving floor space. Having wheels also makes trucking the saw around a whole lot easier.

- Aaron


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## ferstler

Yeah, I really thought their stand was good. Actually, I think they have a new model now. The reason I did not use their stand, other than the cost, is that my home-built stand works just fine for the purpose I use it for.

And I also agree about the laser, Aaron, as I noted in my review. I could probably live with the off-center characteristic (which I guess all lasers of that rotational type exhibit), but my main beef is that in order to use it and get the wood aligned properly you have to have the blade spinning. While the lower guard prevents problems, the noise and spin tend to make it hard to carefully concentrate on the initial alignment work. I'll continue to use the technique you outlined.

Howard Ferstler


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## adam77

That was a great review! I have the same saw and the ridgid stand with wheels. I just saw Home Depot will be selling this saw on black Friday for 350 dollars. That is a steal. Im kinda mad i paid 500 three months ago. They are also selling the cart for 99 Dollars.


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## ferstler

It was on sale for $400 when I purchased my sample. Some kind of weekend sale, or the like. I am hoping that HD will also have some other stuff on sale on "Black Friday." I have a bunch of Ryobi hand tools and their nicad batteries are rapidly pooping out. Two of the five I own will not hold a charge more than a day. I want to upgrade to the litiium versions, but they still are somewhat too expensive. Let's hope there is a sale.

Interestingly, the individual lithium batteris are about $90 and a lithium battery/charger combo is $120. That adds up to $210. However, you can opt instead to purchase a drill/flashlight "package" that also includes two lithium batteries and a charger for $180. That means that they are essentially giving you the drill, flashlight, and thirty bucks if you get that combo instead of a battery plus battey/charger package. What kind of nutty accountants are running that operation? A customer would have to be a jerk to get the individual items.

Howard Ferstler


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## adam77

You can see all the black friday sale items on the black friday website. Lowes, home Depot, Sears, etc. Last year i got a mini air compressor at Sears. I went at 5 in the morning and it was complete chaos, but most of the people were in the electonics section so i was in and out. You should check it out.


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## Sheepman

Well I guess I am going to be the one that is not Mr. Happy. I just bought this saw at HD on black friday fo349.00 less 10% for a coupon I had. Great deal price wise. I also have a 10" Makita LS1013FL that I was going to sell if I liked the Ridgid. I'm bringing it back tomorrow because of the extreme blade wobble when it first starts and it sounds like a bucket of nuts and bolts grinding when it runs. MY Makita sounds SO much better. Anyone else have this issue?


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## ferstler

Mine works fine, as I noted in the review. It may be that Ridgid (or the Chinese outfit that makes this item) cut some corners to save money with later production unts, which might explain the low-price involved with this sale. Just a guess, however. It is also possible that you just have a rare dud. At that price you might have been better of just exchanging the unit for another sample.

Two woodworking magazines have reviewed this saw, along with several competing models. One magazine specializes in fine woodworking, and their people are not particularly fond of miter saws in any form. The other magazine is more carpentry oriented, and in both cases the Ridgid did not have the kind of blatant defects you outline. You may, as I noted, just have gotten a dud.

Incidentally, I just found my old sales receipt and the price I said I paid in an earlier comment was not $400. It was $500. Well, the thing had a list price of $595 when it first appeared and later it went down to $549. So at least I got a fairly decent discount.

Howard Ferstler


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## mrsawdust

very nice review and a very nice saw. unfortunately, i just bought another brand ( which i am VERY happy with) but. having just left home depot i saw a sale sign on the same rigid saw for $350 !. i think i'm sick. good luck with it. i think you'll be well satisfied.
mike


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## Sheepman

Home Depot did locate another saw in the area for me shortly after I had written for my first comment. This saw is much better than the first one. What attracted me first to this saw was the size of the fence, its massive for a miter saw, my Makita LS1013 had far to small of one. The Ridgid was not really that far out of square for coming out of a box, within a half hour is was dead on the money. Much easier to setup compared to the Makita. I hace to admit when cutting crown moulding etc it is a little intimidating with that 12" blade in front of you comapred to the 10" but after a while you are comfortable with it. Dust collection is horrible even with a vac on it. For the $317.00 I spent for it, and selling my Makita for $400.oo I can't complain very much. With the 12" I do have more versatality when cutting bigger framing material and I do think it is more soliid when doing this type work. I was always always a little apprehensive cutting bigger stock on my Makita do to the scimmpy nature of the fence on that saw.


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## roman

With the exception of the Festool sliding miter saw, I think that all miter saws, dust collection engineering could use vast improvement. they all suck…....pardon the pun.

A friend of mine has the ridgid MS and is happy with it. He's had it some time now and uses it a lot. That said I gotta add.

I think a lot of reviews are done too quickly in that we buy a tool and love it, totally happy with it and a month goes by and the problems start. I bought a Bosche (?spelling) laminate router. The little one handers, variable speed and got it home…............totally impressed. A month later and a few hundred miles of routing and I now think…..........."what a waste of money". Stupid me should have bought the one that I originally bought 10 years ago that worked flawlessly (except for the fact that I dropped it and broke it) but nooooooo, I thought I'ld save 50 bucks. The new one slips so I tighten the little bolt on the cam…....and it slips.

had I written the review on day 5, I would have raved about it. Now I look at and curse it.

I quite like my DeWalt 12" sliding compound saw. Its been so abused, dropped, tipped, torqued….....its cut literally thousands of joints/miters, timber and its still working flawlessly.


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## ferstler

I am going to install a third photo of the saw. If you look closely at the new shot you can see the "scoop" that I installed to capture dust better. It is sheet metal, with the side edges curved upward slightly. The thing tapers at the attachment end and it is held in place by a wing nut running through a hole I drilled in the dust port.

This scoop extends downward just enough to barely clear a 1.5-inch thick piece of wood. If you are cutting thicker wood or using the bevel feature you would have to remove it. I have a second scoop that is shorter and I use it for those situations. As noted, the scoops are easy to remove and replace, thanks to the wing-nut attachment feature.

If you simply "chop" cut with the saw the scoop still lets some dust get past the port. However, if you do a "sliding" cut the bottom of the scoop just passes over the workpiece closely as the blade cuts and the dust is almost completely ramped up into the dust port area where my dust-collecting hookup sucks it happily away. The saw stays almost dust free when doing cuts this way with the scoop.

Howard Ferstler


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## Steve1376

Just recently decided to up size from my 10" Dewalt, found this saw on sale at HD for $396.00, could not pass that puppy up, normal pricing at $569.00. Absolutely love this saw the saw blade that came with it is not half bad.


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