# Bargain Tool Review - HF 10" Sliding Miter Saw (Chicago Electric)



## dbhost

Dual bevel?


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## SchottFamily

Nope, you're right. I had to go out and check. I thought it was for some reason - maybe because the other 10" HF I have is. Thanks!


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## Howie

Not going to be much use if you can't put another blade on it. Not trying to be a smart ass but are you trying to loosen it in the right direction?
I've looked at that saw and frankly don't see any problems with it for what I would use it for. Glad you like it.


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## dbhost

Not sure, but you might have been turning the bolt the wrong way… I have the Freud 80t on my 12 inched…


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## MarkDavisson

I just read the product manual online for this saw, and it says to loosen the retaining bolt by turning it clockwise. "While holding in the Arbor Lock Button, use the Wrench to loosen the Arbor Bolt by turning it clockwise."


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## Howie

loosen the Arbor Bolt by turning it clockwise."

Which would be opposite of the normal "lefty lucy righty tighty right?


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## SchottFamily

Don't worry about being a smart ass - I'm not the sensitive type.  I'm pretty sure I tried it both ways, but I'll try it again tonight going clockwise. Thanks for the help, all. I'm constantly amazed with what a great community woodworkers are - and yet again with all of the folks who looked up the manual to make suggestions. Very cool! Thank you!


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## dbhost

Okay I looked it up…

The manual is http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/98000-98999/98199.pdf
There is an Arbor Lock on the right hand side of the blade shroud on your model, just beneath the handle (see diagram on page 8).

Your arbor bolt is left hand threaded meaning righty loosey, leftey tighty.. So when you get to the the point of unbolting the flange bolt, push in the arbor lock, and loosen the arbor bolt clockwise, or to the right. Again, make sure the arbor lock is pushed in, or you will just end up spinning the motor and all and not loosening up the arbor bolt. On saws that do not have that feature, I typically put something in the gulley of the blade to jam it in place so that I can get the arbor bolt out of there.

If I were unable to remove the OEM blade from my HF 12" slider, it would have made an express trip back to Harbor Freight. My OEM blade was so bad it was scary…


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## b2rtch

I had the same saw ( twice) I was very happy with it but when I broke the blade guard I never could get a replacement


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## SawTooth1953

I find that it is too easy to twist the entire movable upper half while bringing the blade down… I have to be extra cautious to not end up with a cut that is not 90 degrees even though the blade is set at 90 degrees. You can't just grab the handle and push down… there is a natural twist in the wrist as you do this and this saw doesn't resist it. Until I figured out what it was, it ruined several cuts that *needed* to be 90 degrees. All cheap sliding saws have this problem. If you're cautious about this one aspect, this saw is a lot of bang for the buck.


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## Alexandre

Hopefully that OEM blade is running true.. Thats why many people change their blades.
Rubbish cuts,
Not running true
Rubbish blade.


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## Tennessee

I've had one of these for years, bought back when they were yellow. After changing the blade, the only problem I had is I have to keep the slider well oiled, something about the bearing in there that sticks a little.
Other than that, it has done everything from a crown molding job in a high end condo to cutting 45' 2X4 for fencing. Never a problem, and always seems true. I don't know who built mine, the yellow changed a couple years later. Mine was $99 with no discount, if I remember right.


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## ATLJack

Thanks for the review, I have been thinking about picking one up for a while. Its hard to go wrong for $90.


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## Blackie_

It's a clock wise thread and only a single bevel, I hate to be a rain on this party but, I've had the 10" sliding my dad has the same saw as well, both had their issues mine was never true on the table it was about a 16th off center in which I was continually having to square the fence to the blade ignoring the marker on the table when doing 45s, my dads guard got to the point over time it didn't track up or down when lowing the blade onto the wood causing rough cuts but for what he uses his for he doesn't need accurate cuts. Though the review seems strong with my experience they've proven to fail thus I'm slowly weeding my shop of any HF tools. I just swapped the HF 10" slider to a dewalt 717 sliding 10" and so glad I did, the way I see it you'll spend less up front "yes", but more in the end as you're most likely to be replacing them sooner or later upgrading to better equipment thus spending more in the end. I still have a couple things left from HF but they too will be gone sooner or later the DC and a 4" belt sander, both of those are still working but the sander is lacking on HP doesn't take much pressure to stop the belt.

No thanks no more for me as I mentioned it's costed me more on the total cost if I'd just bought the right stuff to begin with.


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## MarkDavisson

Blackie, you should write a review like SchottFamily did.


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## SchottFamily

I totally understand where you're coming from, but I think you're missing the point though. It's a $90 saw. Not everyone can afford to run out and buy a $500 dewalt right out of the gate. It's not a dewalt, not in the same class as a dewalt, so why compare it to a dewalt? We're all going to replace any given tool at some point and probably move up to the next class - more suiting our needs. To insinuate that one is wasting their money by buying an irwin chisel set for $20 instead of a Lie-Nielsen set for $300, which they may buy later because of the better quality is goofy. $20 gets you into a chisel set. It's only $20 - what do you care? You've got $500 to run out and buy a dewalt. lol
One of my first posts here were about tool snobs and what causes that mentality. I still don't understand it. I have a lot of bargain brand tools. As a beginner, they suit me just fine. I think they would suit most beginners fine. I speak pretty plainly about that in my reviews. I'm not writing these reviews from the perspective of an independently wealthy professional cabinet maker.
To each their own. I truly value the opinions of all of those who know more than me - which would be most. Don't forget where you came from though.


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## Blackie_

Bob I think it's more of just my frustration with cheap tools and yes no one's fault but mine own and you are right we all have to start somewhere but if anyone can and has the funds I strongly suggest do it right, To me it's just a gamble just as your luck sorta like picking the runt of the liter they are always the best out of the bunch HF tools are not all known for holding high quility, value or standards such as yours hence mine out of the box was junk and I dare not cut any thing that required precision such as trim with it.


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## SchottFamily

Believe me when I tell you that even though I'm a newbie, I know that frustration. Like I said, I have a shop full of bargain tools. Lots of Skil, B&D, etc. I spend a lot of time checking for square and alignment and rechecking. I spend more time than I would like trying to get the most out of the tools that I have. I suspect that a lot of us do. I sort of think it's a good learning experience though, teaching me to check and recheck to get the best, most accurate results.
That's what I expected though, so I'm not disappointed. My tools have me out on the road cruisin. I'm not in a corvette, but I'm having fun. When I get a little better, a little more time under my belt, I can justify that upgrade.


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## ferstler

Clockwise vs counter-clockwise. What ever will happen to us if someday digital clocks replace all of the dial clocks?

By the way, slider versions always scatter dust more than non sliders, because the dust scoop typically attached to the swiveling blade assembly has to be designed to clear the workpiece as it slides, and in some cases this means that there will be no effective dust scoop at all.

I have seen a couple of sliders (as well as the Bosch articulated "Glide" version) that had dust scoops on the assembly behind the swiveling blade section. I suppose those could work quite well. They were expensive saws, however. Some time back, I installed a dust scoop on my Ridgid slider (which came with none and scattered dust everywhere, even with the dust port hooked to a dust collector machine), but I do have to be careful to not let it get snagged by the blade when cutting thicker wood. It is easily removable and reinstallable and I have a second that is shorter and will clear thicker workpieces.

Howard Ferstler


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## SchottFamily

Good - I was going to ask for thoughts on dust collection - I'm going to build a miter station with both my HF 10" and 10" sliding miters - the slider locked and dedicated to 90 degree cuts and the non slider dedicated to 45 degree cuts. As alluded to above, dialing these in to be accurate can be a pain when swinging the table back and forth. I wanted to put the saws as close together as possible and build a large hood behind them. The DC ports on the saws themselves are pretty pointless, but I've never seen a miter saw that was otherwise. Would the large hood idea work, or would I be better off putting them a little farther apart and going with a dedicated hood for each?


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## Blackie_

Bob I just shared my blog on my dust hood thought I'd share it with you.

http://lumberjocks.com/Blackie_/blog/30927


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## SchottFamily

Very cool! That's right along the same lines of what I was thinking of. Thanks for sharing!


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