miter saws

I needed to borrow a miter saw for a big job recently, cutting shallow angles into 2x6's, and borrowed a sliding dual miter dual bevel Dewalt saw. The problem is that it was the second time I needed to borrow one, and I have a big project coming which necessitates be buying one.

Convential wisdom says Dewalt/Makita/Rigid/Bosch. It seems they are basically all made in China/Taiwan. I can give on the dual bevel, and even on the dual miter if needed for cost, but I want to know about some of the upstart/restarted brands. Jet/Evolution/WEN, is it safe to presume that these are all cheap copies of decent brands or is there something to them? Am I missing something obvious?

I deliver tools and materials for a company that builds gymnasium floors. The guys who use the saws every day like the DeWalts and complain about everything else, although that could just be perception bias.

They broke a Rigid brand miter saw this week but they were also using the wrong and worn out blade so there’s that.

I realize now that none of what I wrote  is very helpful. Also, I need a new job.

I just bought a 12" saw at HF for $129.00.   It's out of the box in the living room and if it hadn't been rainy today I'd have tried it. I can't believe they can manufacture this thing, package it, and ship it half way round the world then sell it for $129.00 and make a profit. I need it for exterior roof trim, soffits, interior trim, etc.  Not expecting the quality or accuracy of a more expensive saw but I can probably do a nice job with it. Will test tomorrow if no rain.

In reply to NOT A TA :

From what I've seen, the newer harbor freight ones are better and cheaper than my old dewalt.

Maybe look on craigslist for a radial arm saw? Does everything a sliding miter saw does with a slightly larger footprint. 

In reply to RevRico :

I want the ability for bevel and miter, but I have checked for used compound sliding miters and find a few things there.

RevRico said:

In reply to NOT A TA :

From what I've seen, the newer harbor freight ones are better and cheaper than my old dewalt.

Maybe look on craigslist for a radial arm saw? Does everything a sliding miter saw does with a slightly larger footprint. 

I agree and if I were younger with 30 years to use it or thought I'd use it more in the near future I'd buy higher quality.  Grew up working doing new home construction in the 70's using a big radial arm. I bought this thing just to renovate the exterior of my house and install interior trim, then I'll probably sell it for $50.00 so I don't have to store it. Should I occasionally need one, I can borrow a buds but since I've gotta do the whole outside and then trim the inside I can't borrow one that long.

Bought a 20" chain saw last year and took down all the big trees in my yard over winter while it was cooler (S FL), now gonna sell it for half of new.  Just don't want to store stuff like that. With no basements and short attics storage space is at a premium. Most people rent storage facility space but they spend more on storage over time than the crap they store is worth.

We've got this wicked Hitachi unit that lived a pretty hard life in a commercial environment before being retired to our workshop.  It weighs a ton though.

Literally every unit I see between $50 and $800 sounds terrible if you read enough reviews. I just want the thing to be accurate, hold an adjustment, and last forever.

It sounds like a $200 used tool is the right play here. Something build to last and not build to feature-load me into buying it.

My harbor freight 12" has been great, well worth the $130 i spent on it.

I did all of the trim in my son's lower floor with a HF 12" sliding miter.  Worked perfectly and was $120 with a coupon.

In reply to tuna55 : I bought a new Dewalt and the stand back in 1999. Used it to build and continuing to use it building my house. First the scale model and now the house.  

 From big Timbers to delicate little pieces.  I keep blades sharp because that insures my fingers.  Accuracy  and repeatability has never varied. To that end I have 14 blades in various tooth counts rotating between the sharpening service, the saw, and my blade storage area.  Because it uses a 12 inch blade my table saw is also a 12 inch table saw  not your ordinary 10 inch blade table saw.  That requires a more powerful motor and a saw designed for a 12 inch blade.  But it also ensures that a sharp blade will always be available. And let’s me cut and rip those massive Timbers with complete safety and repeatability.  

Do not dismiss the need for a really good stand. Having the work at your waist is critical to your back health and prevents the damage to your knees that trying to work off the floor would do.  It has successfully held big 12 inch by 12 inch by 24 feet long hardwood beams. 

Repeatability is critical when many multiples need to be cut and fit together.  I can draw a fine line and cut exactly on either side of the line or perfectly bisect that line. The stand helps make repeated cuts accurately. I cut one end square and true then flip the board fresh cut end into a preset distance and exactly repeat the length without the need for repeated measurements.  

Nearly 55,000 board feet  has gone through that saw with cuts at least on every end if not dozens of cuts per board.  Nearly 19 years nothing has broken or caused a problem. With the exception of one plastic piece that was ordered on line and delivered 3 days later.  

I have worked that saw  and stand for up to 18 hours of work  per day in all sorts of weather.  Now that most of the flooring is finished I use a piece of carpeting underneath the stand to prevent scratching or damaging the finished floor. 

Worst thing i did to my dewalt was it ate a shaft bearing.  Still need to fix it.  I snagged the 12” slider from HF for temporary use when that happened and used it daily for 3 years.  It wasn’t accurate, the miter setting mechanism was worthless, but now I’m spoiled by the ability to cut 12” material without flipping it around.  Pieces fell off, stuff broke, and it finally ate it last week.  

We bought the 12 inch HF saw when we bought our house last year just to do all the flooring. It has done very for our use, might not to very precise but I have no other  experience to reference to, we bought a high quality blade for it that probably helped a lot. For $120 it was hard to beat.  

I use an old radial arm saw for this kind of stuff. My personal is a 1959 amf dewalt. 

Look on Craigslist for an old radial arm saw, tune it up, and never look back. Only benefit to a sliding compound miter saw over one is portability and footprint. 

Consider the smaller saws. 

I did production trim work for a long time. Never had any need for anything other than an 8 1/4" sliding compound miter saw.  I've had 2 Hitachis for more than 15 years, beat them hard, and they still serve me well. 

The smaller saws are more accurate.

I use a small 10" non sliding miter saw for small moldings (because the throat is smaller, and it's very portable).

I've cut 12" one piece crown molding with my 8 1/4" saw.  The trick is learning how to cut miters in crown molding with the material laying flat on the table, NOT angled against the fence (upside down and backwards). 

99 out of 100 professional carpenters do not know how to do this.  (Hint: You do NOT set the miter or bevel  at 45*).

In reply to SVreX :

This is precisely why the good saws have marks or detents for 33.85 and 31.62 degrees.  I’m the 1 of your 100 example apparently 

i have a little 7 1/4 ryobi miter saw with built in stand that was $23 on clearance at Home Depot that’s absolutely perfect for flooring.  Plus it takes cheap circular saw blades.  I have a 10” delta on garage duty that I got from the trash with a broken handle and epoxied back together.  

SVreX said:

Consider the smaller saws. 

I did production trim work for a long time. Never had any need for anything other than an 8 1/4" sliding compound miter saw.  I've had 2 Hitachis for more than 15 years, beat them hard, and they still serve me well. 

The smaller saws are more accurate.

I use a small 10" non sliding miter saw for small moldings (because the throat is smaller, and it's very portable).

I've cut 12" one piece crown molding with my 8 1/4" saw.  The trick is learning how to cut miters in crown molding with the material laying flat on the table, NOT angled against the fence (upside down and backwards). 

99 out of 100 professional carpenters do not know how to do this.  (Hint: You do NOT set the miter or bevel  at 45*).

Hitachi is a well respected saw. And Nail guns.  A lot of professions swear by them.   

In reply to Patrick :

Yep. 

I've been a professional carpenter for over 40 years. Mostly high end historic trim work, timber framing, etc. Never could figure out why anyone needed a 12" sliding compound (or why in the heck they'd want to hump it around!)

SVreX said:

In reply to Patrick :

Yep. 

I've been a professional carpenter for over 40 years. Mostly high end historic trim work, timber framing, etc. Never could figure out why anyone needed a 12" sliding compound (or why in the heck they'd want to hump it around!)

Because I got guys to move it for me, and it’s easier to cut a 2x12 with a miter saw that someone else carried than change out the dull blade in my circular saw 

dont have one anymore though, scrapped the HF one.

In reply to Patrick :

Well, I don't think it's easier at all to cut a 2x12 on them.  Aligning large timbers and dimensional lumber against a fence takes much more energy than learning to be very good with a skill saw. 

SVreX said:

In reply to Patrick :

Yep. 

I've been a professional carpenter for over 40 years. Mostly high end historic trim work, timber framing, etc. Never could figure out why anyone needed a 12" sliding compound (or why in the heck they'd want to hump it around!)

I use a 12 inch because the 4 timber framing companies I sold telehandlers to use them. In fact stick framers use the Dewalt 12 inch sliding compound over every other sliding compound.  Every tool I purchased I did so because they were the most respected tool in the housing industry I served for more than 22 years. 

SVreX said:

In reply to Patrick :

Well, I don't think it's easier at all to cut a 2x12 on them.  Aligning large timbers and dimensional lumber against a fence takes much more energy than learning to be very good with a skill saw. 

I guess I’m not as skilled as you are.   When I want a 9 x6 timber to fit exactly at some odd angle and bevel,  I set the Timber flush against the fence with the angle and bevel chosen and the depth stop set. That way I know that all 15 or 21 cuts will be exactly what was set.

I keep a sharp blade in my Skil saw but I don’t use the Skil saw to do trim or fancy work.  There were plenty of Skil saws in use over the 22+ years I sold telehandlers and cranes to the housing industry. But I never saw a trim carpenter reach for the Skil saw.  In fact I never saw a trim blade on a Skil Saw. 

 I wish I had  40 years of  skills behind me, on the other hand I’m glad I don’t because with 40 years of skills I wouldn’t have built this  place. I’m very proud of how unique it is and I get the pleasure of enjoying it for the rest of my life.  

SVreX said:

In reply to Patrick :

Well, I don't think it's easier at all to cut a 2x12 on them.  Aligning large timbers and dimensional lumber against a fence takes much more energy than learning to be very good with a skill saw. 

Agree. The only thing worse than hauling around a 75lb saw is hauling around a 95lb board.

I prefer this

Plus

To the OP,

I have had a Hitachi C10FS for many years and it's been great. But it looks like the modern version is a step down in build quality.

SVreX said:

Consider the smaller saws. 

I did production trim work for a long time. Never had any need for anything other than an 8 1/4" sliding compound miter saw.  I've had 2 Hitachis for more than 15 years, beat them hard, and they still serve me well. 

The smaller saws are more accurate.

I use a small 10" non sliding miter saw for small moldings (because the throat is smaller, and it's very portable).

I've cut 12" one piece crown molding with my 8 1/4" saw.  The trick is learning how to cut miters in crown molding with the material laying flat on the table, NOT angled against the fence (upside down and backwards). 

99 out of 100 professional carpenters do not know how to do this.  (Hint: You do NOT set the miter or bevel  at 45*).

A trick I learned when doing crown molding is to cut at 45 degrees and then back bevel. It helps keep tight joints when corners aren’t exactly 90 degrees.  The real trick is to cut with a scooping (sp?) saw just short of the line and use a grinder to remove that little edge. I love how tight that joint becomes.

 But if your method is easier faster or more accurate I’ll gladly learn. I am not a wood working pro. In fact if I didn’t work so cheap I’d fire my butt and insult me as I left. 

In reply to frenchyd :

Honestly, timber work is the last time I want a compound miter. The pieces are so heavy that just putting them on the table can knock the miter/bevel askew, and a wasted timber can cost hundreds of dollars. 

I said I use a circular saw, but I didn't say I use a 7 1/4" circular saw.  I have a 16" circular saw. I cut timbers directly on the pile and never move them to the saw bench. 

For complicated compound timber cuts, I use a chainsaw. I know that sounds crude, but I am VERY good with one. Sharp chain, tune it well, read the grain, do the math, and follow the layout lines. 

Several times I've found myself 40' in the air on a scaffold cutting a mortise and tenons into curved decorative members in a gable with a chainsaw.  It's easier for me to do the cutting in the air then walk timbers back and forth to a saw bench. 

But there is no right or wrong. Use the tool that works for you. 

I just can't afford to spend 30,000 hours on a house.