In the market for a SCMS

[C Scott McDonald]

I am getting to flooring stage of my home remodel (thank goodness!). I am doing laminate in several rooms so I need a good SCMS. I have a trusty Craftsman miter saw but it doesn't have the cross cut capacity that I need. I was looking at Makita and Bosch. The festool is out of the question due to price. I was looking at the Hitachi but it seems the sliders have the vertical handle and I simply don't care for those.

There a specific blade for laminates also?

Thanks,
Scott

[Gene Howe]

Any of those will give you good service. Bosch gets good reviews as does the Hitachi.

For laminate flooring, I use the IA-255100DN by Tenryu.
http://www.tenryu.com/ia.html

[Curt Harms]

it might be worth a look. I have no experience with them. http://www.reconditionedsales.com/Miter_Saws___c375.aspx

[C Scott McDonald]

Thanks I will check those sites out.

Is a dual bevel worth the extra money?

[Peter Quinn]

I recently got the new 10" Makita scms, meant to compete with the kapex, and it's a thing of beauty. It replaced the old makita 10" slider, which was a nice saw, but this one is quieter, smoother, up front controls for miter and a big scale, and a laser! I really don't care for lasers, but has an off switch. Certainly one of the nicer ones I have used.

Yes there are blades meant for laminate flooring, I think The Freud d1080L is a good choice. I used my Freud ultimate cut off for a laminate install, which did a fine job on the flooring, but the flooring also did a fine job on it!

[Dave Sabo]

Here's what I'd get if I were doing a house full of laminate floors:

http://www.skiltools.com/en/AllTools/Category/Product/default.html?pid=3600&cid=36

about $150

[Mark Ashmeade]

We recently had a garage sale, and I cleared out a bunch of tools that I never use, which funded the purchase of a Hitachi C12RSH, $399 from Costco.

Not a bad saw at all in terms of cut performance, but it will be going back.

The weight is poorly distributed, it's top/back heavy. That doesn't jive with my miter saw stand, and if I were to put another $200 into a new stand, I'd have $600 in the saw. At $600, I'd have chosen a different saw in the first place. It's also a raucous noisy beast, with the commutator motor, like most SCMSs. If there were an induction 10inch slider from a reputable maker, I think I'd go with that. That doesn't seem likely though.

In the meantime, it's back to fixing my RAS (got a used/scrap one today to donate parts), and spend the $400 on something more suited to my needs.

I can't denigrate the C12RSH too much, it's OK, I just found it's not what I wanted when I got it home and put it in the shop (vs a 5' high shelf in Costco). FWIW, the construction quality seems excellent. High quality castings, solid feel. It's a screamer though, and that's not for me. In the woodshop anyway ;)

[David Prince]

Here's what I'd get if I were doing a house full of laminate floors:

http://www.skiltools.com/en/AllTools/Category/Product/default.html?pid=3600&cid=36

about $150

I have never used one of these, but it looks like it would fit the bill. Anyone ever used one of these and has an opinion? I have a big laminate project coming up and am looking for a better alternative.