Looking for a sliding miter saw

[Brian Sommers]

I'm thinking of adding a sliding miter saw. Something that could handle 12/4 hardwood.

I want something accurate and not junk. But at the same time I don't want to have to mortgage the house!

[Hoang N Nguyen]

Check out the 12" Bosch glide. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004323NNC/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=88394855347&hvpos=1t3&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7109235814749555429&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_41zftde2et_b

It doesn't take up a lot of space behind the saw like most sliders do. I've played with it in person and the glide on that thing is butter smooth.

[Ben Rivel]

This topic comes up fairly often and youll get positives and negatives on nearly every saw out there. From my research the three most popular are the Bosch Glider, the DeWalt Slider and the ever insanely priced Festool Kapex. I personally own and like very much the DeWalt DWS780 Type 2. Been great for me though it is huge and heavy and needs a lot of space behind it since it has the rail arms that protrude out of the back unlike the Kapex and Bosch. Whichever you go with I use and highly recommend a Forrest ChopMaster blade for it. It was defininitely a worthwhile upgrade for me.

[Hoang N Nguyen]

This topic comes up fairly often and youll get positives and negatives on nearly every saw out there. From my research the three most popular are the Bosch Glider, the DeWalt Slider and the ever insanely priced Festool Kapex. I personally own and like very much the DeWalt DWS780 Type 2. Been great for me though it is huge and heavy and needs a lot of space behind it since it has the rail arms that protrude out of the back unlike the Kapex and Bosch. Whichever you go with I use and highly recommend a Forrest ChopMaster blade for it. It was defininitely a worthwhile upgrade for me.

I also have the Chopmaster blade on my Dewalt 780 and will agree it's an amazing blade. I've been looking at changing out my miter saw the last few weeks, main reason is my dewalt takes up a lot of space behind the saw. I looked at the bosch for the longest time but finally decided to go with the Festool Kapex.

[Steve Peterson]

I have the Bosch glide and really like it. My choices were mostly limited to the Bosch or a non-slider because of bench depth with a cement wall behind it. Festool is out of my price range.

Be sure to check the reviews on the Bosch to decide for yourself because there are a few complaints about the table not being square or flat. I believe that it is something that can be adjusted out, but have not needed to try it.

Steve

[Brian Sommers]

I'm leaning toward the Bosch because of space, I have a small shop, but at the same time I need something that is very accurate.

[Mike Jungers]

I think it depends on your expected usage. For hobby or home use most any of the major brands will work fine with a decent blade and occasional calibration. For professional trim use I can't see why anyone wouldn't want a Kapex. It's just orders of magnitude better than it's competition. It holds it's calibration while being moved daily and through all the St. Louis season's temperature changes, and it's laser is the only one I've used that replaced a kerfed cutting bed for accuracy.

Mike

[mark mcfarlane]

I have the Bosch glide and really like it. My choices were mostly limited to the Bosch or a non-slider because of bench depth with a cement wall behind it. Festool is out of my price range.

Be sure to check the reviews on the Bosch to decide for yourself because there are a few complaints about the table not being square or flat. I believe that it is something that can be adjusted out, but have not needed to try it.

Steve

How is the dust collection on the Bosch, as dismal as everyone else?

[Jay Nossen]

How is the dust collection on the Bosch, as dismal as everyone else?

Same question from me. From what I've read, the Bosch is the worst for dust collection (Dewalt being the best of the non-Kapex field). How true is that?

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I can't say for the Bosch but the dust collection on my Dewalt 12" slider isn't too great.. It's hooked up to a shop vac using a 36mm hose with the fitting over the dust port and I'd say about 45% of the dust goes everywhere but the dust port.

[Ben Rivel]

Yea I wouldnt call dust collection on my DWS780 great. About the only miter saw on the market with anything close to good dust collection from what Ive read is the Kapex, but for the extra $1000 it cost over my DWS780 Ill build a dusthood and buy another tool with that $1000 instead. Or just crosscut on the table saw.

[Tom Ewell]

The Kapex is far from perfect at dust collection but much better than others I've used. Another thing make many 'nervous' about the Kapex is the complaint by some having to replace arbors in and out of warranty. Festool is looking into the matter but nothing publically has come out on the matter other than corporate speak.

Over at the FOG there is much discussion on the matter, my Kapex has survived for quite a while but I don't use it exclusively as I have two other saws that rotate depending on the job.

Most any top of the line unit from name brands like Bosch, Makita, DeWalt, Metabo, Hitachi and the like can be setup to be accurate.... just need to get to know the saw, maintain it and keep decent blades on it.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I would check out the hitachi 12" slider, it takes up less room, as you can have it slide forward on the rails or back like the dewalts. I put a different blade on when I first set up, and my cuts are extremely accurate. Last time I looked, I believe lowes had for $399.

[John Lankers]

I bought the Bosch glider as replacement for my Bosch slider which mysteriously ended up in my son's truck. Home Depot had it for $799 cdn but they matched the lowest local competitors price minus 10% of the difference which brought it down to under $500 cdn.
To answer your question though, I would cross cut anything with it except picture frames. Might as well get the stand with it unless you're planning never to move it.

[Aaron Berk]

Another vote on the Bosch Glider.
I use the 10" axial glide, and have been for the last 3 yrs. It replaced my tried and true 12" DW705 (non slider)

Its a HEAVY saw, and dc stinks, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE it

[Patrick Curry]

I'm leaning toward the Bosch because of space, I have a small shop, but at the same time I need something that is very accurate.
If you're doing a lot of trim work, 10" blade might be the way to go. 12" blades thin kerf will deflect s bit more

[Stew Hagerty]

I actually just sold my 10" SCMS and bought a 12" DEWALT DW716XPS. I found that I almost never used the extra width afforded by the slider. But what I did want was the ability to cut thicker material. The Dewalt was perfect, plus it was even a dual bevel, and had the LED/Shadow feature.
It was very nearly dead-on in both miter & bevel settings when I got it. I could have easily just used it as-is. However, I had to tinker. I easily got it adjusted to .0015 over 6" using the 5-cut method at 90°. Once I set 90, the rest of the presets tested just as good. I didn't mess with the left bevel because I didn't think I could do anything to improve it. I ended up adjusting the right bevel only by about 3/4 of a turn of the stop.
I have used it for about 3 weeks now, and I absolutely love it. Oh, and I added a Kreg track & stop kit. I've got it set up fot 8' to the left and 3' to the right, although I actually have over 10' of space to the left and approximately 6' on the right.

[Wayne Lomman]

Go with a decent sized DeWalt. I use a 12" slider every day for everything from house framing to window glazing bead. I change the blade depending on the job. I also have a basic 10" for smaller work. They cut everything from cedar to F27 and F32 hardwoods and are still accurate after years of service - 7 years and 14 years respectively.

Cheers

PS Finally raining here in Tasmania!

[Art Mann]

In answer to someone's question earlier in the thread, the Bosch GCM12SD glider does not provide satisfactory dust collection. The design looks and performs like an after thought. That is the only bad thing I have found about the saw. Otherwise it is outstanding in accuracy, ease of use and general operation. It takes up much, much less depth than my previous Hitachi slider.

[Steve Peterson]

How is the dust collection on the Bosch, as dismal as everyone else?

The dust collection is not that great on the Bosch, although I am not sure if any miter saw is going to be very good. There is a rubber shield behind the blade and most of the dust gets thrown into the collection bag.

I have a wooden shroud around my saw with a 6" pipe collecting dust through 3 3.5" diameter holes. I also have a 2.5" flex tube running to the blade, but it chokes down to about 1.25" and has a sharp 90 degree bend. Someday I will try to increase the top collector to 2.5" all the way to the opening.

I would say that the top collector grabs about half of the sawdust and the wooden shroud collects about 80% of the remainder. A fast spinning miter saw blade throws sawdust at high speed and it takes a huge amount of air movement to catch the sawdust. As a reference point, the wooden shroud around my lathe appears to catch over 99% of the sanding dust with the same size 6" port. You can see the stream of fine sawdust heading straight for the dust port.

Steve