Anyone own Masterforce 10" compact sliding miter saw?

[Brian Elfert]

Does anyone own the Masterforce 10" compact sliding miter saw? Menards has it for $249.99 right now with 11% rebate on top of that. I have no idea if Masterforce or this particular saw are a good deal, or not.

I like the idea of a compact sliding saw as they seem to take up far less room.

[Nick Decker]

Brian, I'd be wary of any inexpensive compact slider. Why? Because I have one (Craftsman), and it's a constant source of frustration. Those tubes that the motor slides on are just not stout enough to maintain accuracy over the travel of the slide. Mine's not horrible for just a basic chop cut, but as soon as you slide it, the trouble starts. YMMV.

[Brian Elfert]

Would I be better off with something like a Hitachi then, or forget the whole idea of a compact sliding miter saw and just get a regular slider?

My reading about the Bosch gliding miter saw says not to buy it. Users are saying it has so many moving parts that any wear will result in poor cuts.

[Scott Brader]

I have the Bosch 10" Gliding Miter Saw and I am very happy with it. It has remained far more accurate than any of the sliders I have used in the past.

Scott

[Brian Elfert]

I have the Bosch 10" Gliding Miter Saw and I am very happy with it. It has remained far more accurate than any of the sliders I have used in the past.

I just don't think I could buy one based on all the bad reviews on Amazon and Homedepot.com. Tons of complaints about unfixable cutting issues out of the box, or the cut getting off after owning one for a period of time.

The Bosch is way over my budget at this time anyhow. It seems like I might be better off with a good brand name non-sliding miter saw. I have a Ridgid miter saw now, but I completely destroyed it by cutting some cement blocks with it. (Really bad decision on my part.)

[Steve Peterson]

I also have the Bosch Glide and really like it. I purchased it specifically to have a saw with a small footprint. It has 3 horizontal and 3 vertical pivot points with double bearings at each position. They feel really smooth and I doubt that they will ever wear out. There is no measurable slop in any of the pivot points. If you push really hard, you can flex the frame, just like with any saw. I would expect that a cheap compact slider would have a lot more flex.

Steve

[Robert Parent]

Another +1 on the Bosch 10 inch.... It is a very nice saw compared to the other 'brand names' I have owned. I have owned mine for about a year and it is the most used tool in the shop.

Robert

[Scott Brader]

I think a lot of the people complaining about the Bosch probably didn't take the time to set it up correctly right off the bat. I took about 1-1/2 or 2 hours to carefully set mine up and calibrate it. I check it periodically and it has stayed right on.

Scott

[Frederick Skelly]

Hey Brian, just a devil's advocate view to consider, FWIW...... If you're concerned that a tool made by Bosch won't give you good cuts, you should probably steer clear of an off-brand item like Masterforce unless several folks who have them crop up to sing their praises. Personally, I've seen some of their other stuff around and it always seems ........ well, kinda cheaply made.

After I got my Makita (a really nice tool), I was really, really surprised how often I use it for just plain old cross-cutting. I wish I'd dropped the coin and bought a good slider, even though it was another $150. I just didnt realize how MUCH I'd come to depend on that tool.

Fred

[Nick Decker]

Brian, I can't comment on any other slider brands, cause I haven't owned any others. I'd tend to trust the members here over what some say on Amazon. Not to dis Amazon completely, but over there it's hard to know who does or doesn't have a hidden agenda.

Myself, for what I do, my table saw with a good crosscut sled is far more accurate than the Craftsman slider.

[Bob Hoffmann]

If it is this saw: https://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/power-tools-accessories/power-saws-accessories/masterforce-reg-10-compact-slide-miter-saw/p-1444444181123-c-9082.htm?tid=-237528296937262685

I have it and I am happy with the saw ... Here is the review that I did:

The Menards saw is a lot like the one from Northern Tool with the following differences:


The Manards has a laser – located in the black piece on the front of the of the metal blade guard – the Northern Tool also shows this piece, but it does not advertise a laser
The Manards has up front controls for both the miter and bevel – the Norther Tool has the bevel control tighten knob in the back of the saw

Other than these 2 things, the saws look identical – but I have not actually seen the Northern Tool saw – only its ad.
The saw has about an 11.5” distance from the fence to the back of the saw. That 11.5” will allow for the back to swing for miters.
When I set up the saw, the detents for the miter positions did not engage totally, and left some play back and forth. I did some modifications to the up front controls, and it locks in place firmly now. With it locked, it is dead on at all of the stops in both directions.
It does have play side to side when extended – but my old saw (a non sliding delta) also did, so I have learned to move the saw without pushing it to the side, so I do not think that this will be a problem. I did notice that the blade – in some of the early cuts appeared to be uneven – but that was before I got the indents to seat. The last cut using a 2x3 was smooth at 0 and 45 degrees.
The laser was straight out of the box. It is only on the left side, and it was away from the cut line by about a 1/16 to 1/32”. The instructions say not to adjust it – dangerous. It was actually easy to adjust. It has 2 screws holding it to the blade guard and 2 more to adjust the tilt with one to adjust the rotation of the laser – similar to the set-ups for drill presses. Because it shines across the blade, it gets messed up it is too close to the cut line – appears to get bothered by the teeth – my guess – the line seems to get dispersed and not in a line. With playing around with it, it is very close, and may have to get used to how much of an adjustment I have to get used to from the line to the actual cut. It is not particularly bright – so it works in the shop, but outside would be useless.
The dust shoot is on top and it sprays dust up. I have a shroud around the saw, but will need to get something to direct it back to the back of the shroud so that it is more controllable. It comes with a dust bag that I have not used it.
Over-all impressions – it can be placed next to the wall, and that was my main reason for selecting the saw. It is a slider so it will be able to cross cut anything that I want to cut with it – a big increase from the non-sliding 10” saw it is replacing. For now, I am satisfied, and glade that I went with the Menards version instead of the one from Northern Tool – like the up-front controls, and the laser is nice – even with its idiosyncrasies.

[Keith Weber]

Menard's is like my second home. I rarely ever go 3 days without going there for something. While I can't speak from experience about that particular saw, I have reached a conclusion (read personal opinion) over 15 years of shopping at Menards that anything that bears the "Masterforce" name is of inferior quality to any of the name brands like Bosch, Makita, Hitachi, Milwaukee, etc., and is priced accordingly. Your money, but you usually get what you pay for.

[Brian Elfert]

Hey Brian, just a devil's advocate view to consider, FWIW...... If you're concerned that a tool made by Bosch won't give you good cuts, you should probably steer clear of an off-brand item like Masterforce unless several folks who have them crop up to sing their praises. Personally, I've seen some of their other stuff around and it always seems ........ well, kinda cheaply made.


Some of the Masterforce tools in the past were made by Bosch. Menards at one point had a Bosch version of a tool and the Masterforce version of the same tool. They were identical so I am pretty certain Bosch made both of them. I am virtually certain Bosch does not make the Masterforce miter saw in question.

[Frederick Skelly]

Some of the Masterforce tools in the past were made by Bosch. Menards at one point had a Bosch version of a tool and the Masterforce version of the same tool. They were identical so I am pretty certain Bosch made both of them. I am virtually certain Bosch does not make the Masterforce miter saw in question.

Yup. I get that.

In my experience, sometimes a major manufacturer has to lower the specs/quality to hit a price point when they rebadge to a store brand that will sell at a lower retail price. Like I said in my original post, personally I'd want a few more positive inputs before buying one. YMMV.

Let us know if you buy one and like it. That would be useful info for everyone.

[Shawn Northener]

I love my Makita LS1016-L.