Dewalt or Bosch SCMS?

[Scott Buehler]

I'm looking to upgrade my current dewalt 12" CMS. I think I've narrowed it down to these two. I really like the idea of the Bosch and reduced depth, but have had such good luck with my Dewalt over the years. Anyone have any thoughts on these two, or any others for that matter? The Kapex would be nice also, except the price is double, so I think that's out of the question.

[Mike Kreinhop]

My choice was between the DeWalt DWS780 or the Bosch GCM12SD because both were readily available to me and half the price of the Kapex KS120. While I liked the compact glide system of the Bosch, I preferred the LED kerf illumination on the DeWalt over the laser on the Bosch. With the DeWalt, the LED casts a sharp shadow of the blade onto the piece being cut so there's no mistaking where the cut will be. Had space been a primary consideration, the Bosch might have been my choice.

The DeWalt shipped with a DWX723 stand at no additional cost, so that tipped the scales considerably in favor of the DeWalt. I have since bought a Forrest Chopmaster 80T blade for the DeWalt, but have not used it yet.

[Mike Goetzke]

I've always been fond of Makita. I had the 12" corded with laser and light for many years and once it was set it never had to be re-adjusted. Only reason I sold it was because HD had the cordless 10" on clearance with batteries I could use on my power tools. This slider is designed so that the rods don't move out the back - think the corded ones are the same. The dual port vac attachment works well too.

Mike

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Scott, last year I was in the same place you are. I had a 10" Delta with which I had never been happy. I was considering an earlier version of the Hitachi and the Bosch. From Amazon, I ordered an advertised earlier version Hitachi but it turned out to be the new version and I returned it. Then I went to my local HD and tried the Bosch sitting beside the Dewalt. Frankly, the Bosch had a lot more slop in the miter direction when I was sliding it. Though it has glowing reviews from many, I rejected the Bosch and bought the Dewalt with the laser light over the blade. The Dewalt has worked well for me and is repeatable in the miter direction which my 10" Delta never was.

Both of the saws you are considering have very good reviews, I'd try both before making a decision.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

How much will you use the miter saw? The Kapex does have some really nice features. One of which is really mundane, but IMO very useful, the 1 handed clamp. Don't need to fuss much with the clamp. It works and works well. If you use the saw a LOT that little bit of time and ease of use can add up. Just my $0.02.

[Rick Alexander]

I had hands on a friend of mine's new Dewalt that is both battery and can be corded. I was dead sold on the Makita but after that I think that would be my choice now. I just like a 12 inch saw - don't often need the height but when you do it helps. The battery also lasts quite a long time. HD had them on markdown recently and my friend got a fantastic price on it. They may not even sell that model any more - I don't know. He is a contractor so he's putting it through the ringer so we'll see how rugged it is.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I've always been fond of Makita. I had the 12" corded with laser and light for many years and once it was set it never had to be re-adjusted. Only reason I sold it was because HD had the cordless 10" on clearance with batteries I could use on my power tools. This slider is designed so that the rods don't move out the back - think the corded ones are the same. The dual port vac attachment works well too.

Mike

+1 on the Makita. I'm a fan of their SCMS saws.

[Scott Buehler]

Thanks for all the replies, I probably will go with the dewalt, but for some reason, no stores carry the bosch around here. I would like to go with Bosch only because on the compactness of it, but it sounds like dewalt may be the way to go. I haven't really looked at the Makita,maybe I'll the a look at that as well. Does anyone know the depth saved by going with the Bosch? 6", 10"??

[Corey Pelton]

I just picked up the Bosch 12" Glide from my local HD and after 2 nights of constant adjustment, it is still going out of square on 90 after tilting the bevel either way. Also, the left table leaf is about .10 lower than the main table. If I press on my straight edge, it will lift on the opposite end. Meh. I love the glide on this saw, but as many have reported, keeping it square seems to be a hit or miss, and table flatness, at least on mine is a bit farther off than I want. For doing any precision work, I don't think I'd trust it. To be fair, I am trying to calibrate it with the stock blade, but it still shouldn't be as far out as it keeps getting by just adjusting the bevel. I'm returning it this weekend. Seems the DeWalt is the way to go. I'd snag a Kapex, but it seems to have its own set of problems as well, and for the money, I think the DeWalt will work just fine.

[Brian Holcombe]

Given the choice to spend it again I would skip the kapex and put that down on a sliding table saw. I worked the kinks out of my kapex and it’s a decent saw.

[Scott Buehler]

Well, I found a used Bosch 30miles away for 400.00 and picked it up two days ago. I have not done a lot of leveling yet, but everything else is dead on. I love it so far, and in my shop, it saves a ton of room over the other sliders. To be honest, right before I found this Bosch used, I was set in the new makita 1219 slider, because like the Bosch, it's rails are in the front, thus saving shop space. It is about the same price, at about 650.00. But worth it I think. I'll report back in a week or so, after I test the bevel a bit more.

[fRED mCnEILL]

EVERY Dewalt tool I ever bought(saw, drill, planer,sawAll) broke.No more Dewalt for me.Now its Millwaukey, Makita,Bosch, Rigid or Grizzly.

[Roger Chandler]

I have a Bosch 12" Sliding Compound Miter Saw, and it has no slop at all in the slide. Mine has cut many a landscape timber and 2x boards. I've owned other brands, and still have a 12" Porter Cable miter saw, but the Bosch is my go to tool when doing any construction. I also have a good miter saw stand with extension wings on it when I use it on an outside job. Could not be happier, and the blade has been so good, I still have the original on it after all the work I've done with it.

[julian abram]

I have the Bosch slider, really happy with it. I was originally attracted to it because of the spacing savings but after using it almost daily for a couple years I like all the features better than others I've owned. I've had the 12" Dewalt and 10" Makita. Very user friendly and nicely engineered. My only gripe is poor dust collection from it but that's a common problem with all miters. Chevy vs Ford vs Dodge type thing I guess.

[Corey Pelton]

I picked up a Freud 80T blade to do one last attempt at properly calibrating the Bosch. Still had the same problems. Goes out of square on 90 as soon as I engage the bevel and set it back to 90. Even though I was able to get the 90 pretty much dead on, the other detents were a degree or 2 off on test cuts. My last couple major tool purchases had some hiccups, so I was hoping this one would go smoother, but alas, I'm cursed! Hah.

I hate how bulky the DeWalt 780 is, but if I can get accurate cuts out of it, then I don't mind making some space. For what its worth, I've never had a single problem with any of my DeWalt tools. Rock solid performers.

[Van Huskey]

The Bosch Glider seems to be a crap shoot. Plenty of people report no slop, then a sizeable number report slop. I have seen saws with none and some with an unacceptable amount. If I hauled a saw around all the time I would probably buy the Kapex and put up with its quirks and potential armature failure. I took the road less traveled when I bought my current miter saw, I have the Milwaukee 6955-20 and have been happy with it for about 8 years.

[Nick Decker]

"The Bosch Glider seems to be a crap shoot."

Pretty much my feeling about sliders in general. All that mechanism hanging out there, just looking for a reason to go out of square.

Kind of reminds me of an old pilot friend's remark about helicopters: "You can tell by lookin' at 'em that they're not supposed to fly."

:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I think I will see if I can find an online manual for the Bosch and see how much installation/setup is involved with a new one.

[Scott Buehler]

My Bosch is set up in my home miter station and never gets moved. I have an older dewalt 715that I've had for many years and it is still dead on, but it's not a slider. I would think that any slider, if pulled in and out of a truck on a daily basis, would get knocked out of square. I have had great luck with the dewalt and so far, excellent luck on the Bosch.

[Leo Graywacz]

I picked up a Freud 80T blade to do one last attempt at properly calibrating the Bosch. Still had the same problems. Goes out of square on 90 as soon as I engage the bevel and set it back to 90. Even though I was able to get the 90 pretty much dead on, the other detents were a degree or 2 off on test cuts. My last couple major tool purchases had some hiccups, so I was hoping this one would go smoother, but alas, I'm cursed! Hah.

I hate how bulky the DeWalt 780 is, but if I can get accurate cuts out of it, then I don't mind making some space. For what its worth, I've never had a single problem with any of my DeWalt tools. Rock solid performers.

Out of the box my Axial glide sucked. I did a frame and was aghast at how much the 45s were out. About 1/2 degree each so by the time I got to the last cut that should have completed the box the parts weren't even close to touching. Added up to about 2 degrees out in a frame.

So I took the detent off the machine and cut it. It has two adjustment screws on either side of the machine, so I was able to adjust the right and left 45s independently of each other. I got it nearly perfect. Now when I do frames the last cuts are right there. Sometimes a bit off but it's likely because of a slight curve in the stock. Now I just use 2P10 and yellow glue to put frames together, no nails required because the miters are so tight.

I don't have any issues with the bevel throwing anything off. After my modifications the saw is great.

[Brian Holcombe]

My Kapex moved out of square after moderately heavy cuts but I resolved the issue. The used small bolts to hold down the detent ring, the bolt face is only slightly larger than the hole in the ring so it did not take much shock to move it out of place. Added washers, problem solved.

Next was resolving the kickback issue, that was done with aluminum auxiliary fence.

Im not sure why the first issue couldn’t have been resolved by the OEM. The bolt size, btw; 5.5mm. Not 6mm...so hunting down more appropriate looking washer faced bolts was pretty much impossible in the US.