Looking for a precise Miter saw. aka Mitre Saw

[Steven Woodward]

I have used a Makita LS1011 Miter saw for many years. Have never been satisfied with it when trying to make precise cuts for furniture making. The arbour has some play; the actual kerf is wider than the blade; lining up stationary blade with pencil line before cut does not work because blade shifts when running. The cut itself is not dead straight when checked with a steel ruler. These problems have existed since the saw was new.

While checking reviews for a replacement saw, I see similar complaints. For example, the Bosch Glide saws look great and get mostly great reviews, but too many precision users complain that the arbor is not lined up with the glide motion and cannot be adjusted, or complain that spinning blade does not line up with stationary blade, so can't set cut before making it.

I am thinking that a miter saw without slide mechanism ( just a chop miter) might be more precise and handle most situations.

Question: Has anyone found, and used, a precise miter saw ? By precise, I mean able to make cuts as clean and accurate as a good table saw can.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Omga is one. Heavy, industrial, most of them 3 phase. A few folks on this site have experience with them and will likely chime in.

I’m looking for a similar thing for my shop. I use a 12” slider if I’m doing on site work for versatility, but I don’t need that capacity or have the extra space to give a 12” slider for a shop miter saw and the accuracy isn’t good enough, but have been missing a miter saw for the last year or so that I rearranged my shop and took it out of the mix bc of space.

Ive always wondered how comparable the 14 or 15” fixed/non sliding Makita and Hitachi miter saws with a premium blade are to an Omga for furniture making/fine woodworking tolerances and cuts.

[Brian Holcombe]

I have an Omga, it’s beautifully made and extremely precise.

[Kevin Jenness]

I have used the 14" cast iron Omga and the15" Hitachi. The Omga is considerably better.

CTD is also supposed to be an excellent miter saw.

I have a Hitachi C8FS sliding miter saw for general cutoff work but when I need precise miters I set up my sliding table saw. I have an old Delta cast iron 10" miter saw which does ok for cutting small bead moldings and the like, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Omga. A compound miter saw is always going to be more prone to inaccuracy than a saw that pivots on one axis.

[Jeff Ramsey]

OMGA makes outstanding tools; they are industrial quality and precise. They do make single phase versions of many of their tools, include their miter saws.

[Richard Coers]

I had an old Hitachi 8.5" sliding saw that was a gem. But nothing competes with an accurate sled on a table saw. In my opinion, todays miter saws are for building decks, not furniture.

[Dave Sabo]

OMGA

festool Kapex

makita 1019 - Milwaukee 6955 tossup and they are very close To kapex at half the price.

[Paul F Franklin]

I can't offer any insight into a "precise" miter saw; I have the Dewalt slider and it has most of the issues you mention to some degree. What I have done is make two fixtures for the saw that consist of a 1/2 BB base and 1" thick fence attached to the back and front edges of the base. I have blocks attached to the back of the fence that position it repeatably on the saw. One fixture has a 90 degree cut, the other has 45 degree cut in one of the fences, and the opposite 45 degree cut in the other fence. The fixtures provide both zero clearance below and behind the cut, but more importantly, they provide an exact reference of the kerf for precisely lining up the cut. I use them mostly when I am running crown or other molding and they work great. They do reduce the cut capacity a bit, but this hasn't been an issue. Another advantage of the fixture with the miter cuts is that it is easy to screw a stop strip to the base to hold crown at the correct angle for cutting. The miter fixture has to be flipped front to back when changing from 45 left to 45 right, but this takes only a few seconds.

[John Gornall]

I have a CTD double miter cutoff saw (2 blades, 2 motors) still perfect after 30 years - however only 45 degree cuts

[Brian Holcombe]

I setup my current Omga about a year ago, this model is the largest model and the head tilts. I set it up the cut square according to my Starrett try square which is accurate to a few tenths of one thousandth (less than .001”) both across the cut and upright.

I make random inspections and after a year of cutting both fine work and rough cutting large work, it will pass having the same level of accuracy as when it was originally setup.

I went through fits trying to get the Kapex to cut to a similar degree of accuracy, it simply is not robust enough to do so. It may be a very fine construction saw but it’s not an industrial machine.

The smaller, cast aluminum Omga is nice also, I used one for a few years and sold it only do to space constraints and having stumbled upon the larger machine. It held square the entire time I had it without ever needing to be readjusted.

[Stan Calow]

I've only used three different brands of (non-slider) miter saws. But my conclusion is that none of them work for precision work. Always need a shooting board or jig on the table saw to tweak them. I think they are basically designed for rough framing work, so there is no way to make minor adjustments. And if they were designed for fine joinery, they'd have better clamping surfaces. I also think that much of the imprecision is due to the way the blade moves, down and in, pulling the wood a bit off when its cutting. I can set up my current Ridgid as carefully as possible for a 90º cut, and inevitably the cut will be off a few degrees, while blades still measures square.

[David Zaret]

OMGA with a good blade. the saw is heavy, stable, and precise. no other saw i've used comes close, but i have had some on-site success with the Kapex (someone else's Kapex, i don't own one). if cost isn't an issue, and you want precision, OMGA is a great choice.

[Bobby Robbinett]

I use an Omga a lot and it is a highly precise machine. Get yourself a good stand with a fence and stop as that will greatly improve accuracy. I do not recommend the Fast Cap Best Fence though.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I setup my current Omga about a year ago, this model is the largest model and the head tilts. I set it up the cut square according to my Starrett try square which is accurate to a few tenths of one thousandth (less than .001”) both across the cut and upright.

I make random inspections and after a year of cutting both fine work and rough cutting large work, it will pass having the same level of accuracy as when it was originally setup.

I went through fits trying to get the Kapex to cut to a similar degree of accuracy, it simply is not robust enough to do so. It may be a very fine construction saw but it’s not an industrial machine.

The smaller, cast aluminum Omga is nice also, I used one for a few years and sold it only do to space constraints and having stumbled upon the larger machine. It held square the entire time I had it without ever needing to be readjusted.

Brian, what model do you have currently and what’s the blade diameter and width capacity of a 90* cut?

[Brian Holcombe]

Phillip, it is a T53-350, blade size is 14” and max cut is about 7.5” wide by 5.25” thick.

[Peter Kelly]

Can often find a Lion Miter Trimmer on Fleabay for less than $200. Get the knives good and sharp and you can't beat the cut quality or accuracy.

[Albert Lee]

I on my 3rd Omga now. they are so precise you cant fault them.

The only competitor would be Elumatec.

[Todd Bender]

I've owned many Dewalt DW705 single bevel compound miter saws over the years, and one 12" slider. (The accuracy of the slider is horrible.) Blade makes a huge difference. Forrest Chopmaster works well & Freud makes a comparable blade for about 1/2 the price - keep them sharp. They are accurate enough for what I do which is cabinetry and interior trim. I'm not making Queen Anne furniture.