Milwaukee 12" SMCS

[Scott Rollins]

I saw the new Milwaulkee SCMS at HD today. It had alot of nice features. I wanted them to power it up so I could see how the lights worked which supposedly show the cut line. But as usual with the Borg...no one around. The dust chute claims to catch 75% of the dust. It also measured about 13.5" cut length. Pretty impressive. The linear guides ride under like the bosch and Makita so a lot of room is needed behind the saw as usual.
The head was very ridgid at full extension and the miter angle was digital with a micro adjust feature that seemed very smooth. The bevel angle was standard ..not as nice as the festool.
I had been saving for the Festool, but now I am reconsidering considering it is $699 nearly half the price of the festool. Anyone have one of these yet?

[Simon Dupay]

What ever happened to their old line of miter saws? Are these new ones US made like the old ones where?

[Ed Labadie]

Simon, the "old line" of saws has been made overseas for quite some time now.

It's nice to see Milwaukee come out with a new line of mitersaws, the old ones were very dated, and in all honesty, not that great where accuracy is concerned. Maybe they were improved as time went on, but my old ones have their issues.

Ed

[Matthew Voss]

Yeah - I've been checking this out too:

http://www.woodmagazine.com/dgroups/persona.jsp?userId=4d3c9a99a4711a853a3a45b2c33c3d3 1&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a4d3c9a99a4711a853a3a45b2c33c3d31 Post%3ac7de193e-2cb7-470d-8092-7e470a369ce1

They claim the saw will capture 80% of the dust. You'd need an adapter from Milwaukee to hook up a vac. The thing is HEAVY @ around 70lbs.

[Dave Lehnert]

The only thing I would keep an eye out for. Milwaukee brand tools are becoming exclusive to to HD and is now owned by the parent company of Ryobi tools. Also an exclusive brand to HD. Just wandering if they will cheapen the Milwaukee brand or keep it top of the line. Only time will tell.

[Scott Rollins]

Found a borg employee today who helped with the work lights. We plugged it up and turned on the lights. That is all they are is lights. They do project a type of shadow onto the work piece, but nothing I would call reliable as a cut line. The shadow came into focus as you neared the cut surface, but was very blurry at 1/2" above the surface.
This saw should have had a top notch laser at $700.

[Neal Clayton]

you could always use another manufacturer's laser i guess, since most are just blade collar replacements.

i wonder why they abandoned 10" models, though? do people really buy 12" saws over 10" saws by that wide a margin?

the extra weight alone makes me want a 10" over a 12". plus the added bonus of being able to put old table saw blades on it.

i like the digital angle display though.