Bosch 4410 SCMS Impressions (Long)

[Kent Cori]

My new Bosch 4410 SCMS arrived on my doorstep Friday evening just ten days after ordering it from Amazon. (Okay, okay this is a gloat too but I’m also providing some user insights so give me a break! ) When the UPS guy dropped it off, he said with a huge grin on his face, “Here’s delivery of a your new manly toy. This should provide plenty of fun for the weekend.” I think he must be one of the most omnipotent clairvoyants of our time!

Now for the goods on the goods. It comes in a large box because it is for all intents and purposes completely assembled. You only need to screw in the miter lock knob and attach the dust bag, neither of which requires any tools. After opening the box and quickly scanning the owner’s manual after removing the top piece of Styrofoam packing, I lifted the 65-pound unit up onto a tabletop to check it out. This isn’t much of a problem but you do want to use the right handles to lift it. The condition of the unit appeared to be perfect which was no surprise since the box didn’t have even a corner dented. After the two minor assembly steps noted above I removed a couple of small blocks of foam used to position and cushion the saw head. I checked everything over including the pre-installed blade, freed the slide lock and head assembly lock pints, and then started ‘er up. It ran like a charm. That was pretty much, it for Friday evening as my wife and I had a date for a movie.

Saturday morning I made a temporary mounting table of a piece of ¾” MDF shelving (16” x 48”) and two 2x4’s. The saw is bolted to the MDF, which is screwed to the two 2x4s that run lengthwise along the two edges, and then the whole assembly rests on two sawhorses. This is fine for the time being but I plan to build something similar to the SCMS tool station in the June issue of ShopNotes (#75) for its permanent home. However, that project needs to wait until I complete the walnut headboard and nightstand I’m making for my daughter.

I checked all the settings and they were spot-on with the exception of the right bevel setting. Whoever set it up at the factory must have skipped this step because the stop was set around 39 degrees. After a brief heart stopping moment spent wondering if I was going to need to return the unit, I followed the adjustment directions. Less than two minutes later I had it adjusted perfectly. Everything else was set perfectly by the factory.

Here are my first operating impressions but bear in mind that I’ve only had the beast for about 24 hours and haven’t had a chance to use all its capabilities and features.

Likes

1. It works like a dream. Everything works smoothly and I observed no discernable play in the slide rails.
2. Fit and finish are excellent which is what I’ve experienced on my other Bosch tools.
3. The controls are all easy to reach with most of them mounted right up front. They are intuitive to use and there are stickers with brief instructions attached by most of the key controls.
4. The Bosch thin kerf blade provided with the saw is excellent. It cuts as smooth as the Freud LU85R Ultimate Cutoff Blade mounted on my venerable Delta 36-225 CMS when used on maple and walnut. When used on the soft fir 2x4 the Bosch blade’s cut was actually a little smoother.
5. The integral sliding base extensions are handy.
6. The vertical quick clamp provide with the saw works very well.
7. It comes with the tools needed to adjust and maintain it. They are mounted right on the saw, which is very convenient if you are moving it around.
8. The saw dust collection bag can be removed and a shop vac hose connected. Both are friction fits so no tools are required.
9. It came almost completely pre-assembled and with all but one setting spot-on.

Dislikes

1. It weighs about 65 pounds, which is pretty heavy. This isn’t an issue for me because I plan to permanently mount it but carrying it from job site to job site might get old after a while.
2. When tilted to the right for a bevel cut, the saw blade housing gets in the way of the fence. You can only cut something about 2” thick in this position.
3. The saw blade kerf inserts, which are supposed to take the place of a zero clearance insert, are pretty useless.
4. Dust collection with the bag is pretty anemic. It was slightly better with a shop vac attached but still nothing to write home about.
5. The length stop provided is okay but can only be used on pieces shorter than 19 inches. Again, the permanent tool stand will take care of this minor problem.
6. You have to remove two thumbscrews and a knob to get to the wrenches in the back and several key adjustment bolts. This seems to be a little bit of overkill.

So all in all I am quite happy with my new SCMS. I’ve already begun using it on the construction of the headboard and nightstand and expect to still be using it twenty years from now.

[Jim Becker]

Great review, Kent. Nice saw, too. Question, does this unit have a depth lock so you can do things like pretend to do quick dados, etc.? Also, how much depth is required behind the saw to accomodate the slider arms? (Some folks might find that information useful if they are replacing an existing saw in a permanent miter station) TYIA

[Rob in Winnipeg]

Kent. Good review. My experiences buying a 4412 were quite similar. If the 4410 had been around at that time, I might have opted for one of those instead.

[Chris Padilla]

WOOD Mag in March 2004 gave the 4410 their TOP TOOL stamp. Here is what they found

High Points

• Excellent cut qualty even when using factory-supplied blade
• Widest croscutting capacity in their test: 12.75"
• Miter angles can be fine-tuned easily thanks to the built-in microadjustment system
• Bevel lock is located up front, elimintating the need to reach behind the saw; wide, clear markings make the scale easy to read
• 31.6* miter and 33.9* bevel stops for cutting crown molding flat on the table
• Fence and table estend to 37"--the longest in the test--without the need for tools
• Handle rotates to any of four positions to suit operator preference or angle of bevel cut
• Quick-release depth-of-cut stop makes changing cutting depth fast

Low Points:

• The pointer of the miter scale hides some of the markings
• Knocking the saw around changed the miter accuracey by about 0.5*
• It's the loudest saw in the test, the most expensive, and the heaviest by 10 lbs.
• The fence-adjustment bolts are seated deep in counterbores that make access difficult and provide little room for adjustment

More points:

• Dual-bevel saw tilts both left and right

Appears to be a heckuva nice saw...certainly got me thinking if I should go for a SCMS or not. However, I think I'll stick with my 12" DW705 (CMS) for a while....

What are your thoughts about what WOOD mag found?

[Bob Fuller]

From the fence to the back of the slider, in full-back position, is 24.5".

Yes, it does have a stop to cut dado slots. It adjusts quickly to approximate position and then screws to a fine adjustment.

I, too, just took delivery and am very much impressed.

[Rob in Winnipeg]

Kent. Something your saw has, which mine doesn't, is the micro-adjust dial. How do you like that? Do you figure it does the job? I keep meaning to bump into my local Bosch rep., and ask him if that's something which can be retro-fitted onto a 4412.

BTW, I have my saw mounted on a RIDGID M-SUV mobile stand - you cannot beat that stand for hauling around a mitre saw! If you can still find one, it ought to be your next purchase.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Nice saw! I want the 12" model someday for the shop (the Makita 1013 will remain the jobsite saw). I've heard really good things about these saws and I like the idea of up front controls.

[Kent Cori]

Well, I've had a chance to use the saw a little more this weekend on my daughter's headboard and nightstand. I continue to be very impressed with it.

Jim, Bob answered most of your questions. About the only thing I can add is that it measures about 43" from the front tip of the miter lock handle to the back of the rail assembly. However, this is in the 90-degree configuration. If you turn the table completely to one side you can reduce the "storage" depth considerably. I'll try to remember to measure this when I go home this evening.

I haven't used the depth stop yet but it certainly looks like it would work well for dados if needed. The down side is that you can only use the single blade so you'd need to make multiple passes to cut a dado. I'll likely stick to my router or Griz 1023SL for these.

Chris, I had seen this review and it is one of the reasons I bought the Bosch. The fence and extended supports work great. Since it is mounted temporarily on a flat MDF plank, I used the supports in their fully extended configuration for many of the cuts I made this weekend. They help quite a bit. If a longer support is required, Bosch made the base height equal to the height of two 2X's and one 1X stacked on top of each other. This would be really handy on a job site. The pointer on the miter scale is a bit wide but doesn't bother me. I did not think the saw was unusually loud and didn't notice any real difference between my Delta CMS and this one in that respect. There might be a difference that can be measured by a decibel meter but none that my tin ear could detect. I use earmuffs hearing protectors when I use these saws so I probably wouldn't notice anyway.

Rob, I played with the micro adjustment for a few minutes but haven't really used it yet since the stops were all dead on. I'm works well and should be very useful for crown molding and chair rail when the intersecting walls are not exactly perpendicular to each other.

[Chris Padilla]

...should be very useful for crown molding and chair rail when the intersecting walls are not exactly perpendicular to each other.

...and they rarely are! The micro-adjust should be INCREDIBLY useful for fussy fitting of crown molding.

[Tom Hintz]

"I played with the micro adjustment for a few minutes but haven't really used it yet "

If you turn segmented stuff, the Micro-Adjust feature is wonderful. I can usually make one adjustment and get segment halves that need nothing more than a touch or two on the sander to fit perfectly, sometimes they need nothing but glue!

[Kent Cori]

I measured the depth of the saw when the base is rotated fully to the right and it is about 27 inches from the tip of the miter lock handle to the rear of the slider assembly. This depth reduction (16" less than the 90-degree configuration) will help if the saw is placed on some type of mobile stand or cabinet and then pushed up against a wall for storage.