Bosch Glide or Festool Kapex..how bad is the Bosch?

[Mo Ghotbi]

Dave, for a long time I had the same Ridgid and really liked it. However, the actuator arm for the guard bent, requiring replacement. It happened again and this time I was unable to get parts. I had to ditch the saw and got a Makita 1019, with the slide mechanism in the front. I have been very happy with the Makita. I compared it side by side to the Bosch glide and was more impressed with the Makita build quality.

[mark mcfarlane]

FWIW, since the OP already made his purchase, I've had a Kapex for 3 years. The motor struggles to cut 4/4 white oak with occasional burns. This is the first step in my typical milling process. I've cut a few 6/4 pieces of white oak but I wouldn't even attempt 8/4 white oak. It works perfectly fine and accurately on final cuts of milled 3/4 white oak.

I'm also not real happy with the zero clearance inserts. They are too floppy after making a 12" track and wiggle around leaving some tearout on the underside of cuts.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

I see this is an old thread that's been revived.

I just thought I'd mention that I really like my Bosch Glide 12" miter saw.

There are references to it not being adjustable but as best I can tell it has all the adjustments needed. Maybe there is some flaw they have had that got out that didn't have the ability to adjust. Maybe they've added some adjustments the originals didn't have.
I'm not sure.
But mine is very accurate and also very adjustable.

It's a terrific saw and the hinge/glide system is very smooth as well as compact. The hinge system has the engineering design capability of being much more rigid and long lasting than the typical linear bearing designs on the market. It looks like they have made it to take advantage of this but it will take time to confirm (I'm not interested in disassembling or doing engineering calculations to confirm). We could discuss these aspects for a while but that's my short version of the comparison design wise for the new aspect it brings to the market.

It's a large saw but any saw in this 12" sliding miter saw class has to be large. I have it on a fold up and wheeled miter saw stand so it is as portable as a saw this size gets and compact space wise when not being used.

[Jack Lemley]

I wouldn't be without my slider. I use the extended reach quite often. I had a Makita 10" slider for years, moved to a Bosch 10" Glide 4 or 5 years ago, then Hartville had the new old style Kapex with updated insides (problems with that since the saw entered the market). Got the Kapex for a little over $1,000 shipped and absolutely love it! The lasers once adjusted are spot on and the dust collection is probably 75% better than the Bosch Glide. The Bosch is a good saw (not really "portable" due to weight) but the dust collection, lack of lasers and no soft start pushed me away from it, that and the really good (relatively speaking ;-) price on the Kapex from Hartville.

Jack

Jack