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Thread: Which Slider Miter Saw to buy?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    L.A. (Lower Alabama)
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    230

    Which Slider Miter Saw to buy?

    My son is starting a shop from scratch and looking for the best miter/slider saw to buy. Best = accurate, repeatable, reasonable cross cut capacity, dust collection, and reliable. (Edit: added dust collection)

    He has just bought a new house with a full basement and will be building out his woodworking shop. He will set it up on a station and it will not be used as a portable. He will be building furniture, cabinets, and other woodworking projects as a hobby. He is a mechanical engineer, has a discerning eye for tools and has done a lot of woodworking in my shop. I have an older slider that works extremely well and he has used it.

    Cost is always important but in this case it is not the constraint. I personally have a lot of Festool equipment but I am not sure I would recommend the Kapex to him.

    So what would you recommend to him?
    Last edited by Alan Heffernan; 03-17-2019 at 12:38 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    So Cal
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    I recommend the Bosch glide. Because that's what I have.

  3. #3
    I have an old Makita, probably 10 years old, good saw. Was considering something newer with better dc, miter saws are just hard to collect all the dust from.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Seattle
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    549
    I have the older(better??) version of the DeWalt. Great saw with great accuracy adjustability. Permanently mounted to my bench required a wider than usual benchtop~~34". Good for workspace but a nuisance when reaching for tools hanging on the wall above the bench. Could be that my chest is a bit lower now and is getting in the way-- wouldn't be as much an issue for a taller WWer. If possible, consider getting DC ducting from below the saw. I made a shroud to fit around the saw with 6" duct from above and lots of dust still accumulates in the recess the saw rests in. A friend bought a new Ridgid on sale at HD and it is a nice rig. Crosscuts close to 15"s and has a shadow line instead of laser but would have the bench depth issue as well. If they had it when I built the shop I would consider The Bosch with the "Axial-glide design.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Three Rivers, Central Oregon
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    2,340
    Bosch Glide.
    Scott Vroom

    I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    WNY
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    9,599
    Has he considered a RAS? A good old one will do everything thing he needs and more, as well or better, and likely cost less.

    John

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Atlanta
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Has he considered a RAS? A good old one will do everything thing he needs and more, as well or better, and likely cost less.

    John
    Afraid I have to disagree with most of this. A “good” RAS isn’t easy to find and when you do will likely cost $500+. That buys a lot of mitersaw. Second, a RAS is not great or easy for cutting miters. Especially compound ones. Sure - it can be accomplished , but it’s slow and not quickly repeatable with accuracy.

    Can’t recommend Kapex either, especially since festool can’t figure out (or just wont admit) the problem they have with far too many of their motors going up in smoke. That’s bad juju for a saw that cost 2-3 times more than all other saws.

    Bosch glide is a good option if you don’t need to cart it around. Dewalt’s slider is used by a lot of trim crews I see. The new Makita is a great saw too , though some of them need fussing about to properly align the blade to the rails.

  8. Just went down this road and after a lot of research clear winner in my eyes was the Dewalt DWS779. $349.00 at Lowe's right now. Same as the $600 dewalt DWS780 but with out the shadow light. There maybe a better saw but not for thast price. Have not used mine a lot yet but very satisfied so far.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Prairie Village, KS
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    397
    I went with the 12" Bosch Glide. Mainly because of space saving but I do like the saw. The dust collection is non existent though.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Peoria, IL
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    4,412
    If he's going to do trim in the house, buy a non-slider. A SCMS is not a shop necessity. I prefer a sled on the table saw for cutting molding for furniture, much better quality cut and zero deflection in the machine.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
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    Sacramento, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes View Post
    I recommend the Bosch glide. Because that's what I have.
    Ha! Same here. Had the DeWalt DWS780 before it though and definitely wouldnt go back! The DeWalt required WAY too much room behind it for my shop space.
    If at first you don't succeed, redefine success!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
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    I wasn’t impressed with the Glide I used. I’d take a good old American cast iron RAS any day.

    A good RAS shouldn’t cost $500 either.

    I have a DW718 (I think) that is great to use for work with 2x and 4x material. It’s also quick and easy to cut miters for crown or such things. But, if I were making those cuts for furniture I’d use my TS with a miter guage.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    WNY
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    I see lots of old Dewalt/Delta, etc. RAS's for less than $500 around me that make great trim saws. I have a Dewalt GWI. Didn't pay much for it. The Dewalt MBF is an excellent trim saw and people nearly give them away. A SCMS will never cut better than a well tuned RAS; it's just too light in construction. If you don't need portability the heavier machine wins. And if the budget could include a Kapex then you can find some really nice old RAS's.

    You are right that a CMS is faster to set up for compound angle cuts, but I rarely use mine for that. When I cut crown molding I lean the molding upside down against the backrest at the spring angle and then I only have to make a simple miter cut, which avoids the piece tending to walk during the cut like wants to happen with a compound angle cut.

    I have a CMS, too, but only because I need portability now and then. It rarely gets used in my shop. My two cents.

    John

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    129
    There are no great miter saws.

    The Kapex and Bosch Glide are, I think, ahead of the rest on the issues you mention except for dust collection. For dust collection, the Kapex is the only one that does much at all. It's not great at dust collection, but it's the only one that's even good.

    I have the Kapex. I'll be happy with it until someone finally makes something great.

  15. #15
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    Nov 2006
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    Atlanta
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    1,592
    There are no great miter saws.”

    Clearly, you’ve never used an OMGA. Guessing you haven’t used Makita’s new 1219 saw either. It has dust collection that is pretty close to the festool. Milwaukee’s big 12” mitersaw has good collection too, but few places sell them , and no one really bought them.

    You guys finding old Dewalt and Delta RASs for less than 500 bucks are lucky.

    I just don’t see how standing on my tip toes and stretching to operate the lever for mitering on a RAS is faster or easier than operating the miter mech. on any miter-saw. But , to each his own. And I can’t see how one can have a tall enough fence on a RAS to nest crown of any size larger than say, bed molding.







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