Which Compound Sliding Miter Saw to Buy?

[Izzy Charo]

Hello,
I'd like to upgrade my miter saw from a basic 10" Hitachi to a slider. Primary consideration is that it be can set up to do, and hold a 90 degree cut for the entire length of the slide. Although I will be primarily using this to rough cut lumber, it would be nice if it was as accurate as possible for a SCM saw. Another consideration is soft start. A Kapex would be nice, but way over priced...
Thanks for the advice,
Izzy

[Steve Rozmiarek]

There are dozens of recent threads on SCMS, you will find a lot of good intel in them too.

I have a small commercial shop and and a busy carpentry company, so we have several SCMSs. 7 ish I think at the moment. My advise is first don't believe all the armchair woodworkers reporting about how inaccurate SCMS all are. It's nonsense. Some saws are better than others though, and most SCMS issues are because of incompetent operators. I find that SCMS can be some of the most accurate tools out there.

Here's what I've found in my business, others uses may be completely different and their results different. I require positive detents that have no slop, solid slider assembly, prefer 10" over 12" because of less blade deflection and the extra cut capacity of a 12" saw is not worth the increase in saw size IMHO, large table, bigger is better and deeper non pivoting parts of the table are better. Also lasers are stupid on a SCMS, give no extra points for a laser, shadow line is better but ineffective outside. Soft Start is also a non issue for my needs, I don't want to waste time between cuts waiting for a saw to come up to speed. I'd find that irritating as heck on a SCMS. Dust collection matters, Dewalt's new saws have the best system out there right now, but it does not get it all.

Hitachi had a really good SCMS in the late 90's, it set the bar for all that follow. Hitachi (Metabo) still makes a SCMS and it's reasonably priced. I don't have one right now, but their new 10" $350ish version will be the next one I try out. We have several Dewalts, the biggest a dual power 12" machine is a good saw, but it's huge and a pain to move. I'm not a fan of Dewalts safety trigger, we all like their shadow line system. The other variants of the Dewalt SCMS that we have are all similar. It's a functional machine, tough, and as boring and reliable as a 2x6. There is one of the old Hitachi's at the shop but it's stand sucks so it has been put in backup saw status. It's almost 30 years old and it shows, but it has cut more than most will ever ask of a saw and still works. My favorite saws are the Makitas though. The best IMHO is an LS 1013. We also have an LS 1018 right now to, the 1013 is better because of a bigger table and better detent system, but both saws are really good. The 1013 has more power. Also rans, Kapex is a great saw, if you need tools that match your Merc in the driveway. It's underpowered, too expensive, and has no benefits over it's half price alternatives except for being a status symbol. Milwaukee's newer SCMS is a decent saw, I don't own one but have used, and it has potential. More expensive than it should be though. Bosch glide, while I generally like Bosch tools, I do not like this one. Bearing surface area of a glide pivot vs a linear rod on a normal SCMS is not even close. It's a frail design even without the built in weaker slide mechanism, pass.

All my opinion, YMMV.

[Jim Becker]

If you're going to use the machine for critical cuts, by all means invest in a bigger, heavier, "more accurate" tool. Steve is correct that this is an oft-discussed tool choice, too.

Personally, my miter saw isn't even in my shop proper, anymore...it's upstairs near my lumber storage on a portable stand and pretty much is only used for breaking stuff down. But I have a sliding table saw that I use for critical cutting including miters, etc.

[Andrew Seemann]

I'm a fan of the Makitas. I've got one of the larger 10" ones now, not sure the number. And yes, they can be quite accurate. Plus the stock blade is actually quite good. I haven't replaced mine yet, although it is (over)due for sharpening.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I had a 10" Delta that I was never satisfied with as everytime you changed angles when you came back to 0 degrees you had to realign it. I gave it away, I looked and fondled a Bosch but the demo Glide model had way too much slop for me. I ended after reading many recent user reviews here at the Creek, I bought a 12" Dewalt with the over the blade LED. Love it. It's more repeatable than my former Delta even thought of being. Once in a blue moon, I reset it to zero and recheck it's accuracy with my machinist square but once I set it in the 3-4 years IIRC I have had it, it's never changed, NEVER. My only complaint is it requires a lot space in my 720 square foot shop.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Here’s another thumb’s up for the Makita LS 1013. Bought it new decades ago and still going strong. It rests on a Bosch gravity rise stand, which I also recommend if you’ll be bringing the saw to your wood. The original blade is quite good, but I use a Forrest Chopmaster for hardwoods. Nowadays you can often find these on Craigslist for $100, which is a steal if the machine is well cared for. And I totally agree with a 10”; 12s are huge, heavy, a bit more finicky and really don’t do much more than a 10.

[Michael Drew]

Dewalt 12" here...... I burnt up a few others over the years. The Dewalt keeps ticking, although, it is the original version with the two slider rods that are configured over and under - not side by side like they are now. I like the 12" for cutting 4X material, like deck posts. It's also nice to have that capacity when cutting 45's or compound miters when running some of the larger crown molding.

I agree with Steve's comments above about the accuracy of the cuts you can get with a SCMS. I don't drag my table saw to the construction site when I'm running high dollar trim around a custom home. The cuts are as good as any I could get on my TS. Like with any tool, you need to tune it for it to work correctly.

I have my SCMS mounted to a cart with big tires that I can pull up stairs, over the dirt and gravel, etc..... Mine is an older version made by Delta that folds up nicely, with right/left side rollers and 12" wheels. They do not make it anymore, unfortunately.

[Alex Zeller]

I also have an older DeWalt (with the slide tubes one on top of the other). Accuracy is all in the eye of the user. The notches for the basic cuts is very solid but with it set up correctly for 90 the 45 on the right side is actually about 45.5 degrees. If I put just a little force on the saw in the opposite direction it'll compensate. For trim around the house it's more than accurate. If I'm trying to make something like a jewelry box, it's not (mainly because I'm too nit picky).

The tilting function is just not accurate. It's got a hard stop that you can adjust for 90 that works fine but everything else is just a plexiglass window with a line and some rough markings for degrees. Unlike a cabinet saw there's no way to hold the saw to fine tune it for a cut. You just don't have enough hands. You need one person at the rear of the saw (where the hand screw is to loosen the saw to make it tilt) holding the weight of the saw and another in the front of the saw with a jig with the angle you want. Since that's impractical you have to leave the nut somewhat tight and try to tap on the saw to move it. This, of course, is not easy as the weight makes going to a greater angle very easy while fighting you if you try to go to a lesser angle. It's great for building a deck and trim work but it's role in my shop is very limited. I would look for a compound miter that has some sort of counter spring for the tilt function or just skip the compound feature all together and get a higher quality miter saw.

[Curt Harms]

I bought the 10" Hitachi C10FSHC from Big Sky Tool, refurbished grade A. The saw seems accurate and repeatable. The weak point IMO is the fence. It's cast aluminum and had two problems. First i found that the sliding 'wings' were not perpendicular to the table. I was able to get them pretty close by clamping one side of the fence in a vise and twisting. I did complain to Big Sky Tool about it and they sent me two more fences. Neither was perfect but I'm happy. Reading the manual I discovered that Hitachi doesn't plan on cuts being made vertically, their instructions all say to lay the work flat and set the miter and bevel accordingly. The second problem was that there was a tiny misalignment between the two sides of the fence to where a board would catch if slid from the left to the right against the fence. I jointed a 2 X 4 to get a good straight edge then glued sandpaper to it. A few strokes along the fence got rid of the little bump so boards slide freely. The saw cuts as good a 90* cut as I can measure and I mitered a 2 X 4 using both sides of the table and when put together form as good a 90* joint as I can measure. Should I not have to monkey around with a fence on a new saw? Yeah, but for $138 for a 10" SCMS I can tinker a little. It was good enough out of the box for framing certainly and may have been fine for trim. I like to tinker sooo

Some of the reviews on Amazon complain about slop in the miter setting. Mine had a little, less than 1/4*. There's sort of a brake mechanism to lock the miter table in addition to the notches. The brake mechanism is adjusted by turning a hexagonal rod under the table extension. Once I tweaked that a little the miter table holds its position very well. I'm not sure how this saw would survive life in the back of a truck. It seems a little lightly built to endure that life being thrown around without losing its settings but I may be wrong about that. The upside to that it's pretty easy to carry for a 10" SCMS that will cut 12"+. The dust collection isn't perfect but it's pretty good hooked up to a shop vac.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I have a Dewalt 780 and have been very pleased with it.

When I'm doing wood working projects I switch the blade out for a Forrest WWII and the cut is magnificent. For general purpose I use the DeWalt blade. Takes about a minute to switch over.

Dust collection is an issue and the saw is quite a large tool for what it can do.

As it doesn't have a permanent place of use, I made a portable fence as well as a fold away dust collection box, I use the dust collection box when I know I have lots of dust to make.

[Brian Holcombe]

There are dozens of recent threads on SCMS, you will find a lot of good intel in them too.

I have a small commercial shop and and a busy carpentry company, so we have several SCMSs. 7 ish I think at the moment. My advise is first don't believe all the armchair woodworkers reporting about how inaccurate SCMS all are. It's nonsense. Some saws are better than others though, and most SCMS issues are because of incompetent operators. I find that SCMS can be some of the most accurate tools out there.
.

Nope, this is false. Some of us do have stricter requirements than are not reasonably met by a SCMS even with extensive tuning.

Joinery in light colored materials with basic finishes are simply extremely unforgiving of small gaps.

[Izzy Charo]

Thanks for all the responses... I think the LS 1013 has been discontinued, but the newer version seems to get very good reviews on Amazon. I'll definitely do some more research on that one...I should have added that dust collection is also important--any one feel they get adequate dust collection, without building a shroud of some sort, with their SCSM? Thanks again!

[Justin Rapp]

I have a 12" non-sliding MCS. It's 18 years old and has made 1000's of cuts, even doing finished hardwood molding for kitchen cabinetry. It is very accurate but the blade brake doesn't always work and the blade continues to spin. A release/pull of the trigger once or twice and the blade brake kicks in. I know the saw does this so it's ok, but I won't let anyone else use the saw now, unless I am right there and guiding the cut. I plan to replace this saw at some point with a sliding and will be watching this thread, however Makita is top on my list right now.

[Christopher Giles]

I am in agreement with Steve, as my Dewalt saw is dead on even in maple, but not with the blade that came with the saw. This was a piece of junk, as you could easily see as it spins. I put it in a drawer where it can't do any harm. A Freud 12" miter saw blade does a beautiful job cutting those miters, and most major blade manufacturers make a special blade for this purpose. If I used the blade Dewalt included with the saw, I would get the ragged gaps that Brian is talking about.

[Kevin Jenness]

I use a 30 year old Hitachi C8FB. You can't kill them. If you can find one in decent shape it's still a good choice.

I have to agree with Brian that a saw like the OMGA he is selling or a CTD is in a different class than the other saws discussed here in terms of cut quality. I use my scms for rough cuts mostly. When I need an optimal cut I use my sliding table saw.