Buying a Sliding Compound Miter Saw - Need Counsel

[Tom M King]

I'll try to make some test cuts in the next few days and we'll see how accurate these saws are after a couple of decades of use. I doubt I've made a million cuts with it, but some good number of thousands. I'll post pictures of the results.

Here's a picture of a setup a good while back. It and a radial arm saw were setup in a 40 foot long hallway in an old house. Just by luck the portable base I bought for the miter saw ended up being exactly the same height as my made in 1974 radial arm saw base that I made the day I took the saw out of the box then.

I was thinking the board was a 2x12, but not sure looking at the picture. It's from my stash of treated lumber that is kept drying for years waiting for something to be made from it. It was cut with a pull cut, because those are the only cuts I made with it. I'm thinking this was from 2009. Most of that air dried treated lumber has a lot of stress in it, so I may need to back out of the cut several times and start over as the cut is made.

[Walter Plummer]

I have had my Makita 10" slider since 1993? It has been a great saw. I think maybe twice in the thirty years I have gone over it and tweaked the settings. Get a blade made for a slider and tighten the knob if you are going for an accurate cut. If I'm just rough cutting I just let it fall in the detent. Mine now lives on a cart with total lock casters. To make a cut I have to pull it from the wall and then put it back when done. The sliders and the Dewalt 735 push the limits of "portable".

[Dave Sabo]

I read it, just wanted to clarify if I missed something. Sounds like I didn't. Agree to disagree, no insults intended.

hmmmmmm.

I think I know where you’re coming from…………but riddle me this:

How you gonna make a push cut with a radial arm saw on a productive basis ? It’s basically a sliding compound mitersaw , just without the chop function. Been in use for a hundred + yrs. with fine, safe results.

Don’t confuse biased knowledge with unvarnished and true experience.

[Mike Henderson]

I have the Festool Kapex and have been satisfied with it. I had two or three miter saws before the Kapex and the Kapex is better than what I had.

Mike

[Warren Lake]

I worked for a while for an ex navy carpenter guy, he always and only pushed the radial arm saw in to the material. It likely came from him cutting aluminum extrusion and deciding that was a better way. No point to try and change him. He was a different trade and likely a good carpenter and not as skilled cabinetmaker.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Lastly, I don’t plan to move it all that often and very rarely if ever brought to a job site via truck.

That's good if you are considering getting the Bosch glide miter saw (with one with the robotic arm), as it is a beast. Big (bulky) and heavy. I bought the Bosch stand for mine. IIRC, the pair weighs nearly 200 pounds. I have not had any defelection issues with the stock Bosch blade. But I will note that I have issues with the tilt not being at zero after I fold and unfold the stand. There is a bit of play in the stop for the tilt. If you equip the saw with the Bosch laser, it marks to the left of the blade (kerf is always to the right of the line) which works out well as the handle is predominately right handed which means you hold the work piece (not the scrap piece) with your left. It also means you always feed from left to right, if you go the other way the piece ends up a kerf width too short.

I do love having a miter saw. I can make scrap at an amazing speeds. Yes the Bosch is heavy and a little quirky, but not having or dealing with the tubes is awesome.

[Brian Runau]

I have a chop saw station set up based on Norm's, only use it to breakdown longer pieces for milling. All my finish cuts are done on the table saw. Brian

[Phillip Mitchell]

For trim work I would look for an older Hitachi Koki 10” slider - the C10FS(H) - in as nice condition as you can find. I have used many sliding miter saws and that’s the best one I know of for accuracy. The Kapex *may* be on par with it as far as potential for accuracy, but is literally 6-8x the price of a nice used Hitachi. The dust collection will not be comparable to the Kapex though without some modifications or building a dust hood type box around it with adequate DC suction.

I have an original Hitachi Koki 8 1/2” sliding miter saw in my shop and is still slides and cuts true, though the blade diameter limits how thick I can cut.

I also have an older Dewalt 780 that I have tuned up to cut true and square and has a flat base/fence. That is not always the case with Dewalt (and others.) There is a bit of slop in the rails when you are making cuts approaching the wider end of its capacity. I have used it for finish carpentry with a nice blade and been generally pleased, but it’s bulky/heavy and a pain to move around.

Festool has been promoting their new ~8” (?) battery powered Kapex version lately and is giving some away to a handful of folks for testing / review. I wouldn’t mind trying one out in that manner just see how it holds up, but would never spend that kind of money on a battery powered job site saw.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

But I will note that I have issues with the tilt not being at zero after I fold and unfold the stand.

I have the same problem. The bevel lock is tight but I still need to release and reset every time is set up the saw.

[Greg Parrish]

I’ve had a few miter saws over the years and will never be without one again. Right now I have a Kapex at my home shop and a Dewalt non-sliding at our farm. I’ve tried to go without them in the past when struggling with space issues. In fact, this forum advised me in the past to get rid of the miter saw and some other items to make space in my garage shop. Unfortunately, I did and regretted it. LOL.

For the way I work my miter saw is used for everything from cutting long material down to approximate size, repeated cuts using stop blocks, etc. Where I don’t rely on it most times is when it comes to critical joinery cuts. In those cases, I’ll resort to the table saw or hand tools. But, I hate breaking down material with hand saws or table saws and that’s where the miter saw shines. And, while I know they work for some, I don’t want a RAS, so the sliding miter saw was the best solution for me.

[Wes Grass]

I've got an older Dewalt 12" SCMS, the vertical stacked rail version. 708? Back at my house in CA. Other than replacing the blade with a 'good' one several years ago, I did nothing but a few tweaks to the stops. My BIL, union carpenter and quite a craftsman, knowing I'm a machinist/toolmaker, asked me what I'd done to it ... best miter saw he'd ever used.

I think using one is like shooting a pistol. You can't muscle it where you want it and force the shot. It won't EVER go where you thought it would. You have to let the guides on the saw do the aligning and guiding, and your hand does nothing but feed the blade where the saw takes it.

A dull blade combats that effort, making you put more force into the cut which makes it harder to let the saw do its thing. Kinda like resawing with a dull blade on a bandsaw ... the extra force is going to warp the blade out of line.

I have a plain Jane 10" Dewalt CMS here. Don't think I've made any adjustments on it, but it does a great job on the little bit of 'finish' work I've done with it. Don't remember touching it at all ...

Never used a RAS, but my guess is the shear mass of the 'head' helps a lot with controlling a 'climb cut'.

[Jay Rasmussen]

Paul, I bought a Festool Kapex yesterday, other than normal cutoff duties my main use will be cutting segments for turning projects - no sanding a must. No problem on my table saw but not very comfortable when doing a lot of them. The first 5 rings I cut are excellent. Dead on. I think I will be happy. Very smooth operation. The handle/switch is funky, the dust collection is outstanding, the price is outrageous. Buy once - cry once.
I replaced my 25-year-old Makita.
Good luck in your selection.