Recommendation for a Miter Saw

sleong

Greetings,

This might have been asked before but since I was not able to find anything similar and being a new member I'll ask this again.

I've recently purchased a home and I'm looking into getting a compound miter saw and a portable table saw (I'll start a new thread for that) as I'm going to be installing hardwood floor and new baseboards as one of the first projects.

I've been looking into the miter saws and trying to decide on whether to get a 10" or a 12" miter saw double bevel sliding compound saw. I'm currently looking at the Dewalt DWS780 (12").

My question would be:
Do I need a 12" saw blade? I know this will help with certain baseboards and it will allow me to cut wider material.

How are other brands compare to Dewalt? Eg. Rigid (Home Depot), Kobalt (Lowes), Bosch, Makita, etc.

I'll also be using the saw for other home improvements and other projects. Home Depot has a promo where you buy the saw and get a stand for free.

What are your thoughts and comments?

Regards,
Steve

oh'mike

The saw choice depends so much on your planned use and budget---The DeWalt 12" is a good all around saw with a good height of cut for tall base boards.

I have a 12" Delta what is amazing in it's accuracy--that does most of my trim work and all nested crown ---

I have a DeWalt 12" slider---a good truck saw as it will cut closet shelves along with the usual trim---The sight lines are lousy compared to the delta so I only use it for smaller jobs.

I added a neat little saw to the collection a few weeks back---A Kobalt 7 1/4" compound sllider---light as a skill saw and good for small pick up jobs like trimming out one door --or cutting framing material and deck boards----Aluminum channel--

I like it so far----Mike-----

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joecaption

I would go with the 12". It will allow you to cut wider trim and wider 2X material such as when building a deck without having to flip the board over to finish a cut.
Even trying to cut most laminites, or stair treads with a 10" can be a problum.
Once you have narrowed down your choises I'd suggest you go on Amazon.com and look at the bottom of the listing to check out comments from people that have bought the saw.
I will never buy another Dewault tool, had way to many brush and switch problums on all my saws and drills.
All my Makita tools have never had to be repaired, after even 5 years of every day use.

ratherbefishing

I have a Delta 10" slider. It works great and is a very handy tool. I'm glad I bought the slider for it's versatility. I think it'll crosscut a 1x12. But it's heavy. I hate moving it. If you will be carrying it up and down stairs, don't buy a bigger saw than you need. Some stands, like the Rigid, fold down into a hand truck, with wheels, that you leave the saw bolted to. Great when you can roll it, not so great for lifting it. Some stands fold up flat and light for storage and moving; you bolt the saw to it once it's set back up.
For homeowner use, any of the pro quality name brands will last just fine. Some will be easier to use and adjust.

toolaholic

I have a Makita 10" sliding miter saw. It is model LS 1013. Awesome saw! Very quiet smooth running saw.

princelake

ridgid had a new 10" dual bevel sliding miter saw for $400. the lever is on the front for doing bevel cuts. 12" blades tend to wobble and really how often will you need to cut something that big? i do mostly interior work and i've need to go grab the 12" saw maybe once a year for some large crown

woodworkbykirk

most newer sliding saws have a pretty large cut capacity, the differance between a 10'' and 12'' is the total height they can cut.

if your going to be cutting quite a bit of shelving the 12'' is better though can suffer from '' blade wobble'' which can create a less accurate cut,, dewalts are notorious for this

kobalt..- dont know much about them but im pretty sure its nothing more than a rebranded tool, which gets a different name and color scheme based on the store selling it

ridgid- bad record with bearings wearing out quickly, small table for material support

makita- great saws decent price

dewalt- bearings go bad fairly quick compared to almost every other brand, bad blade wobble, terribly under powered for a 15 amp saw which can actually be dangerous as it will grab the material and pull it risking major injury ( had this happen on 5 differnt saws all being hte same model) runs about 900rpms slower than almost every other brand

milwaukeee- big, heavy, but very very accurate and stays accurate

bosch- big heavy very very accurate and stays accurate, the axial glide is rated as the closest competition for the Festool kapex. my current saw is hte bosch 4212L, extremely accurate. my next saw will be the axial glide in either 12'' or the 10'' which comes out next march

sleong

Thank you all for all the tips and suggestions. I am now considering to get a 10" instead of the 12" since I don't think I will be cutting anything that wide. Also, 10" blades are cheaper than the 12" blade. Since my storage room for the saw is not very big and with limited space the 10" will have a smaller footprint. I'm now considering the Dewalt DW717.

PaliBob

Hi,Welcome to the Forum. Good luck on your pick.
Whatever your pick, the original blade (except Festool)
are not all that good. For really clean cuts on your
new saw, a premium replacement blade will give
much cleaner cuts. At least one DW717 review calls
the stock blade 'crap' but I would believe that would
be true for any brand.
Also it is a good idea to include your location in your
profile and check out how to Post pictures in the How To section

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toolaholic

Makita still puts a decent blade on their miter saws. My LS 1013 came with a 70 tooth carbide blade that cuts really nice. Reviewers of the saw liked the stock blade too!

woodworkbykirk

ive heard the same, the blade on the kapex is stain grade ready

when i buy mitre saws i keep the stock blade for framing and deck work

scottktmrider

I would go with a 10" sliding saw.It will cut bigger material than a 12" and you have more blades to chose from and blades are cheaper to.

sleong

What is a good blade to replace the stock blade with? My first project will be to replace a carpet floor with laminate flooring.

toolaholic

I have a old 60 tooth Freud TK 106 that cuts smooth,that being said, a Freud 80 tooth fine finish blade would work great minimizing tear out.Amazon has a LU98R010 10 in h 80 tooth that Freud recommends for laminates.It sells for $78. It states one side of laminate has smooth cut so some research is in order on which side is cut face down.

woodworkbykirk

freud blades are great and can be resharpened 6x. i use 40 tooth blades for cutting mdf trim and switch to a 80 tooth for stain grade work

if you cutting laminate i wouldnt invest in a expensive blade for it. laminate flooring is full of resin and glue which will destroy a blade in no time. when i install laminate i just cut it with a circular saw, but cut from the bottom so the saw foot doesnt scuff up the new flooring and so it doesnt chip hte face