Best budget miter saw

[ironhat]

www.toolking.com also has recons. Good folks to deal with.

[RAV2]

I have the Harbor Freight 10" unit (on sale now for $99):

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90891

I mounted it onto the Ryobi MSUV.

I also picked up the Irwin laser washer (got it last year with the free blade - but see it is on sale here for $18):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JFNKX0

[JimD]

I use a 10 inch Pro-Tech and it works fine. With a 10 inch non-slider you are limited to cross-cuts of a little over 5 inches. An inexpensive non-slider will be much more accurate than an inexpensive slider. A 12 inch non-slider takes you to about 8 inch crosscuts.

Double bevel avoids having to have clearance on both sides of the saw for the longest piece you will cut. It also avoids having the motor in the way on one side if you like to cut crown moulding upside down and backwards (like I like to cut it).

FWW did a review and labeled the Ryobi 12 inch as a "best buy". I think it was Wood magazine that said in their review that a 12 inch non-slider was a good idea for most applications. Either a rebuilt Hitachi or the Ryobi is $200 or less. A decent 10 inch non-slider is under $100, however. To me, it comes down to how you have to spend and what you want to be able to do. A 12 inch slider would be nice but I will probably never spend $500 on one. I would be afraid of the accuracy of anything other than the well respected brands on a slider.

I think lasers are non-essentials that are nice if you can get them without spending a lot more but nothing to make the main decision on. Hitachi also has a digital angle readout which is supposed to be nice but again, how much more do you have to spend to get it? A $200 12 inch CMS with a good blade (another $50-100) will do a lot of work regardless of whether it has a laser. If you have more to spend, you can get some added features and if you need 12 inch crosscut capacity then you need slider - and more money. I use a sled or my RAS for wider crosscuts so the only limitation of my 10 inch CMS that bugs me is the motor in the way for wider crown moulding. That will probably cause me to eventually buy a 12 inch CMS, preferably double bevel but single if I have to.

Jim

[mbennett]

Thanks for the input

Thanks for all the great input. I've now got a list of models and am going to wait for a great deal. I think I'm going to purchase a double compound 12" from a respected name. If I don't purchase what I want now I'll regret it for quite a while.

[BrazosJake]

Makita. I picked up an LS1221 (12", non-slider) when Lowes closed them out a few years ago. I still don't have a dedicated stand for it, so it gets pushed around my garage floor constantly and used for crosscutting long pieces of lumber and LOTS of laminate flooring (tip: buy a cheap blade for laminate). But then I can put it on a bench, set the mitre & bevel to cut crown flat, and it's ON.

Absolutely no complaints.

[JimD]

The Hitachi rebuilts that have already been recommended seem like great deals to me. I have bought several rebuilts (but never Hitachi) and have always been pleased with them. They looked essentially new (maybe a small ding somewhere) and worked just like new. My tools tend to get a ding or two or get covered up with dust pretty quickly so starting out with a small imprefection makes no difference.

Jim

[johnwest72]

Hitachi Reconditioned Saws

*** Disclaimer: I'm the IT consultant at Reconditionedsales ***

I've tried not to cross the line with blatant selling , but since you're looking, you might want to know that we've got the C12LSH for $378 with a free driver drill, or the C12FDH for $185, also with a free driver drill. Finally, we've got the C12FCH on sale for $129. Just look on our specials page. The buy a product, get one free is something new we're trying.

So that no one thinks I'm trying to pad our site links, I won't include our URL, but you can look in this thread for it. I'm also not even going to try to address which tool brand is better, not because I'm biased, but because I really don't know. I've always wanted to get into woodworking, since it seems like it would be a great salve from being in front of a computer so much. As it stands now, though, I've only used a miter saw once, so my opinion would be worth absolutely nothing .

Anyway, hope this helps.

John

[LinuxRandal]

*** Disclaimer: I'm the IT consultant at Reconditionedsales ***

I've tried not to cross the line with blatant selling , but since you're looking, you might want to know that we've got the C12LSH for $378 with a free driver drill, or the C12FDH for $185, also with a free driver drill. Finally, we've got the C12FCH on sale for $129. Just look on our specials page. The buy a product, get one free is something new we're trying.

So that no one thinks I'm trying to pad our site links, I won't include our URL, but you can look in this thread for it. I'm also not even going to try to address which tool brand is better, not because I'm biased, but because I really don't know. I've always wanted to get into woodworking, since it seems like it would be a great salve from being in front of a computer so much. As it stands now, though, I've only used a miter saw once, so my opinion would be worth absolutely nothing .

Anyway, hope this helps.

John

I saw that yesterday, but you removed your shipping calculator from the front page. Please consider readding it or a link!

[johnwest72]

Interesting...

I'm not sure where you're referring to. Can you give me the URL in question? Also, what's your browser and OS (I'm guessing Linux, based on your username )?

The way the site works currently is that you can calculate shipping when viewing the product page, or when viewing your cart.

I saw that yesterday, but you removed your shipping calculator from the front page. Please consider readding it or a link!

[LinuxRandal]

I'm not sure where you're referring to. Can you give me the URL in question? Also, what's your browser and OS (I'm guessing Linux, based on your username )?

The way the site works currently is that you can calculate shipping when viewing the product page, or when viewing your cart.

Just got back from a couple hour trip. I thought the calculator was on the main page, apparently when I added something to the cart. I shouldn't be pricing things that late at night!

Thanks

Deciding between need and want.

[luteman]

I would rate the GMC saw from Amazon as a "avoid at all cost" saw. The unit itself has many useful features but their(GMC) warranty is worthless. Mine was delivered to me minus a set of bearings on one of the slider tubes. GMC denied my request for a replacement bearing, telling me to "just send the saw back to Amazon". I wound up making a substitute bearing so I could actually use the saw. Hope this helps.

[dbhost]

For most of my power tools, I kept with Ryobi because they offered the best bang for the buck. But on compound miter saws, no way... I have been doing trim work in the house, and while I respect those that say a double bevel is mandatory, I disagree. I have gotten a TON done with my saw. And yeah, I borrowed a friends Ryobi 10" laser model, but found the one I picked to cut dead accurate as long as the operator knew how to line up BEFORE making a cut...

I am talking about the B&D Firestorm FS1000L from Lowes. From what I can tell, since this thing bears NO resemblence to any other B&D saw I have seen, and other than it's orange color looks almost EXACTLY like one or two DeWalt models I have seen aside from lacking a work piece clamp...

Full price they run $129.99, I got mine on sale for $99.00 I think it was...

It will compound miter cut 4x4 material. What more could I want?