Miter saw choice

[young woodworker]

I was looking into getting a 10" sliding miter saw and have settled on these two:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00921237000P?vName=Tools&cName=Bench+%26+Stationary+Power+Tools&sName=Miter+Saws

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Power-Tools-Saws/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xh0Zas2t/R-202049523/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I was wondering which would be better.

[Larryl]

I don't have either one, but it's my understanding that Ryobi builds many on the Craftsman tools, so probably a toss up. If HD doesn't have this model in stock you could probably actually lay hands on it at Sears.

[pelligrini]

I know nothing about either of them, but there is a 2 1/2 year old poll/thread about miter saws that keeps popping up. http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=32162

[frumper64]

I have had the Sears model for the last couple of years. Quite handy for general carpentry, but a bit iffy on exact miters due to the slop. If I wanted to do any really precise angles, I would avoid a reasonably priced slider and just go for a regular CMS

[Eric]

I have the Ryobi, the laser is useless which isn't a big deal.

It's also not very rugged, I was cutting 2x12s for my shop and while moving one 16' one into position it fell out of my hands and hit the handle where you change the miter. Broke the handle and now I can't change the miter angles. Need to take it apart and see if I can rig something up.

I was cutting a lot of 2x12 and 2x6s, I got my use out of the saw, but I was pretty disappointed that so much of it was plastic.

[Hoover]

This would be a great choice, buy it once and be happy ://www.lowes.com

Hitachi 12" dual bevel, with laser $269.00

[chopnhack]

+1 on what Hoover said. If you end up doing crown molding you will love the extra reach the 12" will give you in being able to cut all but the largest crown in position. If you never will do crown, then I guess saving money by getting a 10" saw and spending the difference to get a quality blade would be the next best thing. I didn't see you mention what you would be using the saw for, but I would say that building some type of saw station for it would be a great idea. I made a temp. one out of plywood stretched over ripped down 2x material to give myself a 24' long work surface (12' on each side) for doing molding. Real life saver.

[Mr__Bill]

You really need to pull the saw out as far as it goes and see how much it wiggles. If you can feel it it's too much for an accurate cut. Now if you are just using it for framing then it will not matter but for any precision work it will just be frustrating.

Here is an article that explains some of the considerations. It's a few years out of date but the info is still valid

I have yet to find a sliding compound miter saw that I would be happy with that was under 5 or 6 hundred dollars. At this point that is hard to rationalize and have kept my 10" compound no sliding saw. For the price your willing to pay for the slider a non slider of much better quality can be had.


Bill
over here in the wind and rain, soon to be snow over there...

[frumper64]

I should have added to my previous comments that the laser on the Sears version is utterly worthless. It immediately gets coated with sawdust so if you want to use it you have to clean the lens after virtually each cut.