Miter Saw

[Gordon Maney]

I have had the same circular saw for about 30 years. It works fine, but there are a lot of new ones out there, some offering the blades on alternative sides, others are worm drive saws [not that the worm drive saw is a new concept....], and I consider buying a new one.

My real question here is that I consider the purchase of a miter saw, and wonder which one would be the one to purchase.

There are many brands of miter saws, compound miter saws, sliding miter saws, and the list goes on. At some point I am going to be trimming out all of the windows in my house. I think having the windows untrimmed since the early 1980's is long enough, dont' you?

I thought such a saw would help greatly. I have two radial arm saws, but those are not very portable, and it would be nearly impossible to get them upstairs.

What are your thoughts about miter saws? Do you think they are a good thing? What are your preferences?

Do you have any useful comments on trimming windows? The house has full 4" studs, with 1" thick, tongue and groove sheathing on both sides of the studs. That makes for a thick wall, particularly where there is still lath and plaster.

I will have to make up extension jams for the Anderson casement windows I installed to replace all of the windows. Also, the trim, as I mentioned, needs to be installed once the extension jams are fabricated and fitted.

I realize this is rambling comment. Please comment on any or all.....

[bosco]

Gordon,

I have a DeWalt 10" compound miter saw and it works great. It's light weight (33 pounds) which makes it very portable. You can't beat it for baseboards, window and door trim, ceiling molding, etc. But the saw has it's limitations. On a straight O degree miter it can only cut up to a width of 6.1" and at a 45 degree miter it will only cut a width of 4.2".

My wife has been wanting me to install wood flooring in several areas of the house so we have been looking at some of the engineered wood flooring by Bruce and other manufacturers. The problem I have incountered is that all of the wood flooring planks I have looked at are at a minimum of 7.5" wide. Ok, now my miter saw will not cut those planks. So I will have to use my circular saw, which is ok.

My suggestion is to make sure the saw you purchase will be able to cut the trim work (and any unforseen future work) that you have planned. Since you have 2 radial arm saws, I really see no need in purchasing an expensive 12" slider. But that's up to you. I have used a friends 12" compound slider and it is a great saw. It will cut just about anything you throw at it. But it is heavy ... almost twice the weight of my miter saw. I will say that if I had purchased the miter saw I would have gotten the 10" slider, but my wife got me this one for my birthday.

[powerwagontim]

Hi Gordon,
We have used a Makita 10" dual compound miter saw on the job for 7 years. The guard broke a coup[le of months ago but that is the only thing which has broken on the saw in the entire time it has been in service. It is used 5 days a week by 3 to 4 carpenters. I would certainly feel fine about buying another one.
Tim

[MoparNorm]

Bosco,

Great description! I have a 25 year old Ryobi, and the BIG DeWalt sliding compound miter saw, expensive and heavy and possibly overkill for a non-production work saw. But the DeWalt does great.

I should note that an 80 tooth Freud blade will make the cheapest saw temporarily a good saw, before you buy, look for the tightness of the degreed angle stops on the table and check for slop at the settings and pivot points. A saw that will not hold tolerances is worthless, no matter how good the motor or the blade.

I have not had a great deal of luck with Mikita's. Cheap prices and some good products, but inconsistent quality control.

MN

[bosco]

Some manufacturers have added laser guides to certain models. Great idea, but I have never used any power saw with the laser feature. Maybe one day.

[Cheyenne Dave]

Many years ago, I made the leap and bought a sweet Delta miter saw, all cast construction, very accurate, and very spendy. As I recall, that was about 15 minutes before some very nice compound miter saws hit the scene, for about the same money! Dang!

Couple years ago, my local lumber yard had a sale on the DeWalt 10" compound with stand for a song. The stand is a sweet portable unit, with dual slide out extension arms and handy fold up legs. Nice combination, accurate, won't break the bank. Part of the sale included a mail-in certificate that got me 3 extra blades. Keep an eye out at Menards or Home Depot and you might strike a similar deal.

On second thought, just have me come do it for ya! It'll be fun!

DAB

P.S. Still have the old Delta...great saw without all the bells and whistles!

[Gary Weaklend]

Before I started my remodeling project a few years ago I looked at different miter saws with and without slides. In addition to trim I wanted a miter saw that could easily cut 4X4's and was portable. Since the slide saws are about twice the price of one without, I decided on the 12" Dewalt miter and a Sears $200 table saw (with an extended warranty). That combination worked good for me during construction and I even used the Dewalt to cut treated 6X6's (must be turned to complete the cut).

P.S. Untrimmed windows since the 80's? And I thought 2 years without trim was a long time. Good Luck.

[Gordon Maney]

I even lived in it for almost a month while the house was in the air on cribbing, after a house mover raised it for the purpose of replacing the basement.

It was a bit like living in an ocean going vessel....

[rumplecat]

Makita

Gordon:

I would have to agree with Powerwagontim I have a ten inch Makita compound sliding miter box saw and it does great.

James G.

[MoparNorm]

Makita,

Per my post above, if you go with the Makita, buy it at a store with a generous return policy, because you've only got a 50/50 chance of getting a good one.
For weekend use or the hobbiest, you might luck out and get one that lasts for a few years.
Mikitas took a great deal of market share by default. On our large commercial construction sites they first broke into wide use with their screw guns, very light and very cheap. Use it for one job and throw it away.
My Milwaulkee screw guns were three times the cost and a bit heavier. They last for 25 years, but the youngsters out there now can't lift them for a full 8 hours......= )
MN

[Gordon Maney]

I have several grinders, a drill, a screwgun, and two Sawzalls that are Milwaukee. Those tools have been really great, and I like the Milwaukee line.

A man I know who owns a sheetmetal and millwright firm says Milwaukee is all they buy because it lasts in the nightmarish conditions their tools face on the job, including lots of what the typical person would call abuse.

[powerwagontim]

Gordon,

We started building our house about 22 years ago. I had done a big salvage job on the servants wing of a victorian mansion owned by Vanderbilts. The wing was getting torn down and I removed 40 doors, 60 windows, 3 staircases (1 spiral) tons of wainscoting, hardware trim etc.

We designed our house around this inventory, building a new old house. We moved into our house almost 16 years ago. Painted drywall, no interior doors, no trim anywhere, painted plywood floors, no kitchen, one working bathroom with a bedsheet for a door, Typar for siding, several windows not in, but styrofoam insulation filling their holes. You get the picture.

Right after we moved in, My Wife Joan was speaking with another woman who had just moved and mentioned that we had moved into an unfinished house.

The other woman said " I know, I just hate it when the curtains are not up. Joan then knew she was on a totally different page than this woman.
Well, now we are mostly trimmed out, the upstairs bathroom still has a sheet for a door and the floors are still painted plywood, except for the office and bedrooms which are carpeted.

The kitchen is cabinets removed from a kitchen we were remodeling and the counter is a "temporary" painted plywood top. All of the siding and trim are done, and pre-painted when it went up, but now really needs a painter to come in and repaint everything.

The kids say it looks like a haunted house. Even so, it is still way more house than a huge percentage of the world has and we are not put out by the unfinishedness. We (I) keep plugging away at it, but it does not dominate our lives. Alot of marriages have failed during home construction. Boy, that got long winded!

Tim

[Gordon Maney]

Originally posted by powerwagontim
Gordon,

We started building our house about 22 years ago. I had done a big salvage job on the servants wing of a victorian mansion owned by Vanderbilts. The wing was getting torn down and I removed 40 doors, 60 windows, 3 staircases (1 spiral) tons of wainscoting, hardware trim etc.

We designed our house around this inventory, building a new old house. We moved into our house almost 16 years ago. Painted drywall, no interior doors, no trim anywhere, painted plywood floors, no kitchen, one working bathroom with a bedsheet for a door, Typar for siding, several windows not in, but styrofoam insulation filling their holes. You get the picture.

Right after we moved in, My Wife Joan was speaking with another woman who had just moved and mentioned that we had moved into an unfinished house.

The other woman said " I know, I just hate it when the curtains are not up. Joan then knew she was on a totally different page than this woman.
Well, now we are mostly trimmed out, the upstairs bathroom still has a sheet for a door and the floors are still painted plywood, except for the office and bedrooms which are carpeted.

The kitchen is cabinets removed from a kitchen we were remodeling and the counter is a "temporary" painted plywood top. All of the siding and trim are done, and pre-painted when it went up, but now really needs a painter to come in and repaint everything.

The kids say it looks like a haunted house. Even so, it is still way more house than a huge percentage of the world has and we are not put out by the unfinishedness. We (I) keep plugging away at it, but it does not dominate our lives. Alot of marriages have failed during home construction. Boy, that got long winded!

Tim

I like your style....

[Clint Dixon]

Gordon, Martie has a 10-inch Delta compound miter saw. It has served her well on her "primitive furniture" making projects. It has also seen us through a full basement finishing (6 rooms), a 200 square foot gambrel dormer addition, a 10 x 20 hip roof porch addition, plus many more projects. There has not been a week go buy in the past 4-1/2 years that this saw has not gotten used. The only drawback is that it will only cross cut a maximum size of 6-inch dimensional lumber at 90 degrees. Anything larger has to be cut from both sides. I was concerned about buying a non American made saw, but the price was very low and it has lasted very well and is light weight. I think she bought it at Farm & Fleet. Farm King, Thiesons, Menards, or who ever is in your area should carry them.

She will probably be going with a sliding compound saw soon for the larger edge-glued boards, but for window trim, a small 10-inch compound should work great.

Clint

[Hoody]

I agree with the Delta

I have a 10" Sliding Compound Mitre Saw. I love it. It has done just about everything on my house addition and restoration. It is a little heavy ( 50lbs. ), but that does include a collapsable stand with ext. wings.

CAPACITY
• Cut-off at 90°: 11 1/2"
• Cut-off at 45° miter: 8"
• Depth of cut at 90°: 3 5/8"
• Depth of cut at 45° bevel: 2"

A good blade will also do wonders, even for a not-so-great saw.