# Miter saw questions



## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

Hey all, I know miter saws have been talked about a time or two but search wouldn't reveal the info I was looking for.

I currently have a DW718 and don't like it at all. I am looking at changing to either a Bosch or Makita. Any advice on one or the other. I hear they are both great saws but I'm a little torn.

I have only ever used 12" saws. Other than the obvious capacity, cost and size differences, what advantage does a 10" have over a 12"

I understand the glide and Festool are very nice saws but a little out of my price range. It will be used for mostly trim type work. Shouldn't be doing too many decks.. I already plan on putting a Chopmaster blade on it, just have to decide what size to get.


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

10" festool :thumbsup:


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## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

You suck! I'm planning on spending 1/2 of what that would cost. Nice, yes. What I would probably ultimately be happy with, yes. What I can afford and justify buying, no...


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

I have a Kapex. It will last longer then 2 or 3 saws. I chose to spend it one time.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

mbryan said:


> You suck! I'm planning on spending 1/2 of what that would cost. Nice, yes. What I would probably ultimately be happy with, yes. What I can afford and justify buying, no...


You could get the axial glide if ya gonna spend half the Kapex cost. It's a nice saw but I would prob go makita to be honest. I have the axial glide and Kapex and wish I didn't buy the axial glide.


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## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

No kapex!



BCConstruction said:


> I would prob go makita to be honest. I have the axial glide and Kapex and wish I didn't buy the axial glide.


Why Makita? What don't you like about the Bosch? The upfront controls seem like they would be really nice.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

mbryan said:


> No kapex!
> 
> 
> 
> Why Makita? What don't you like about the Bosch? The upfront controls seem like they would be really nice.


Because it could double as an anchor for a crab boat.:laughing:


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> Because it could double as an anchor for a crab boat.:laughing:


Or could be used instead of concrete shoes for non paying customers.


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

I would bite the bullet and get the Kapex. I am currenty saving up for one. Just a dumb framer here and I can the value in it.


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## mike d. (Dec 2, 2009)

Buy the Ridgid miter or Hitachi slider. The Kapex is over priced and no more accurate.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

mike d. said:


> Buy the Ridgid miter or Hitachi slider. The Kapex is over priced and no more accurate.


Lol


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

I do mostly exterior trim, MDF rental trim, rough framing, etc., with my Bosch 12" non-slider. However, if I was to start doing a lot of upper end trim and finish work, I would definitely upgrade. 

How much is it going to cost once you start miscutting oak and other various spendy woods and wide crown. That being said, I understand all about budgets. If you can find a way to swing the big bucks though, I would.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

mike d. said:


> Buy the Ridgid miter or Hitachi slider. The Kapex is over priced and no more accurate.


Aww, who peed in your koolaid?


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

mike d. said:


> Buy the Ridgid miter or Hitachi slider. The Kapex is over priced and no more accurate.


good one. lol pretty funny


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## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

Yes, I know the Kapex is the one I should have. There are lots of things that I should have but cant afford. I should have a supermodel girlfriend but I cant afford one so I have to look for plan B. Actually I don't have any interest in a supermodel but its what I could come up with... 

I like the Kapex but there is no way I can afford and or justify having it right now. Maybe in time I'll get there. We do primarily small jobs and live in a rural community. There is not much "high end" out here and I definitely don't have the skills to try that yet. Hopefully I'll get there, but not going to be anytime too soon. Have too much to learn... Gary, I'm sorry but I said nothing about Hitachi or Rigid.

So back to my question about the Makita VS Bosch...


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

I live in little town in the middle of cornfields.

That does not have much to do with it though.


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

You are in luck! I have in stock one supermodel ex- girlfriend. She just had a new rack installed last week. 

Back to the rack, I mean tools. It only hurts once to spend the money. And festools have a very high resale value. Makita is a nice saw. But if I did trim like the guys do on here every day, I would drop the Bens on the kapex.


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

mbryan said:


> Gary, I'm sorry but I said nothing about Hitachi or Rigid.
> 
> So back to my question about the Makita VS Bosch...


Mike d said buy the rigid. I said buy the kapex.


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

mbryan said:


> Yes, I know the Kapex is the one I should have. There are lots of things that I should have but cant afford. I should have a supermodel girlfriend but I cant afford one so I have to look for plan B. Actually I don't have any interest in a supermodel but its what I could come up with...
> 
> I like the Kapex but there is no way I can afford and or justify having it right now. Maybe in time I'll get there. We do primarily small jobs and live in a rural community. There is not much "high end" out here and I definitely don't have the skills to try that yet. Hopefully I'll get there, but not going to be anytime too soon. Have too much to learn... Gary, I'm sorry but I said nothing about Hitachi or Rigid.
> 
> So back to my question about the Makita VS Bosch...



i think the point is you have a saw already. keep using it and save up. if you have 6-700 to spend, save that and toss a few bux each month into the pot and it wont be long until you have the best saw and wont have to buy another one for a long time.


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

I own both the Bosch Axial Glide and the Makita LS1016. I Bought the Makita to replace the Bosch as a field tool. The Bosch is now parked in the shop and the Makita goes everywhere else. The Makita is a great saw at a great price with great accuracy. It took me three different saws to find one that didn't have blade wobble, but I am very happy with the one I have. I would highly recommend this saw to you. The Bosch is a very nice saw, but it is just too heavy and bulky to move around from job to job. 

Simply put, the Bosch is better in the shop while the Makita is better in the field.


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

mbryan said:


> We do primarily small jobs and live in a rural community. There is not much "high end" out here and I definitely don't have the skills to try that yet.
> 
> So back to my question about the Makita VS Bosch...



I had a Kapex on site yesterday...and the guy didn't do anything with that saw I couldn't do just as well on my Makita... I will try and get some photos of his work tomorrow if I remember. Its WAY WAY more about the guy then saw. I did get a good laugh when he wrapped it in a blanket while putting it away.


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

TBFGhost said:


> I had a Kapex on site yesterday...and the guy didn't do anything with that saw I couldn't do just as well on my Makita...


its more about the durability and the dust collection that the kapex has. it is very accurate, as was my dewalt when it was new. after a couple years the kapex will still be very accurate were my dewalt is getting a little sloppy and had to be adjusted a couple times already.


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

TBFGhost said:


> Its WAY WAY more about the guy then saw.


were we assuming a skilled carpenter here?!:laughing:


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## mike d. (Dec 2, 2009)

Thats my point! I've seen beautiful work with Harbor Freight tools. What did carpenters use 50 years ago? They made their own miter box. I think some people get caught up on Rolls Royce priced tools and think if you dont use them you're a hack,,,BS


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

mike d. said:


> Thats my point! I've seen beautiful work with Harbor Freight tools. What did carpenters use 50 years ago? They made their own miter box. I think some people get caught up on Rolls Royce priced tools and think if you dont use them you're a hack,,,BS


:laughing: that's funny :laughing:


..... harbor freight :no:


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## PrestigeR&D (Jan 6, 2010)

Has anyone taken any count on how many miter saw threads we have,........:whistling
:laughing:


I am sure it's up there........:laughing:


Ahhhhh,
Serenity now......serenity now.......:whistling



B,


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

how can we search for the oldest one, i would love to read it.....


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

JLC deleted all thier old threads in most areas or topics. I bet you can go back far enough to read how much work is going on and how there is no help to find.


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## world llc (Dec 9, 2008)

Gary H said:


> JLC deleted all thier old threads in most areas or topics. I bet you can go back far enough to read how much work is going on and how there is no help to find.


why would they do that? other than maybe print the usefull info and sell it.....:whistling


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

I dont know for sure. But in the drywall forum, they had long heated debates on tape or mud or the proper way to lay mud. Then the next month someone would dig up a old post and start it all over again. Over and over. I havent been there in awhile, since alot of it turned to a peeing match. 

Finish carpentry and the tool section is still good as there is good info there. And there are some very smart people there, but sometimes I just want to see what a person views are on a subject I am interested in. Not get off topic because someone in another thread said something somebody didn't like. Soap opera stuff.


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## GRB (Feb 23, 2009)

world llc said:


> why would they do that? other than maybe print the usefull info and sell it.....:whistling


No, I'm sure Hanley Wood would *never* take content created by forum contributors & attempt to sell it. :whistling


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

And they have no P and R section either. That could have been part of it.


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## duburban (Apr 10, 2008)

has anyone had good luck being able to re tune a miter saw? it seems like when they go out its time to buy a new one these days.


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

duburban said:


> has anyone had good luck being able to re tune a miter saw? it seems like when they go out its time to buy a new one these days.


Thats a good question. I got a 10'' HITiCHI that is always moving. I try to get it right and then on the next cut its off again. There seems to be so many things that it could be that equal to the saw being off. Where do you start? And by the time you fix everything that could be wrong, along with your time, you maybe better off to buy a new one.


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## GRB (Feb 23, 2009)

Gary H said:


> I dont know for sure. But in the drywall forum, they had long heated debates on tape or mud or the proper way to lay mud. Then the next month someone would dig up a old post and start it all over again. Over and over. I havent been there in awhile, since alot of it turned to a peeing match.
> 
> Finish carpentry and the tool section is still good as there is good info there. And there are some very smart people there, but sometimes I just want to see what a person views are on a subject I am interested in. Not get off topic because someone in another thread said something somebody didn't like. Soap opera stuff.


Yep, that's spot on. Lack of leadership & courtesy from the top as well as losing sight of what the JLC culture is all about has created raw sewage that is washing over most of the forums there.


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## PrestigeR&D (Jan 6, 2010)

After using the search button......:blink: is something wrong with it....:blink:


I didn't mean to sound like prick.....my appologies......



Just that we get inundated with this same topic between all saws, all brands..drills,hammers....and the like

......now I know why.....

I typed in miter saw under "search forums, blogs..etc..etc... And it came back with less than 2 pages...and some not relating to the typed search.....

I think something has gone a rye with the search engin within CT...either that or it's just me .........:whistling,:laughing:


Sorry....

Carry on.....


B,


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

TBFGhost said:


> I did get a good laugh when he wrapped it in a blanket while putting it away.


Some tools are worth wrapping up. :laughing:


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## GRB (Feb 23, 2009)

duburban said:


> has anyone had good luck being able to re tune a miter saw? it seems like when they go out its time to buy a new one these days.


David Collins did an article for This is Carpentry on the subject. Good stuff.


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

PrestigeR&D said:


> After using the search button......:blink: is something wrong with it....:blink:
> 
> 
> I didn't mean to sound like prick.....my appologies......
> ...


The search engine su**s. If you type in Festool saw or any other saw, you get every thread till 1921 that has those words in it. Then you have to search through them. I never got it to work right. Thats why I wait till someone starts a thread and then i jump on it.


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

GRB said:


> David Collins did an article for This is Carpentry on the subject. Good stuff.


Thanks Greg, I forgot all about that one. There is some good info in there.


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## Northwood (Jan 6, 2010)

Hey charimon does that Makita do dual bevel? Isn't the motor in the way or something? 
I remember watching your dust collection vid for it (which was great) and heard the saw was excellent except for something... Hopefully I'm wrong


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## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

http://www.makita.com/en-us/Modules/Tools/ToolDetails.aspx?ID=482




> Miters 0°-47° left and 0°-57° right; bevels 0°-45° left and 0°-5° right


Looks like it does duel bevel but not too much to the right. So technically yes but not really..


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## Northwood (Jan 6, 2010)

Man such a shame. I remember reading reviews and everyone said what charimon said. Great quality, large capacity, lightweight, great dust collection. But why not have the motor angled like on some of their other saws?


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## jdeck (Nov 1, 2007)

I would vote against the Makita. On the job I am currently working on there are 4 of them and the all have so much slop they don't make the same cut twice. Also there is a sot on the back that catches sawdust and in turn stops the saw from going back all the way. Not a problem if you blow off you saw every day but still annoying.


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## JesseCocozza (Aug 20, 2011)

jdeck said:


> I would vote against the Makita. On the job I am currently working on there are 4 of them and the all have so much slop they don't make the same cut twice. Also there is a sot on the back that catches sawdust and in turn stops the saw from going back all the way. Not a problem if you blow off you saw every day but still annoying.


You raise a valid concern about the void that catches the dust. As far as the "slop" is this infact an inherent flaw or just a case of neglect and misuse of the saw? Mine has no "slop" to speak of.


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## Bummie (May 11, 2007)

JesseCocozza said:


> You raise a valid concern about the void that catches the dust. As far as the "slop" is this infact an inherent flaw or just a case of neglect and misuse of the saw? Mine has no "slop" to speak of.


I think it must be neglect cus I have had my Makita <<<---- (Look at avatar) for at least 10 years or more and I have NO SLOP!!! I highly recommend this saw. I would say best saw in it's price range!!


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## charimon (Nov 24, 2008)

Northwood said:


> Man such a shame. I remember reading reviews and everyone said what charimon said. Great quality, large capacity, lightweight, great dust collection. But why not have the motor angled like on some of their other saws?


Exactly In my opinion Makita left alot on the table.

If they would have raised the motor it would be 100% better. had they made it Convertible-- Think the DW jobsite radio that can run off the plug/charge/run off the batteries seamlessly-- and supplied Senco with batteries for their fusion they may corner a new market


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## Mrmac204 (Dec 27, 2006)

I found that the LS1016 Makita was really smooth to use. However, I had a heck of a time trying to figure out on the fly how to use some of the controls.

I used a Milwaukee 12" for a few years, that was nice! but it was huge, and weighed about 72 lbs. I had it on a MSUV stand, so that I didn't have to lift it much - mostly just roll it everywhere.

Do some reading on the big new axial glide Bosch, the cut clearance on the right side of the saw is limited - motor gets in the way.
I think there's also an issue with depth of cut when the saw is beveled.

I now have a kapex, light weight, accurate. And I do NOT let the sub's use it for "just one cut" I volunteer to make the cut for them.

On the FOG forum one day I asked how to lock out the saw so no un-authorized folks could use it. The solution? turn the knob that you use to lock the blade when you change blades. If you don't know about it, you won't figure it out. it locks the arbour, and shuts off the motor.


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## Rustbucket (May 22, 2009)

charimon said:


> Exactly In my opinion Makita left alot on the table.
> 
> If they would have raised the motor it would be 100% better. had they made it Convertible-- Think the DW jobsite radio that can run off the plug/charge/run off the batteries seamlessly-- and supplied Senco with batteries for their fusion they may corner a new market


I was getting very confused reading this. Then I looked at what time you posted it:whistling


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## duburban (Apr 10, 2008)

with the kapex out and some serious demands from us users i'm really excited to see the miter saw wars between companies in the future. if we don't see them rabidly addressing our needs it'll be all the more reason to spend the big bucks on a kapex. 

are kapex's staying accurate? mostly i've heard yes but did read that someones was going in and out.


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## charimon (Nov 24, 2008)

Rustbucket said:


> I was getting very confused reading this. Then I looked at what time you posted it:whistling


Hopefully you figured it out. I was responding to Northwood's incite about where Makita placed the motor on the 0714. then i went further off topic about making the small saw run on both 110V and 18V battery and then went further off topic about having makita provide battery's for senco for their fusion guns.




--- I know you think you know what what you heard, what you fail to recognize is, what I said is not what I meant.----


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