Thread: Which brand of Compound Sliding Saw

John,

All 3 brands are very good brands. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them.

I personally like Makita. I have their router, drop saw and hand held saw. They are all very reliable. You can get good prices at Bunnings.

Do you really need a sliding saw? It is only good when you have to cross cut wide boards all the time. If not, it might be a high price to pay for occasional use only. A good Makita mitre saw is around $400 but a good Makita sliding saw is over $1,100.

Cheers

I concure with what Wongo has said. I just bought the Makita 255mm Drop saw and I have found it to be awesome. It has handled everything that I have I have used it for. Its accuracy is second to none.

there is a review in the AWR #52

they rank them

1. bosch GCM 10
2. GMC 250 SMS (needs thinner blade)
3. makita LS 1040
4. ryobi EMS 1825L
5. worx WX 18 MSL

the makita gave th best quality cut and is the most portable but for $15 extra will buy you the bosch with its well desighned fence, larger capacity and second best cut of the group.

thats just there opinion.

What Wongo says goes. Like Wongo I think Makita might just edge the others out.

Surf this site. There is heaps of comments relating to your question

Good luck

Two further advantages of a sliding saw over a simple drop saw, besides handling wider widths, are:

• they can cut rebates or trenches across the board
• you can lightly score the top of the wood with the first cut before making a full depth cut. This can help prevent the leading edge of the CS blade from lifting fibres, giving a cleaner cut.

However, to do either properly the slide mechanism should let the arbour move up to (or past) the fence. Many cheap SCMS's won't travel that far... and they'll only score to an inch or so away from the fence.

I don't know which, if any, of the brands mentioned above travel that far... I always try before I buy.

(FWIW, I'm currently stuck with a GMC, which I bought cheaply to do one job and the damned thing just keeps on keeping on. Worse, it does decent cuts. How embarrassing... )

I bought the Makita LS1214B and have not had any issues with it. Fairly quiet, big table and the dust box actually collects dust! I'm also in West. Suburbs in Melb. but bought mine from Sydney Tools- $850 delivered overnight

If you can't justify a Kapex, then go for the LS1214. Magic saw. Get yourself a Blue Mac 60 tooth blade as well. It will make a huge difference to the cut and has a long life.

Rob

Originally Posted by weisyboy

there is a review in the AWR #52

they rank them

1. bosch GCM 10
2. GMC 250 SMS (needs thinner blade)
3. makita LS 1040
4. ryobi EMS 1825L
5. worx WX 18 MSL

the makita gave th best quality cut and is the most portable but for $15 extra will buy you the bosch with its well desighned fence, larger capacity and second best cut of the group.

thats just there opinion.

I bet you the price of the GMC scored it a lot of points.

Thanks to all who gave their views on which CSM to buy, I will check them all a bit closer and let you know which one I bought.

John

The Makita LS1214B is currently on the top of my wish list.

Just letting you all know that I ended up buying the Bosch GCM12-SD, got it for $920 from Sydney tools and that included freight to my door in Melbourne and a bonus spare blade.

Cheers

John

I got my LS1214B yesterday arvo.
Unpacked it this morning.
Ended up costing $980 delivered to Malanda.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

I got my LS1214B yesterday arvo.
Unpacked it this morning.

Cliff, I guess we won't see any posts from you for some time while you play with your new toy. My brother-in-law has one of these and I had a play with it last weekend...I must say that I have never been envious of another man's tool before!

A few people have mentioned that the sliding mechanism is not necessary however, I think it is essential...I would rather slide the saw than slide the wood (that is how my brother almost took his finger off!).

Boy, does this saw cut beautifully...did I mention the tool envy?

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

(FWIW, I'm currently stuck with a GMC, which I bought cheaply to do one job and the damned thing just keeps on keeping on. Worse, it does decent cuts. How embarrassing... )

Same here. I paid $49 for it, just the basic MS, and will upgrade the first time it is not going to be sufficient for what I want to do. Capacity aside, I am puzzled as to the meaning of "precision". Isn't it something that depends on how well you set it? The problem I have found with this machine, for example, is that the blade is 1.5 degrees out of square with the fence so I have to compensate for it when setting angles. The result IMO is as good as any but I freely admit being an amateur who does not know any better. Is this what is meant by "precision"? If this is it, I do not see it as a big deal justifying big $$$ differences. Or is there more to it?