Thread: compound sliding mitre saw

Matt, just like with any second hand purchase, you might just as easily be buying a gem as a dog. I'd be looking long and hard at the tool, looking for flex in the table and arm mounts, and wear or play in the sliding mechanism. Does the saw carriage lower and slide smoothly? Does the guard retract & return properly? Are the table or guard damaged? Is the fence @ exactly 90 degrees to the turntable surface? Is the (lowered) blade also perpendicular to both the fence and turntable when locked @ 90 degrees?

Makita make a fine saw. It's generally one of the more robust saws available on the market. But what of the saw's provenance? A week on a building site is like a year in a DIY workshop. There are much more accurate new saws available, i.e. Festool. However Festools can't cope with hard work. At a local TAFE workshop all seven Festools have failed at the hands of the students & apprentices, whereas the Makitas have only required occasional repairs & adjustments to fences and guards through hamfisted use.

Have a good look. Ask relevant questions. Check out the tolerances. If it checks out and the price is right, then buy it. You can always resell it at a later date if it doesn't perform to expectations. Buy a new saw, however, and you'll be guaranteed to be paying much more, and still only have a similar resale value at the end of the day.

Thanks ratbag, really good advice. I will check it out thoroughly before purchase.
Matt

Matt

If you get the opportunity, check out a brand new saw (Hardware stores) first to assess the level of wear in your second hand model. I am assuming this model is still made as I have not checked.

Regards
Paul

Makita are def the way to go for cutting tools. In terms of size and price though, do you really need it to be sliding? The non sliding ones are a hell of a lot cheaper with not a huge loss of cutting width. I personally find that most angled cuts are in smaller stock anyway and larger non-compound angled cuts are easily achieved with a tablesaw and a digital angle meter. You could probably get a 305mm dropsaw for less than a 10 inch scms. Depends what you really need I guess.

Hey Matt,

I agree with Yowie. Why the slider? I've got both slider and fixed and frankly I grab the fixed most often.
It's a budget thing... If you've got heaps of money you can have all the bells and whistles but you don't *need* them to produce great work.

If the budget is tight I'd recommend a *new* fixed saw- definately Makita or Bosch and then use the rest of your money for
1) a great blade for that saw
and
2) with whatever money is left over on your table saw- and don't forget to upgrade the blade in that too.

If a sliding miter saw is say $1300- then I'd spend $300 on the fixed 235mm drop saw and the $1,000 on the table saw...

You'll get much more versatility from that setup.
Apart from the ability to back cut a wide peice I wonder why you'd want the slider? A lot of extra money for arguably little practical increase in versatility?

BTW with a slider the main use is cutting multiple peices at once to a fixed length- like nogs. Only rarely do I find myself back cutting a wide peice to length on the slider- very rarely.
There's many ways to skin a cat but it's true all dock saws are *best* for trimming to length. Any trenching, tenons, etc are best (easier, more accurately, safer, etc) done with other tools like router and table saw, etc.

Andrew

Hey Matt,

I've managed to post less than one post a year for every year I've been on here and today you've got two posts in one day. No idea wot that means- but it amused me.

Actually, I've only been a professional tradesman and woodworker for the last30 years... so I'm not wise *yet* but I have learned a thing or two which I'd like to pass on; if you're interested.

I've bought cheap crap and top shelf gear. Never once regretted buying top shelf gear, once I got past the price. But remember; this is my living not just a part time hobby so it's 'horses for courses.'

Lesson 1) *If* you intend using the tool more than once in a blue moon- Buy the best quality you can afford.

Next- Have the task or use *clearly* in mind *before* you buy the tool. I used to buy *the biggest* and *most multi-function* super gizmo model of every kind- thinking it would be *super multi-purpose* and 'do-everything.'
Well, I've mellowed.
Now I tend to buy the smallest, lightest and job specific tool I can- that will do exactly what I want it to do.
Let me relate the drop saw above- Years ago I would have recommended the 12inch Makita SCMS cause it will *do everything*. I even bought a Metabo Secanta with this 'do-everything' mentality. But it's *Overkill* with a capital 'O'.

With your SCMS- do you really *need* all that capacity? I'm not knocking the tool itself- just trying to get you to *really* ask yourself if you will use that tool to above maybe 10-15% of it's capacity? Not once off- will you use it regularly day in- day out? If you're not using the tools capacity you are wasting your money when it could be better used elsewhere.
Why spend $1,000- to $1,300- on a tool that for $265- on special you can buy a Bosch 10" fixed drop saw that will handle 90-95% of what you need to cut on the SCMS??? Get a good blade and you won't need to 'back-cut'.

Out on site, unless I've got more than 20-30 cuts to do at once I actually use a tape measure, pencil, plastic 200mm roofing square and a 5" circular saw to do dock cuts. It's not a competition- I'm just trying to get you to understand the principle that buying the best quality tool you can afford that will do *most* of what you want will be a tool that you use more often, with more comfort and more enjoyment.

On a small budget- have a look at this guys setup...

www.paulkhomes.com

Go to Ron's YouTube channel and check out the Ultimate Mitrestand and Ultimate Worktable he has designed/built.

Now sure Ron uses Festo Kapex, etc but I'm showing the way he uses the table and stand to do his work... In particular check out the way the table saw is set-up. You don't need to spend many thousands to create high end results. This is simple, efficient, accurate, reliable, etc, etc.

The moral here is that Ron has the budget to buy the biggest, bestest, etc but from experience he has learned simple efficiency with quality tools works best.

On a budget... I'd recommend building these items yourself and in doing so you will gain much confidence. If you want to expand later you can buy the fancy cabinet saw, etc, if you want to.
From here I would recommend you buy a hot glue gun and learn how to build/use jigs- for your router, circular saw, planer, etc. Unless you are planning on going into production there isn't a peice of fine furniture you can't build with a few good quality hand/ hand held-power tools and some simple jigs.
Learn to enjoy the journey as much as the final destination and you'll never look back.
It's a sticky-trap to get sucked into the 'latest', 'fastest', 'biggest' thinking when it comes to tools.

Good luck and all the best,

Andrew.

well said andrew.

i have learnt the same lessons as you when it comes to buying tools for construction.

i first saw the ultimate work bench on the festool owners group forum website.
i am currently building that very bench for cutting down sheet goods.
it will be perfect for cutting down poly board foam onsite which we use for exterior cladding.
i always had trouble using saw stools in the past and paul's work bench design is a ripper!

i dont know about you, but its very quiet here on the gold coast, very little work at the minute.
i sure hope it picks up soon!

by the way, congrats on the stats!
one post per year is a great effort!

regards, justin.

Originally Posted by Andrew Nicholls

...I've managed to post less than one post a year for every year I've been on here and today you've got two posts in one day....

It was a worth while post, thanks.