Choosing a mitre saw

[slepax]

Hi Guys,

I asked a question about mitre saws couple of days ago, after finding all the details I'm a bit confused which one to buy. I have narrowed my list into three options, written below with pros and cons for each:

GMC LSMS210 ($224)
Just enough for what I need. Right price, right size, have all the nice thingys to make your life easy. Probably requires replacing the stock blade with something finer.

Pros - price, dual rail, dual laser, medium size (210mm)
Cons - medium size (210mm), 1600w motor, 24T blade

GMC LSMS250 ($299)
Except for the price, it has everything I need and more. Supplied with two blades.

Pros - large size (250mm), 2400W motor, dual rail, dual laser, easy depth lock mechanism, warranty covers trade use, supplied with two blades (40T, 60T),
Cons - price

Ryobi EMS2025SCL ($276)
Somewhere in the middle, and so is the price.

Pros - price, large size (254mm), 2000W motor, dual rail, large cutting area (90x305)
Cons - single laser, no depth lock mechanism (can be tweaked to have one), 40T blade


I am just beginning with wood working, and I truly believe the 210mm is more than enough for me. I can always buy a circular saw for larger jobs if need.

But I have this feeling people don't like GMC, don't know why, just a certain vibe around the name. I asked one of the trade guys at Bunnings that I know pretty well, he told me fair and square I should go with the Ryobi, although not as flashy it is better value for money.


So .. what I'm basically asking .. what are you thoughts?

Thanks.

Ronen

[Barry_White]

Hi Ronen

As I said in my other post I have a Ryobi and I am pretty happy with it. Mine is an earlier mode with only a single slide rail. I paid $299.00 for mine.

I can't comment on the GMC because I have never used one and it is probably about the same quality of the Ryobi but in my opinion I would go for the 10 inch saw because as you say you may not need the extra but there will be a time when you will need it and you will curse the fact that you don't have the extra depth of cut.

Like all the cheap saws you will need to get a 60 tooth blade to make cleaner cuts. With the original blade it is nearly as bad as cutting with a chainsaw.

[echnidna]

I'd suggest you get a saw that can cut (approx) 300mm wide boards.
The small gmc is limited in its width of cut so I'd go for the bigger GMC saw.

Some of the inhabitants here have so much loot they can afford to buy the best of anything without batting an eyelid, so some of them can gmc coz its below their station in life. oops, did I just say that

GMC is good value for money.

[felixe]

I had a GMC 10 inch SCMS with a 2400w motor, probably the version previous to yours.
I used it intermittently (weekends) and one month after the warranty expired the drive shaft went "bang" on a hardwood picket! I rang GMC and they told me it would cost more to repair than to replace.

Oh well, you get what you pay for!

I never replaced it as I had bought a delta 10inch table saw 3 months prior and so I bought the incra 1000se to handle my compound mitre cuts - and it was money well spent, I don't miss it a bit.

I appreciate that your budget is probably $300 so I won't try to tell you to pay $1000 for a good SCMS, rather I will say don't be dissapointed if it dies on you.

Otherwise if you can afford it go to Glenfords as they have a table saw on sale for $600, or buy a bandsaw as both are better value for money within the budget you have set yourself.

I think SCMS are over-rated!

[SilentButDeadly]

Given your budget........grab the smaller GMC and, like Barry says, use the extra dollars to buy a decent saw blade - in my experience this is where the saw suppliers (even some of the good ones) cut corners to maximise margins.

[dazzler]

Hi Ronen

GMC is a budget brand. Often people bag it out because they pay peanuts for them and expect them to perform like more expensive brands . They are the Hyundai excel of the power tool world.

My 2c;

If you just want a saw that cuts things and are not worried about accuracy then the GMC is great value.

If you want accuracy time after time then you need makita / hitachi / archer / bosch / etc and will have to pay for it.

[Gags_17]

Gday shepax i have numerous gmc tool almost 20 and they have all been pretty good for what i use them for although now im starting to outgrow them they were great to just start out with and if you wreck it is ok because it didnt cost as much a Hitachi makita etc..
i have the earlier model scms and it is pretty good although let it do the work because if you are a bit rough through the cut they wont be square the saw moves slightly on the long arm and ruins your cut,

[Manix77]

G'Day Slepax

My two bob's worth.

I had a GMC LMS250, I did everything I could to try and get it to cut a square 90 degree mitre. It couldn't do it. I wouldn't have thought of myself as particularly pedantic but i was very disappointed with the results. In the end I was getting much more accurate cuts using a circular saw and a straight edge cutting guide.

I ended up buying a 10" Makita and have never looked back. Yes, it cost me 3 x what the GMC did but I can now make VERY accurate cuts. In other words the saw does what I expect.

Like some of the others have said here, if you just want rough cuts then the GMC will do fine. If you want to cut once and accurately then I'm afraid the GMC may be a disappointment.

I hope that helps.

regards

Manix

[bucket1]

I have a Ryobi machine and here are my thoughts on it. Once the blade was replaced with a decent one (approx $100) its cutting performance improved dramaticly, but it has two things about it that give me the sh...s.
First off it has no depth gauge, a must have for doing any trenching for joints. The other very annoying feature is that the angle stops are far from positive so you cannot rely on the markings for accuracy.
These features dont seem to be directly related to price but are much less likely to be a problem on a much dearer machine.

[Frank&Earnest]

Interesting. I was wondering about the bagging of cheap tools and the socioeconomics involved. I believe I am not tight, finance is not a problem, but I am not anally retentive about accuracy and have other things in life I like to spend money on besides woodworking (don't mention to me the prices airlines charge when you are not able to book months in advance). In the last couple of years I bought a small GMC mitre saw, GMC circular saw and Ozito hammer drill, for less than $80 each.

The Ozito managed to get some good reviews in these pages, laced with an ample dose of surprised incredulity, but GMC has been constantly bagged.

Both my saws so far have worked perfectly. The blades cut very cleanly: I have managed to shave 1.5 metres long 1mm veneers out of 50mm thick jarrah with the circular saw, and the mitre saw has always worked equally well. I discovered early that the mitre guide was one degree off but I did not bother trying to recalibrate it: just need to remember to allow for it when setting the angle for the cut.

Of course, if my income depended on it, and the cost was tax deductible, I would opt for the "professional" range: but for hobbyists, I do not think these tools are disappointing. Or I have just been very lucky.

[munruben]

Hi Guys,

I asked a question about mitre saws couple of days ago, after finding all the details I'm a bit confused which one to buy. I have narrowed my list into three options, written below with pros and cons for each:

GMC LSMS210 ($224)
Just enough for what I need. Right price, right size, have all the nice thingys to make your life easy. Probably requires replacing the stock blade with something finer.

Pros - price, dual rail, dual laser, medium size (210mm)
Cons - medium size (210mm), 1600w motor, 24T blade

GMC LSMS250 ($299)
Except for the price, it has everything I need and more. Supplied with two blades.

Pros - large size (250mm), 2400W motor, dual rail, dual laser, easy depth lock mechanism, warranty covers trade use, supplied with two blades (40T, 60T),
Cons - price

Ryobi EMS2025SCL ($276)
Somewhere in the middle, and so is the price.

Pros - price, large size (254mm), 2000W motor, dual rail, large cutting area (90x305)
Cons - single laser, no depth lock mechanism (can be tweaked to have one), 40T blade

I would go the 250mm GMC seeing as you have narrowed it down to a choice of 3 saws. Neither one, are what you might call top quality saws so in that respect, quality- wise they are about on par. The small GMC is going to need another blade so you have to consider the cost for that, will bring the price up close to the big GMC by the time you add that on. The Ryobi, well like I say, this is no better quality than the GMC and for the sake of $23.00, is it really in the race.? Believe me there will be times when you will appreciate the larger blade of the GMC. Not the best saw in the world but considering the price and what you are getting, I think its the best option in this case.

[dazzler]

I would put Ryobi ahead of GMC for quality

[spokeshave]

I have a Ryobi SCMS with single slide & 10in blade that has done lots of work and is still going strong. First thing i did was change the original blade for a better quility one. Six years on and all is good.

But i only use it for rough cutting of boards. Its pretty hopeless for very accurate cuts. I have spent ages squaring it up but there is too much flex in the mountings from slide to handle that just by pulling the saw down kills any chance a nice square cut.

As said by others, if you just want to cut things to rough length, then brand may not matter but for accurate cutting, you get what you pay for.

Good luck with what ever you choose.