Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • What £100 Mitre Saw?
  • slackman99
    Free Member

    Evening all,

    Got some skirting to do tomorrow so in the market for a mitre saw. Skirting is 120mm deep, so the saw needs to have a 45deg bevel cut capable of 120mm as a minimum (unless there’s one i’m missing that can handle 120mm deep on the mitre).

    As I could do with it tomorrow, my options are a touch limited, so B&Q, Screwfix, Toolstation, Homebase or Wickes are my options to buy (live in Northampton if anyone knows of any i’ve missed).

    I think my options are:

    Evolution 3: Non sliding, bang on 120mm on the bevel £60
    Evolution Fury 3: Sliding 220mm on the bevel (which would come in more useful at another time, but does the sliding action give accurate angles?)

    Or the Titan or Erbauer offerings from Screwfix (various sliding and non sliding saws all under £100):
    Erbauer Compound Mitre: Non sliding, 139mm cross cut on the bevel £100
    Erbauer Sliding Mitre: Sliding, 233mm and £90
    A couple of similar Titan models?

    Is there an obvious front runner, or something i’ve missed?

    Anyone got any experience of any of the above?

    Realise these aren’t going to be great compared to Dewalt, Makita, Metabo etc, but are they going to be ok for skirting, architrave and laminate flooring?

    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    Can you really not make yourself up a mitre box and use a panel saw ? …..it seems such a waste buying a electric compound mitre saw for just one job. And until about 20 years or so ago, that’s how every skirting mitre in the UK was cut.

    Anyways……I can’t give any opinion on DIY tools based on experience, but I can’t see a problem with “Evolution 3: Non sliding, bang on 120mm on the bevel £60”

    And : “does the sliding action give accurate angles?” The answer is yes. Well with professional tools anyway, I suspect the same applies with DIY, ie, that the sliding action doesn’t make them less accurate.

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    Realise these aren’t going to be great compared to Dewalt, Makita, Metabo etc, but are they going to be ok for skirting, architrave and laminate flooring?

    As long as you realise that, then you’ll be fine. The DIY jobbies are fine for the odd bit of work here and there but tend to go a bit “baggy” with day in, day out usage.

    Go for one with a slide. It’s far more versatile and gives you more options for “nibbling”.

    Last bits of advice (if you’re a bit inexperienced, with skirting and architrave, fit the architrave first (and in this job, fit the head first) and also, leave it as long as you can for as long as you can. Don’t feel you have to go for that killer cut first time 🙂

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    TheFunkyMonkey
    Free Member

    What deadly said. You can always take more off, but never put it back.

    As for a mitre saw, you might get away with 120mm bevel cuts, but you will need to check the blade is square first.

    slackman99
    Free Member

    The other option was a mitre box and tenon saw, but this seems like quite a slow option, that in the past (with a bought mitre box) hasn’t worked great.

    I was thinking the sliding might be more useful.

    I’ll go and have a look at them tomorrow and see what they are like.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    Ive had a Titan one for 4 or 5 years and its been fine. Sure its not pro standard but if you want to double check everything get an angle finder and lock the bevel/deck mitre to that rather than rely on the table notches.

    If you plan on doing more you may want to splash out on a nice blade.

    This fella in fact.

    br
    Free Member

    whatever you buy (and I’d go sliding), before you first use it make sure everything is square (esp. the fence)

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    Stoner feels like a right man when he uses his 🙂 Good advice on the angle finder though.

    In fairness, it should be square enough out of the box. Don’t go messing about with it too much.

    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    The other option was a mitre box and tenon saw, but this seems like quite a slow option, that in the past (with a bought mitre box) hasn’t worked great.

    I wouldn’t use a tenon saw – I’d go for a nice sharp panel saw (Bahco 244)

    http://video.bobvila.com/m/21291653/how-to-build-a-miter-box.htm

    http://www.screwfix.com/prods/60855/Hand-Tools/Saws/Hard-Point-Panel-Saws/BAHCO-244-Handsaw-22

    You can rub candle wax on the saw blade to make it slide easier if you want, but don’t force it – just let the mitre box guide the saw ….. by holding the saw very lightly.

    If you are still keen to buy a compound mitre saw, if I were you, I would stretch my budget and buy a non-sliding professional one like this :

    http://www.google.co.uk/products?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=Hitachi+C10FCE2&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wf

    I have both an original Elu sliding mitre saw, and a Hitachi non-sliding mitre saw. I really like the Hitachi mitre saw, because whilst the Elu weighs a ton and is a real pain to drag around, the Hitachi is unbelievably light – about the same weight as a 9 1/4 inch circular saw. Which makes it ideal for carrying up ladders along scaffolding etc. I tend to use the Hitachi alot even though it has no sliding action. It is ideal for studwork, noggins etc. Both mitre saws use exactly the same blades, and both are 20-25 years old.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    thing is its diddy compared to the big 300mm bugger my mate has left behind for me to use. grrrr.

    Whats even more fun is swapping the old 300m chopsaw blade into the Partner steel saw 😈

    this

    plus this

    😉

    ernie_lynch
    Free Member

    If you plan on doing more you may want to splash out on a nice blade.

    Sharp as always, is very important, and I’m sure I don’t need to remind anyone that ordinary circular blades don’t work – it has to be a mitre saw blade with a negative hook 🙂

    Oh and I forgot to mention in my previous post slackman, have you considered hiring a decent professional mitre saw if you only need it for a couple of days ? At the end of the day, it will do the best job imo.

    maxray
    Free Member

    I’ve got homebase own brand one.. powermax or somethong, can’t quite remember. Used it for skirting etc and now more for chopping smaller diameter logs and making fireword. It was pretty cheap.

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