I need a sliding mitre saw as my current mitre saw hasn't the capacity to cut the width I need. And before any one says 'do it manually', I have 5 rooms worth of skirting to do (and I've just fitted 120m of flooring) plus many other 'tasks'.
So looking around I reckon I need a minimum 250mm blade and an ability to cut mitre's from both sides (mainly as I'm not trained, just DIY, so struggle with 'angles'...). I was thinking of a max of £300, or are the £120 ones decent enough? I'd like trenching ability too. Any thing else I should consider?
My current one is a Ferm and I'll be keeping, probably for fire-wood duties. The saw will be attached to this stand (which I can absolutely recommend):
All the chippies on sites i work on use dewalt saws with the foldable stand, they all swear by them, they have makita and bosch hire ones on site that never get used only for cutting scrap ends for everyones log burners, they seem to run slower also.
My dads dewalt is a beast i like it, i did exactly as you - all my skirtings and door trim in the living room and bedroom with it
I then bought an evolution rage 255 slider from screw fix as i couldnt be borrowing my dads. Every weekend
Its been more than adaquate for my needs - working my way through the house doing skirtings etc its not pro quality it might not last for ever but it was 160 quid as opposed to about 500 quid for the dewalt and stand.
Best part is cutting up junk wood - nails dont matter.
http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/metabo-kgs254m-254mm-sliding-mitre-saw-2-p148704
Good buy, reduced quite a bit. I've got a dewalt non slider which is good, makita non slider which is pants and an older metabo ( Electra beckam ) slider which is good.
Get a decent blade, whatever you buy.
What have you got against the bishop's hat 😛
essentially.... you need to try get your hands on a saw if its a sliding one, rather than buy on line - pull the saw back on the rails and drop the blade down into the slot and see how much twist and slop the there is. Some saws, even expensive ones are pretty shocking. Some cheap ones can be a real surprise - I picked up a B&Q own brand one years ago (£120 reduced to £60) which was absolutely spot on but since then I've always bought non-slidey ones as I've not seen work as well.
For clean, accurate, presentable cuts I've be more tempted to spend money on a better made saw with a bigger blade than on the complexity of a sliding blade.
DeWalt is outside my price range, thanks.
I'd looked at the Metabo, but one of the reviews I read suggested to go for the Plus version, also found this:
And thoughts?
EDIT
[i]essentially.... you need to try get your hands on a saw if its a sliding one, rather than buy on line - pull the saw back on the rails and drop the blade down into the slot and see how much twist and slop the there is. Some saws, even expensive ones are pretty shocking. Some cheap ones can be a real surprise - I picked up a B&Q own brand one years ago (£120 reduced to £60) which was absolutely spot on but since then I've always bought non-slidey ones as I've not seen work as well. [/i]
Agree, but I live a bit rural, and there is pretty much nothing around us. And I found this once with one in a Screwfix, but it was hard to see whether it'd just been badly assembled in-store.
If you dont mind buying manufacturer refurbished there's this one, granted it's only a 216mm blade but that is ample for most tasks, it will certainly handle skirting, achitraves, flooring etc.
I'm a carpenter by trade, its the saw I use and it's fantastic.
It will only bevel cut one way but that isn't a problem if you just think about how you want the cut to work beforehand.
It will cut 2 degrees the other way which can be a handy feature for under cutting skirting against architraves etc.
Edit OOPS a link might help!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DeWALT-DW712N-DW712-1600W-240V-216MM-Sliding-Trenching-Compound-Mitre-Saw-/140814189549?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item20c92e03ed
just take online reviews with a pinch of salt .
the ones i found stated that the saw i have had loads of slop in it from the box and that it couldnt cut angles with the odd good review.
turns out that its just not plug in and play , and needs a bit of calibration - as explained in the manual - now its just plug in and play and cuts angles just dandy
as macruiseiskeeen says go play 😀
I did all the skirts and architraves in our Victorian terrace. The house had to be gutted but we decided to match what was taken out. So like you I needed a larger sliding saw I went for one of [url= http://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution-rage3-fp2552-255mm-compound-mitre-saw-230v/26612 ]these[/url]. It's not got the double bevel you want but I managed to do the whole house and like you I'm just a DIY-er.
The cuts were clean and straight, the blade can go through different material so it's quite versatile. For the price it did what I needed well.
I found that the bevel wasn't all that handy as hardly any of the corners were right angles. I'd have to use a plane to open up the angle greater than 45 degrees.
I found that the bevel wasn't all that handy as hardly any of the corners were right angles. I'd have to use a plane to open up the angle greater than 45 degrees
Thats another plus point of the dewalt saw I linked to. Bevel capacity is from 48 to -2 degrees a feature which you are unlikely to find on cheaper saws, comes in very handy as corners are quite often less/more than 90 degrees.
pocketrocket
Ok you seem to know what you are talking about 🙂 Having just been looking at my current saw (a Ferm 250mm) and thinking of what I need to do over the next 3 years or so (skirting/doors etc, kitchen (including using wood I've reclaimed), custom french doors (odd size) and then convert an outbuilding into a one-bed annex - I'm really of the opinion I need something bigger than 216mm. I also want trenching and hear what you say about the need for +45 degrees. Is the SIP one I linked to any good, or could you suggest something else (£300ish)?
I also realise that tools need setting up (my cheap one is straight as a die because I've got it mounted and setup).
I couldn't honestly comment on the SIP one having never used one myself, looks ok though, although it doesn't have the double bevel feature you say you wanted.
TBH the moment you go into the 12" blade category at £300 (and having had a quick scour of the web) all the saws seem much of muchness, so as someone mentioned earlier its probably best to go and get a "hands on" feel for one. Just check that there's not too much deflection in the sliding mechanism and that it's joined to the base by a decent amount of casting, it all helps it stiffen up and get those accurate cuts you want.
The Evolution range always seem to get favourable reviews, but, again having never used one I couldn't honestly comment on them, what I do know is that having used cheaper saws in the past nothing even comes close to my Dewalt, yes they are expensive, but they're expensive for a reason.... after all, would you want to go MTB'ing on a Halfords special? 😉
[i]yes they are expensive, but they're expensive for a reason.... after all, would you want to go MTB'ing on a Halfords special? [/i]
True, but I ride an On One 456Ti, so looking for VFM with the right spec.
I need to look more it seems...
out of interest, why a 12" blade, what are you going to be cutting thats 4 inches thick!?
Edit
Ignore me, just noticed you want a 250mm minimum
This would probably be a good starting point, you should be able to have a play instore as well.
Have fun!
It's funny but nobody will go near DeWalt/Black and Decker junk (as it's known) around here. It's always Makita at the mid price point.
aye but stereo types are like that .....
Well yeah that and being full of plastic internal components 😀
[i]out of interest, why a 12" blade, what are you going to be cutting thats 4 inches thick!?[/i]
tbh I'm not sure I will need to cut anything 4x4, but if I have to I'll be well ar5ed if I have to bodge/manual. Still looking at stuff...
For your budget the double bevel evolution will be spot on.
As a Diy-er it's not like you'll be using it anywhere near as much as a chippy. I did all the skirts in our Victorian terrace (3 bedrooms, hallways, bathroom, kitchen diner and through lounge) plus all the architraves, shelves in the alcoves with mine.
It's done quite a bit outside as well, building raised beds, fitting guttering and drain pipes, cutting up scrap wood and metal etc all with the same blade.
I'm planning on doing decking next summer as well and I know it'll be up to that as well. I did look at more recognised brands but for the budget the evolution was the one for me.
Thats what i though with the saws dewalt/black&decker are normally pants but the saws seem to be all excellent in quality and features, thus every joiner on our sites and others iv worked on all use dewalt, a brand fire new makita showed up on site for a spare hire use, 3 cuts on joists and it shit its internals all over the show and smoke out of the motor, like above theres a reason why they use them, a refurb one with 12 month warranty will come in buget, the rage saws are good dont get me wrong but theyre like a mr2 kit car ferrari, look good and cost less but not quite right for the job and youd much rather have a 2nd hand ferarri, and on our site theyre used constantly for 12 hours per day 6 days per week.
After lots of surfng and reading what you guys are saying, I wondering if the best thing is to get the refurb Dewalt as linked above. And then if I need to chop 4x4 and the like, buy a big cheap cut-off saw when needed...
Big phil speaks sense
I have an evolution because a it was cheap b i have access to a dewalt when i am boing a bucket load of mitring
If we are honest most of the time its a lazy mans cut off saw.
That and i can hack up bar and pipe when im playing welder fabricitng replacement panels and chassis parts it can do that too
Its definantly a jackof all master of none but you also need to remember your a diyer and not every tool in your arsenel needs to be tradesman approved and used on site 24/7 7 days a week.
But the dewalt is the puppy when it comes to mitre saws and theres no doubt aboutit its head and shoulders above my rage. ( not the extra 400 quid im afraid though )
At your budget nothing will come close to the Dewalt.
The only time I have ever found the smaller blade to be a problem is cutting newel posts which are 90mm, then I just simply flip em over and carry on cutting from the other side.
The only thing I've just noticed is that it comes with a 24tooth blade which although will work perfectly well will probably be a bit coarse for skirting, architraves etc you'd want to change this for a decent quality 48 tooth one instead (sorry I know it just keeps getting more expensive!)
Somebody is selling a lightly used second hand one with spare blades though I think his price is a bit high considering you get 12 months warranty with the refurb one.
Buy cheap buy twice...... The dewalt will cover all bases in one and after use a bigger resale price tag, they buy the dewalt because it works end of, most of the lads own festool and have paid the 1.6k for the festool mitre saw, returned it and bought the dewalts instead, mind you they cant stand the dewalt cordlesses, but i just pass on what i know personally, i used to work for a large hire company as a service engineer, i had one dewalt saw in all my 5 years there, the problem??? Replace the led light in the top guard...... I had countless elu, makita, hitachi, bosch all in with bits falling off, motors toasted, blades bent and embedded into guards, dewalt just seemed to have their saws bang on, and believe me im a hitachi man for all my other tools and wont purchase a dewalt item other than the radio and chop saws. Just experiance and seeing the abuse they take.
On site you will find this one
which I heavily recommend [url= http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dw777-gb-216mm-sliding-mitre-saw-240v/83532 ]Dewalt mitre saw[/url]
I've got an Evolution compound slide mitre saw and its done loads of work for me including oak sleepers. Just make sure it's square and set up before you start using the various angle features or your 45 degree frame joints will need filler!
I've used the Evolution one quite a lot, it's maybe higher hassle (more setup/recalibration) than others but for my use that's fine. The versatility of it's been excellent, cutting other materials etc.
And having surfed to death, I'm now thinking on the cheaper Dewalt as I can use my router for trenching.
£247 recon (or £286 new), saves nearly £100 over the recon DW712 - before I buy, anyone stop me?
Perfectly good saw, I have used one of these as well, just not quite so nice to use and has 30mm less crosscut, also I think it lacks the ability for the -2 degree undercut, but will bevel to 48 degrees which is very handy.
It will be accurate out of the box though and should be plug and play, although you'll still want to change the blade for skirtings etc, for something with a finer cut.
Sod it, went for the 712 🙂
Thanks for the advice guys.
Enjoy. Wish i could justify it 🙂
Seems expensive now, but with the amount of work you have planned I bet you wont regret it.
As trail rat says enjoy! 🙂
piddle, sounds like I was a little late to the party.
I've got a [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Makita-LS1013-Sliding-Compound-Electric/dp/B00074EJNS ]Makita LS1013[/url] that I've used for a recent house refurb, but can't justify keeping. Anyone else interested? 😉
bu99er, and I like Makita 🙄
I'm waiting on the seller to give me a combined price (saw plus blades), so if they don't hurry up - please email (EIP) me pictures/price/location.
The 712 turned up yesterday, lovely bit of kit - and pretty much brand new with only the box looking s/h. And every thing straight.
Only thing I can't work out is how you turn the knob right at the back for the extra -ve degrees for a bevel (even read the instructions)?
You will have to lean the saw to the left slightly then turn the knob.
Ta, eventually I found it - not obvious though.
I've put a 60T blade in it and done my first perfect skirting corner 🙂 Well chuffed. Thanks for the advice.
Just glad you like it after spending all that money!
Enjoy 😀