Compound Mitre Saw

Can anyone please tell me where I can get a decent budget compound mitre saw from? Not bothered about laser guidance or other fancy bits, I just want something basic and robust.

I just need it for some skirting and other odd jobs.

I bought one from B&Q for ~$30, but it can't cut straight (how one of these manages to cut a curve across every mitred joint I don't know!).

Thanks

Reply to
RayDavis
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I'm in the market for one too. Homebase has a sliding compound mitre saw for £100 (twin rail, feels fairly solid), which is the cheapest I've seen. Does anyone have any experience of it?

Reply to
Tony Eva

Oops. Scrap that, I see that Argos has what looks like the same model for (currently) £70. I've been happy enough with the Challenge Xtreme circular saw I bought from them, maybe I'll take a punt on the mitre saw as well at that price.

Reply to
Tony Eva

It's more than likely to be the blade rather than the saw. These cheap saws are fitted with crap blades, a decent blade will cost more than you paid for the saw. I note that Axminster sell a cheap sliding mitre saw similar to the £99 B&Q single rail job, but they fit a better quality blade which puts another £40 on the price.

Reply to
Kaiser

Thanks for the advice...

I'm looking at the Axminster MS12C (300mm £99)...???

What do you think?

Reply to
RayDavis

It's probably as good as anything in that price range, but if you are looking for real accuracy you will looking around the £300 price range for a

300mm saw. Also they are very bulky and not easily portable, and not worth the extra cost unless you specifically need that little extra capacity..

Personally I would spend another £60 and go for 255mm Makita like the one below.

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Reply to
Kaiser

cut.

Reply to
Mike

He just wants something basic but accurate mainly for cutting skirting boards and other odd jobs. If he was to buy a sliding mitre saw of that quality he would be looking at £400 to £500.

Reply to
Kaiser

I think the OP needs to clarify what he means by "decent" and "budget". IMHO "budget" is

Reply to
Tony Eva

A while back I spent quite some time looking at (S)CMSs.

I had some B&Q jobs (c. £130) that went back due to bent fences and other prob's. However others here have had more success with that brand (and I suspect the models were actually different, the newer ones look much better). Also, I had a Rexon which was great but no slide and the laser adjustment screw sheared off during adjustment.

In the end I decided I wanted the slide and went for a DeWALT DW707, I think you can get these for around £250 mark now sometimes with a supporting stand/table. Its really good and very robust, but double my original budget!

However, when you are done you could probably ebay it and recoup a lot of the cost.

IIRC CMS/SCMS brands on my radar were:

SIP Axminster Charnwood Rexon Ryobi B&Q PP/PPro Wickes Makita - pro = £ Dewalt - pro = £ Metabo - pro = £ Bosch - pro = £

B&Q were doing a good deal on a 10" Ryobi CMS @ £80 a while back, from what I recall the build and blade quality were better than avarage at the price and the stops were very positive.

My advice would be to check out the saws in person and check for:

o Facility to adjust compound/mitre angle stops to at least 45 deg (46-48 better). o Facility to set the blade exactly to 90 deg for crosscut. o Check blade for flexibility and the arbor/collar its attached to for excessive movement. o Check that any preset stops are positive, otherwise they may need to be checked and adjusted a bit during use (which lessens their usefulness). o Check fences are not bent or curved (I used a spirit level as a straight edge in B&Q for that) - if so without clamping the workpiece the timber can turn etc. o Check that the turntable is the same height as the outer table. o Find out the cost of a good quality new blade. o Pick it up and move it around the shop - really. Some saws even at the same weight are more easy to handle than others due the position and orientation of the handle. o Consider dust extraction too ... its the way forward IMO.

HTH,

Alex.

Reply to
AlexW

I have Stayer SC265 (£200) from Machine Mart, bit expensive but cuts perfect right angles and can cut upto 150mm. Handy table saw as well.

Reply to
Ian_m

I'll put the cat among the pigeons and say the =A327 kinzo does that, straight cuts no problem etc.

I hope you took the Bnq one back if it wasnt capable of doing what it was bought for. Seems like we get just complaints on this group about BnQ power tools.

What I found helps with a cheapie like the kinzo is to put the blade down twice. First time cuts, second time shaves off any remainsing sliver to get a dead flat smooth cut.

How does a blade make a curved cut on a bad saw? Maybe the blade is ground wrong and creates sideways forces that bend it as it cuts? I dont know, but the kinzo didnt suffer that problem.

I'm not recommending it as a good saw, but if all you need is straight clean cuts for skirting etc, it does that easily enough.

NT

Reply to
bigcat

I have had this problem on a number of saws, my thoughts although not exhaustively tested are...

1) Workpeice not up against fence, or dodgy fence. Either can result in a slight twist in the timber as the blade enters and/or exits. Clamping helps. 2) Dogdy cheap blades, even if ground OK they can flex under pressure. 3) Excessive movement in the spindle/collar/arbor (whatever its called) which allows the blade to move laterally a bit. 4). Its not curved ... but the saw has not been set up properly with a square etc in both planes.

I think a dull blade would exagerate problems 1-3 of the above.

For me this has manifested as a slight curve right to left, fence to front, top to bottom on the peice.

BTW if any one can tell me what I have been doing wrong ... :-)

Alex.

Reply to
AlexW

Several reasons - it may be a cheap saw like some Wickes hardpoint panel saws I've had, where the teeth have been ground from only one side, leaving a burr on one side of the saw only. This is very sharp, and the saws will cut around corners, being useless even for 2 by 2. Another reason may be that the saw has hit something hard like a nail or a stone, and the teeth are dulled on one side. You can often see this sort of damage/poor sharpening, or even feel it by gently stroking the teeth down one flank or other of the saw blade (care!).

Reply to
Chris Bacon

I would tend to agree with you, that's why I pointed him in the direction of the £159 Makita. He was looking at 300mm Axminster non sliding saw, which IMO would be rather heavy and bulky for general DIY work and a 300mm saw in that price range(£99) has to be a bit suspect.

With the 255mm Makita at least you can be sure that it's of decent quality and there is not that much difference in the cutting capacity, even though as someone pointed out it's not a sliding model, but then neither is the

300mm Axminster.
Reply to
Kaiser

Clamping

pressure.

all circular blades flex under pressure. The user needs to not put enough pressure on them to cause them to misalign - it might possibly be that the problems we're seeing are due to users not appreciating this.

called)

Thats something I'd check before buying a cheapie saw, wasnt a prob with the kinzo, no free movement.

yup... that would be one terrible saw though. =A327 Kinzos arent like that, Ive not played with BnQ stuff.

NT

Reply to
bigcat

this is the main reason I dont buy stuff from sheds. Its not that some of its poor quality, too much is unusable crap.

Yes, a) its the users fault, b) it shouldnt be a problem with tct blades.

NT

Reply to
bigcat

Indeed. Point was that dodgy cheap ones are more susceptible to deflection, as a rule of thumb.

Case in point my DeWalt series 40 on DW707, is better than the Wickes £10 one on my old B&Q jobby. Wickes is actually quite good though for the money (1/5th the price!).

Yup. I have seen some quite good brands do this. Implication is that when the head is angled you are relying on the weight of the head somewhat for stability!

Sounds like a good deal then ... result!

Several of the ones I have played with need a bit of adjustment to get spot on. That does not mean that the saw is bad, just not setup right. It also depends on how square you need things. Like I said in a another part of this thread having a good look at a saw in person is a good idea, IMO.

Its worth checking the setup from time to time, especially if the saw has been handled roughly.

Alex

Reply to
AlexW

No. But a 300mm non-slider will handle most things whereas a 255mm won't quite handle hardwood skirting for example.

Reply to
Mike

Personally I'd trust Axminster not to sell anything 'suspect'. If it's only suitable for DIY use they say so.

Dave

Reply to
David Lang

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