I'm thinking of adding a sliding mitre saw to my workshop tools, which ostensibly I want to get a stand for so that I can also use it on site as required.
There are various models to choose between, so I wondered whether anyone had a recommendation?
I'm really looking in the sub £150 range as it will be an occasional use tool rather than heavy duty.
PoP
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I took a brief look at Axminster's one (AWSMS10 £139) at their show in November. For the price. I didn't think it was bad - the carriage was reasonably solid. THe sliding action was acceptable as well. I didn't try it powered, though. They rate it as light trade which probably would match what you are looking for in terms of use.
They are delivering it with a CMT thin kerf blade which is a good blade.
A mitre saw is a tool where you can improve the results with a decent blade. For my first chop saw, I bought a Delta for about £150 (compounf mitre only). It's not a bad saw for the money, but the blade was crap. I put a CMT blade on that and improved the cutting results quite a bit.
The Axminster saw doesn't have lights and lasers like some of the products on offer. Frankly, I think that they are a gimmick. The type of laser here is not going to provide for a precision set up. It might save a bit of time on a construction site where being a mm or so out perhaps doesn't matter. On the other hand, one would probably be using a rather heavier weight machine.
In terms of use, I think you might be surprised how much use it does get. I have a Makita that I bought a few months ago and tend to use it quite a bir more than I thought that I might.
I only know one for that price, and that's the Axminster. It's cheap because it only has one guidebar and a roller to stop twist, rather than a two bar mechanism. Given the poor quality of the other Axminster "white" portable tools, I'm not touching it.
If you get one, make sure it has a reasonable depth stop, to allow trenching and halved joints to be sawn. Otherwise (unless you're a staircase builder and you need the width) you can save a lot of money and just get a non-slider as a chop saw,
I have just bought the B&Q PPPro one (laserline) and am very pleased. I bought the £99 one - no depth stop, but the £129 one has it. Slide mechanism is very smooth and the "laser" guide was also helpful,
I am but a recent convert to a (motorised) mitre saw. I was in Homebase several months ago and they had one of these £30 specials on the way to the checkout, so I bought one.
It's as tacky as they come but it serves a useful purpose for chopping up stock material. Non-sliding variety though.
Now that I've got the idea of what these chop saws are about I'm looking to get something a bit more substantial. And I was looking at the Axminster £139 jobbie too.....
PoP
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My experience of a B&Q PowerPro router are legendary on this forum so I guess I have reason to be distrusting of the brand. :)
But I will take another look - thanks for the heads-up!
PoP
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I'm on my fifth one. It is a great product to use but fails on the bearing or mains switch. So back it goes for a replacement - and you get a new free blade. And if you get really pissed off with it you can get your money back and have had six months free hire :-)
Generally these tools are pretty good for the price EXCEPT for the b****y switches. Why can't they put decent ones on ? Have had to replace sanders (3) and plane (2) as well. Drill is going on well but the batteries don't hold charge as well as they used to.
Not forgetting what it's cost you in fuel and time going back and forth for replacements.
Bear in mind that there is no spare parts provisioning for these products. I have this from their help line. If the switch fails outside warranty then you sling the tool.
Hmmmm...... you might find that standard cells fit.....
I was particularly thinking about laminate flooring, which is now starting to feature on my "can do, will do!" list. I've got a manual mitre saw which I do use for on-site work, but I'm not sure that it'll be good enough if I have to do a large area of laminate flooring. It'll do it for sure, but multiply the number of cut's by a large enough number and you get into justification territory.
Plus I do use the bench-mounted mitre (not sliding) saw in my garage and find it to be a god-send when I'm carving up shelf supports and the like. I could mount that on a mobile stand and take it out with me, but as it is a non-sliding variety it does limit the width and breadth of materials that it can deal with.
For £30 I consider it was a good buy even though it is crap. But I feel I need something a bit more capable for "serious" work.
PoP
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What brought it to mind was that I was looking at the size of my Makita saw in terms of if I needed to take it anywhere in the back of my wife's Freelander. Admittedly this is the LS1013 which has a large turntable, but it would take up a good third of the space in the back of the car. The Axminster saw has a smaller size turntable and a piece projecting forward to allow for the slide action, so at least you could fit things round it.
Easily, and with flooring it is important to get the ends clean and square (I was going to say very square, but that's a nonsense just like very unique - it either is or it isn't).
I was going to suggest thinking about pooling the money from a sliding mitre saw purchase and getting a reasonable contractor's table saw, then using a sledge running in a slot to do crosscuts. The trouble is that again they get reasonably large and heavy, so I am not sure whether it would fit your bill. I have a DeWalt 744 which does at least have a cast alloy table and a rack and pinion fence, so doesn't suffer from the fence problems of the basic models. That will go into the back of the Freelander and is just about luggable with care. Before I had the Makita saw, I used it a lot with a sledge that I made for cross cutting. Unfortunately, in the UK they are about £600 and I think one could get better value at this price point. I got mine in the U.S. for about $450 which was a very good deal.
If you go for a mitre saw, one of the folding stands is a good investment.
I bought a DeWalt one (DW723) a couple of years ago. This is a sturdy aluminium affair with slide out supports/end stops and clip on bars that fit the saw. I bought some spare bars so that I can fit other small machines onto it when needed. I use this a lot when working outside and the stops work very effectively when cutting repeat lengths of material.
Several others have copied the design and produced reasonably inexpensive versions -- e.g. Axminster AWMSS.
My Freelander is the bane of my life. You put a shoebox in the back (with the seats folded down/up) and you've just about got enough room to add another toolbox.
I want a new vehicle. I've been looking at the X-Trail because at least with that the rear seats fold flat - the Freelander is crap because when you lower the seats they stand up vertically against the front seats.
I have thought about it, but it didn't really register as an alternative for me.
I joined CostCo a short time ago, they do a universal stand for a mitre saw. Axminsters is cheaper though - and they deliver for free.
That's the one.
PoP
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