King Mitre Saws

[mick]

Hi folks, wondering if anyone has any experience with King mitre saws? Looking to add a 10" slider to the shop, have a makita cms that i love but can't justify the $ for the makita 10" slider, would love one but...

Won't be a real heavy use tool, the local lumberyard has the King's on sale for $289.00- just wondering if anyone has any personal reviews. I had a King table saw for 15 years and it was a good saw (recently replaced with a ridgid 3660) but haven't used any of their othe r tools.

thanks, mick

[Chris Friesen]

I assume you're in Canada? The King miter saw is from their "King Canada" line, which is not in the same league as their "King Industrial" stuff.

There's a reason why it's under $300 for a slider--you won't get the same precision or tolerences as you would with the big dollar stuff. Try wiggling the handle from side to side at both ends of the slide. Chances are you'll have a fair bit of slop. Check the accuracy of the stops, and whether the fence is 90 degrees to the base.

If it's acceptable to you, then go for it, but be aware that there are corners being cut to reduce the price.

Chris

[Puckdropper]

mick wrote in news:g4j3v4dtj264p6jndu0lelmbvct54aco77@

4ax.com:

I've got a Kobalt $200 SCMS from Lowes. One of the big differences I've noticed between it and more expensive saws was the lack of a dust collection port right behind the blade. It's something to watch out for, especially if you'll be working in a building most the time.

Puckdropper

[Jeffo]

I have two Makita SCMSs (7 1/2" and 10"), the fellow I share my shop with has a King (not sure of the model), but the King realy doesn't compare - nothing as smooth or accurate as the Makita. I would say it all depends on how you want to use the saw, and how often - for occasional rougher use King would do it. There do seems to be some good deals on the Hitachi 8 1/2" right now, but I can't remember where.

HTH, Jeffo

[mick]

Thanks for the responses. I actually picked one up, got it home and tried it out and was completely unimpressed. Couldn't get set up square, the dust bag collected virtually no dust, was a bad experience that has actually got me reconsidering the slider completely. I returned it.

It could be I am spoiled by the Makita as it really is a great little saw- are the "better" sliders comparable, like the Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, Hitachi? Do they make straight, consistent cuts, do the saws stay in tune? Or is there a large trade-off in quality for the convenience of the larger capacity of cut?

I guess I'm wondering if the better sliders are "really" good or if there is a trade-off on cut quality. I'm not doing brain surgery or anything but if I'm going to drop $500.00 on a saw i would like to be confident that I am getting at least as good a saw as I have already...

cheers! Mick

[Gordon Shumway]

I don't know what you mean by "better" but I would certainly not include Dewalt (or Black & Decker and since B&D bought them, Porter Cable) in a "better" category. I had 12" Dewalt, hated it, gave it to my son-in-law and then bought a Makita LS1013. I think it is definitely worth the extra money.

Don't buy cheap and then have to buy again.

G.S.

[Chris Friesen]

By their nature, it's going to be harder to get a slider to be as dead-nuts accurate as a simple CMS. There are simply more moving parts.

On a better slider the play will be less, but generally you're still going to be able to deflect the blade side to side slightly at one extreme of travel or the other. This shouldn't impact 90-degree cuts much, but may come into play on miters.

Chris

[Robatoy]

So much has to do with how they're used as well. One of my guys feels the need to slam the blade through the work. I get a better cut just letting the blade do its thing...nice and easy. I was very happy with the Makita LS1013, but sold it when I simply didn't need it anymore. I now have a dirtbag Crapsman to hack build-up strips with and a 12" DeWalt, just a low-end, but with a great blade and tuned. It fills my need. All the accuracy I need. BUT... I must admit... I have been caught drooling around that whizbang Milwaukee slider...yowsa that's a cool piece. Anybody want to buy a DeWalt 735L?