Missed out on the Lidl one the other week and now I have an itch.
Anyone recommend a cheap sliding mitre saw? Would you buy this?
Reviews are mixed but its either that or stick to my current hand one which is an effort, time consuming and doesn't yield fantastic results anyway.
TIA
Don't know about that one, but I am keen on Evolutions. I have a single bevel and a hand-held circular saw. They come with a blade that will, within reason, cut metal which I find handy. Fine for dexion, also when chopping up old fencing for firewood it doesn't matter if they meet nails and screws.
Pricing is very fluid, you sometimes find "seconds" at very good prices.
I admit I'm not doing "fancy" carpentry with mine.
It all comes down to how accurate the slide is. I looked at some a few years ago and found the cheapies all had too much waggle so treated myself to a Bosch. The Bosch is great BUT the laser guide needs frequent cleaning and the motor/gearbox is a bit noisy. I recently replaced the original blade with a "Makita B-09058 216mm x 30mm x 60T Makblade" - this is a huge improvement on what I'd thought was good. I use a non-sliding Evolution chop saw for metal cutting - it works well enough but it's brutal and wouldn't be accurate enough for decent woodwork.
Conventional wisdom suggests that "cheap" and SCMS don't really make good bed fellows, since what you need from a SCMS is accuracy and rigidity, and that normally implies a solid heavy construction with high quality sliding bearings - neither of which usually come cheap.
IMHO, looking for a decent one second hand one might get your a better saw for the money.
(there are some Auctions on ebay starting < £100 for Makita SCMS at the moment - you can quite often get a good deal on a 110V one as those will frighten off many casual users even though you can pick up 110V site transformers cheaply)
I needed to cut some sleepers that my circular saw couldn't handle, got a no-name sliding mitre saw from Cromwell Tools, it was better than expected, but developed a couple of niggles such as blade guard getting stuck after cut, mum treated me to a decent Makita saw in "payment" for fitting their new kitchen, it is noticeably more sturdy and gave cleaner cuts on skirting/architrave, so it depends what you'll use it for really?
I have an earlier version of that saw and I have to say surprisingly produces good clean cuts but then a lot comes down to the quality of the blade, I am currently using a Saxton blade in mine and it is not showing any sign of raggedly cuts. As for the sawing machine itself it has been in use for 15+ years but in recent times has started to go through carbon brushes at a rate. Other criticism is the adjustment for angular cuts, there are locations for most of the common angles which the tightening handle goes into, holes or the end of the handle have worn over time so you cannot guarantee just sliding into position and tightening the handle without visually checking the indicator. The tilt mechanism leaves a lot to be desired but having said all that I have produced accurate perpendicular, mitre and compound cuts by just taking time to set it up correctly and always using a test piece before committing to final cuts. On mine the laser guide packed up years ago not that I ever use them on any machinery so no loss it was never that accurate and a PITA to adjust. On the version pictured the angle settings look a lot more positive with tooth like notches and a sprung handle to locate in them.
Richard
I've got one of them. I wouldn't be without it. Very good value. Downsides: The laser guide is crap. The thing that locks the cutting angle isn't very precise, so I set the angle externally (that works fine). Basically, this isn't a fantastically precise instrument, but with skill it's possible to get very good results from it.
Bill
Yes, I second all that.
Bill
I've had three over the years. Current one a Makita with a 305mm blade - which will cut a 12" plank in one go. And when set to say 45 degrees, is as near as dammit spot on.
They are one of those things where you very quickly get annoyed by the limitations of a cheap one.
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