I finally got a chance to check out the 12" Makita slider alongside the other contenders such as PC, Bosch, and DeWalt 718. The Makita wins hands down the title of most rigid assembly (and it slides almost as well as the new Bosch). The PC is the next best, the Dewalt I rate 3rd, and the Bosch is loosey-goosey--too much flex! That's a shame, because otherwise the Bosch looks well thought out, and it slides effortlessly. The Bosch , like the DeWalt has a drive belt.
Dave
BTW, the Makita is the LS1214
Do you have procedures and data that you could share? It is hard to get any real information from terms like loosey-goosey and how do you know that you were applying the same amount of force to each unit?
Frank
The DW718 that I tried at Lowe's certainly did not feel loose. Jim
the differences were so dramatic, I don't need a strain gauge to tell the difference, Frank!
"loosey-goosey" is a highly technical term, anyway...
Dave
then you have perhaps no basis for comparison? I've tried several, now.
Dave
Have you or anyone else compared the new 12" Hitachi to the others? I = saw one the other day and it was huge, complete with the laser sight and a lcd numeric = display on the hand grip. (was in a hurry didn't get to see what the display was about....?) = Has to be up the with the biggest yet, although the makita has a novel drive system and is= a great unit. Seems like all the 12" SCMS have gone through some redesign since the = Dewalt 12" hit the street a couple of years ago...as the laser sights go however, the most = useful one I have seen from my perspective is the ones that are two beams that actually = define the kerf of the blade, otherwise just a simple laser lit line is not advantage from = before using built in graduations, or even pencil. Joe.
Joe Brophy CountryTech Computer email: snipped-for-privacy@spiretech.com
Dave,
What I'm wondering is, where did you try them and who assembled them? If you're talking about some store that had all those saws on display, assembled by one or two minimum-wage people who had time to get the first three assembled and adjusted right but got told to get the lead out for the last one, which was a Bosch, I have to wonder if the test might be a little questionable. At the very least, if one of them felt all loosey goosey, I'd want to check and see if anything needed a little righty tighty.
Well, you have tried several assemblers whose only job is to get the thing on display. Of course, I have tried only one mainly because I am not in the market for a device this expensive. Jim
nothing to do with assy. has ALL to do with the design.
Dave
i wish it wasn't over $600 myself. :)
Dave
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