Choozing a sliding compound chop saw

I absolutely love my Mastercraft 10" blade 14" slide. It’s a gift from my kids a few years ago and I have not found or used better. Mastercraft is a brand of Canadian Tire a hardware chain in Canada. This one was made in Canada. It has not loosened in any way as yet and has a laser marking light. I built an extension fence 2’ on either side and added a tape measure to the right along with a stop made from maple and 2 C clamps.

Thanks for you contribution to the subject Thorreain
Mastercraft is a brand I haven’t heard of in the states,I’m glad it’s given you good service.
It looks like you’ve got a great man cave going on in your shop,very cool.

Thanks Jim, yes it is a great place to hang out, or if you wanna come do some woodworking it’s open to anyone that wants.

Good subject for those thinking of buying a miter saw Jim and helpful info on what brands are good. My first miter saw was a 10" Metabo (German) without a slider. It was very inexpensive, but quite accurate and easy to use, but without a slider it couldn’t cut very wide boards. I gave it to my son in Sweden and it is still going strong after quite a few years. In fact he just told me a couple of days ago that he is getting a lot of use from it for some outdoor projects and he loves it.

My current saw is a Bosch 10" slider. Not a professional model, but it cuts boards with a width of almost 40cm 16" and it was priced right. It is hard to compare with your prices because tools cost about twice as much here as in the U.S. I use it a lot, for almost all of my projects and it performs very well for me. In the photo I have just attached a quick makeshift auxiliary fence in case you are wondering.

I have a 10 inch slider works well I can cut a 12 inch board just have to lift board a little

I have 3… a 7 1/2" Makita (12" cutting capacity) I put a Forrest blade on it and it is the cats meow for finishing work. I have 12" Makita for my general shop use… it’s ok but there are better ones. I also have a 10" Delta for rough job site use (decks, framing etc). The Delta is permanently mounted on a stand. The other two or built into my shop bench (in line with each other) and both have brackets attached to them to quickly mount onto a (different) stand. My last shop had a 12" Hitachi which was a pretty nice saw but I always went to the 7 1/2" for a real decent cut

Thanks for the inviteThorreain, wouldn’t that be fun,but I’m guessing we don’t live close enough to make that happen.
Hi Mike
Wow that’s way cool that you can cut 16".That’s not a model they sell in the states,I’m guessing it’s because you use 220 volts. Our tools seem to find their
way to our kids don’t they. How’s you dust collection hood working out?
Hey Jim
10" saws can do a great job too. you know us contractors we always think bigger is better :))
Angellos
Sounds like you have a lot of experience with a lot of different saws too. I’ve always felt $100+for a saw blade was over the top,do you feel the Forrest blade is worth the higher price?

yes. It cuts better than my other blades (CMT, Dimar, Festool) and seems to last a long time between sharpenings. Mind you, I just found a new local supplier that swears their blades are equal to the best out there at 2/3 the price… I’ll try them out and see. Generally speaking it seems that you get what you pay for. I bought a couple of cheap blades and well, they cut like cheap blades. Also, way less carbide which meant only 1-2 sharpenings. I only use the Forrest on the 7 1/2" saw which is only used for finishing cuts so that helps it last a long time! lol

I’m really liking my two saw on one bench set up. Rough or big stuff on the 12" beast and then the fine stuff on the mini saw

Has anyone used the Festool slider? It looks pretty sweet but it’s a lot of $$

I’ve got the Dewalt 12" slider mostly because the price was right. My employer bought it for me as a reward for one million accident free miles. Can’t get much better than free :-D
So far, it seems pretty sweet. I had to square it up when I got it out of the box, but it’s working like a champ since

I must be w a y behind the times. I have yet to purchase a miter/slider compound saw. I like this discussion though, I have learned quite a bit. Kinda old school here, table saw, radial arm saw, router and lots of hand tools. Thank you for sharing on this subject.

I had a Makita 10’ slider and it was a great saw but it went to a friend as a favor .
I recently retired a Hitachi 12" slider which I found way too big and not that accurate no matter what blade I used .
My latest saw is a 10" Dewalt non slider and I am very happy with it but for cutting mitres on a box for instance I use my crosscut sled and I also have dedicated mitre sled which is super for a lot of things .
All in all I am not a big fan of mitre saws unless I am at a jobsite where they are handy and for job site trim work I would go for the Makita 7 1/2" with a good blade but the drawback with it is that it only tilts one way .
My fiend has a Festool mitre saw and I am not that crazy about it and it looks and feels like a cheap saw .

I have a Makita 7 1/2" slider. The reviews I read pegged it as dead accurate and with good dust collection. I’d previously had a 10" slider which was neither. As well, the small size allows me to put the dust collection shroud closer to it, especially for angled cuts.
Overall I’m happy with the Makita, now 3 years in. It is very accurate, and both the design and small size make dust collection superb. There has been a few times I’ve wished I had larger crosscut ability but for 95% of my woodworking it is adequate.

Jim My dust shroud works very well. I originally made it so I could hook up dust extraction to shroud, but it wasn’t very effective, but the shroud captures the dust very well and I just vacuum it out occasionally. I find the SLM very handy in my small shop, especially since my bandsaw and my table saw have very limited space for cross-cutting.

I have a Kobalt 12 duel bevel sliding compound miter saw, which is the Lowes house brand. I haven’t used it much until the past couple of weeks helping a friend retro fit his sundeck. Regardless of the thickness of the piece or the type of wood, the saw burns the the end grain on the right side of the cut really bad, but the left side is smooth. I have put a new blade on it, still the same thing. There is no warp in the wood and the saw is level. It does the same thing if the cut is straight or angled. Of course any joint is very inaccurate. I’m ready to trash it and buy another brand. Any ideas before I do that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

Thanks again Angellos I guess all these years I’ve been missing something . I guess I’ll have to make the leap and try a higher end blade out. The Festool slider reviews I’ve read say good things but at close to $1500 they should be very good.
Jeff
Free is very good
James what ever works for you ,I got rid of my Radial arm saw because it took up so much room,A slider will most of what a radial arm saw except using a dado
blade.
I agree Klaus
If you want dead on accuracy a well tuned sled and table saw can’t be beat.
Manitario
Very nice chop saw staition.
Thanks Mike I do the same without the hood.

Ive thought about the Hatachi but I think im going save for the Kapex.

Wow once you get it jeff let us know what you think.

yea let us know how you like it

I see sliding compound chop saws used on different shows, a lot. Son bought one last year and loves it, but his projects are few and far between. I haven’t bought one yet.

I’ve got a 10" compound, non-sliding, chop saw and a radial arm saw, that I haven’t used in some time, since I bought the table saw. My table saw is the only tool that stays set up. Everything else is on the shelf, until needed.

I could see how a sliding compound chop saw would come in handy for CC wider boards than my non-slider can. I really need to re-configure the old hangar and make it into a real shop.

In due time.

I’ll be looking forward to hearing more about others and their “Sliders.”