I've been looking at upgrading my 20 year hold Hitachi chop box to sliding miter unit.
The questions really are 10" or pony up for 12"?
I have my eye on This Metaba and this Dewalt.
You guys have any experiences with either? or should I look at 10" Casual DIY / Home use.
12". I have both and the 12 is much more useful, although the 10 isn't a sliding unit.
My Dewalt does what I need. I'd really like one of the folding stands to clamp mine to, but the collapsible Keter workbench that I use is pretty awesome.
I have a 10" ryobi slider. I haven't felt like I needed a bigger blade. One thing I do see on the two saws listed is the 12 has the slider bars going forward and the 10 has them sticking out the back. If you want to set up a permanent station for your saw along the wall this will make difference as to how far away from the wall you need to be. If you are just going set it up when you need it and pack it away the rest of the time it doesn't really matter. Another thing to consider is weight. I dont know what mine weighs, probably not that much, but it's big and awkward to handle so it makes it seem really heavy. If it were, say 25% larger and heavier I would hate having to carry it.
Edit; I just looked it up, the dewalt is 56 pounds and metabo 77. Based on that and dewalts good reputation I would buy the dewalt, unless like I said it's going to be permanently mounted to a bench and rear clearance is an issue and weight doesn't matter.
We've got a 15" Hitachi that's fairly old and basically retired from a commercial shop and there isn't a whole lot it can't handle. It doesn't slide, but that's what the radial arm saw or the table saw is for.
+1billion for the Keter workbench, btw. It's rated for half a ton, collapses or unfolds in about 30 seconds, weighs very little, and takes up almost no space when not in use.
I would look at the effective crosscut distance. The size of the blade determines thickness more than anything else. A 10" blade will only effectively cut through about 3.5" of thickness before it hits the washer on the arbor nut. The length of the slide is what gives you width.
I got a Ridgid 12" compound miter with the 70 degree bevel. It's pretty amazing. At 0 degrees it will cross cut almost 18". At 45 degrees it will bevel cut a piece of 12". The downside is that it does require the saw being pretty far away from the wall.
Oh, also.... of all the Dewalt laser-types, I've never had one that the laser was accurate. They use a laser that bolts on the arbor beside the blade and it's never quite right. It also only shows you one side of the kerf. The new Ridgid I got uses an LED light above the blade, so it casts a pool of light down both sides of the blade. The shadow of the blade shows you the exact kerf.
I have a 1950s DeWalt radial arm saw.
Way more accurate but not portable.
They're usually around $50 for a working one on Craigslist.
12" is more useful for a wider variety of homeowner jobs.
Have not used a Metaba. Dewalts I've used work fine. I bought a hammer store 12" Chicago Electric a few years ago to use rebuilding my house and it handles anything I've needed it for from 2 X 6 framing to interior trim.
Was a carpenter as a young man and learned on radial arm saws. Unless you're doing very detail oriented work like picture frames the hammer store saw will probably be a better saw than you are as a woodworker since you mentioned DIY/home use. Trick with any of the various brands of saws I've ever used is to take the time setting them up properly when you get them rather than thinking they're "ready to go" out of the box. Almost every saw I've used that were owned by others who weren't tradesmen needed adjusting, they just never set them up when initially purchased.
Woah. File that Keter table under things I didn't know I needed. Thanks for that.
I just bought one of the mid level 12" sliding miter saws from HF and one of their fold-up stands. I was able to dial it in to be fairly accurate with a little work. It may not be cabinet-grade but for general work it's been doing well. The sliding height extensions on the fence are a bit wonky, but leaving them loose works so far. I haven't used it enough to decide how I feel about the laser guide.
You might also look at the Makita 10" dual compound slide saw.
I've had one for around 15 years and it has been awesome. Repeatable cuts every time and I've never had a issue with it being too small.
I've gotten along with a 10" saw for a long time, but it has its limitations. I would buy a 12" if I was looking to buy, but my neighbor has one and I just walk over and make a few cuts every now and then.
If you ever have to cut 4x4 (finished size 3.5x3.5"), I'd highly recommend a 12". I just got rid of my 10" because I was bottoming out on the body&nut as Curtis mentioned.
No experience with either of your saws, but as a pretty aggressive homeowner, I've always been happy with my DeWalt purchases.
+1 to that Keter workbench! That's going to appear around my house soon! Thanks for that :)
42 years worth of experience. I have no idea why so many people buy 12" saws. It is simply evidence to me that they didn't take the time to learn how to set them up.
I spent many years working an 8 1/2" Hitachi sliding compound miter saw to death. I never met anything I couldn't cut with it, including 12" crown molding.
The correct answer is it depends on how you are gonna use it.
If it's gonna sit on the bench in your garage, the 12" may be slightly more versatile. If you are gonna cut dimensional lumber (2X material and larger), the 12" machine has a bit more balls. Note, however that both the 10" and 12" machines are designed as trim saws. If you are cutting a lot of dimensional material, you will wear down the accuracy quickly and make them less usable for trim.
If you may need to transport it to a jobsite it alternate location occasionally, the 10" always wins.
I learned on a radial arm saw. These are dinosaurs with not much useability anywhere today.
The dual compound saws are much better than the single compound saws. Their motor is angled, so you can bevel in either direction. Makita and Metabo both have good versions.
I work tools REALLY hard. I have a 10" Metabo compound sliding saw in my shop which I also take to job sites when I need to. Recently retired 2 Makitas. I wouldn't want a 12" saw. Ever.
The Metabo you have linked is a dual bevel saw. The DeWalt is only a single bevel.
Dual bevel wins.
My wife bought me a HF for a gift one year. POS.
If you are not going to carry it around anywhere, get the 12" saw. Just because it can easily cut bigger wood.
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:42 years worth of experience. I have no idea why so many people buy 12" saws. It is simply evidence to me that they didn't take the time to learn how to set them up.
I spent many years working an 8 1/2" Hitachi sliding compound miter saw to death. I never met anything I couldn't cut with it, including 12" crown molding.
...
How can you cut through a 4x4 with an 8 1/2" saw in one pass? My 10" would bottom out. Is the Hitachi designed with an offset motor or something? I'd love to learn (too late) that I just set the saw up wrong.
I have a single bevel rigid 10".. I can't complain about it..
In reply to WonkoTheSane (FS) :
I don't use my miter saw to cut 4x4s. I use my miter saw for accurate finish cuts. Heavy lumber just beats the saw up and at $500 I want it to last forever.
If I'm building a deck, I use a circular saw.
Edit: I do have a 12" single bevel DeWalt for the company. I use it for accurate cuts in aluminum. The big blade lasts longer.
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:In reply to WonkoTheSane (FS) :
I don't use my miter saw to cut 4x4s. I use my miter saw for accurate finish cuts. Heavy lumber just beats the saw up and at $500 I want it to last forever.
If I'm building a deck, I use a circular saw.
I guess I don't have a big enough circ saw, as mine can't cut through a 4x4 in one pass either. I used some 4x4s for beds I built recently and I didn't want a ledge at the top or bottom, I needed to make one clean cut.
That's the kinda use case I'm talking about.
In reply to WonkoTheSane (FS) :
In that case, you probably need a 12" saw. The other option would be material stops and two cut. We occasionally have to cut 6x6 headers on the 12" saw. They require 2 cuts. We clamp a material stop on the fence or bench so both cuts end up in the exact same place.
Edit. You also have be be absolutely sure the saw is perfectly square in all directions or the cuts will be off.
2nd edit. My circular saw won't cut a 4x4 in one pass but since I'm usually using them for fence posts or deck supports it doesn't really matter if the cut isn't perfect.
If you're building a deck and need to cut 6x6 posts, just rent a 12" saw for a few days to cut said posts.
I had a 12" slider in my garage and it was a beast. I just don't have enough space for the behemoth of a saw, when 99% of my cuts are 2x4s for building shelves.
I got a folding 10" saw that's just great. Fold it up, put it under a workbench, forget about it. It's light. It's compact. It was cheap. Only thing I don't like about is that it's a bit loud. I wish it had better bearings and was brushless.
I'm kinda surprised Bosch doesn't do something similar with its gliding miters. It probably could fold flat.
In reply to WonkoTheSane (FS) :
Toyman answered your question. I would never use a nice piece of precision equipment to do rough framing. That's what circular saws are designed for.
Why do I need to cut a 4x4 in one pass? Building a deck (for example) may involve 500-600 cuts. About a dozen of them are 4x4's. Just roll the piece over and cut it from the other side. It's not that hard.
6x6's? Same thing. But then I cut from 4 sides and finish with a sawzall. (A 12" miter saw wouldn't cut a 6x6 anyway).
Its a minor inconvenience in the overall picture.
I've built more than 500 decks.
In reply to WonkoTheSane (FS) :
The ledge in the 4x4 (for bedposts) can easily be sanded out with a belt sander.
My problem with dimensional lumber on a chop saw is that the fence and frame are simply not designed for it. Every time you pick up a 20 or 30 lb piece of lumber and try to set it on the table and align to the fence, you beat up the saw just a little bit. That's not what miter saws are designed for.
Yes, lots of people use them that way.
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