Miter Saws Reviews

I am using this blade on my basic Dewalt 10" Mitre Saw and when cutting Maple I get a really smooth front side cut but I am experienceing quite a bit of chip out on the backside. I also get some chip out on the side which is really unacceptable.

I bought this blade in order to use in my new table saw, based largely on the reviews here, and Freud's reputation. I was not disappointed. while working on a project, I used it in my miter saw, on oak. the cuts were silky smooth, and required almost no finishing. I was so impressed, I have replaced ALL of my blades with Freud and intend to buy nothing else in the future. Try it, You can't go wrong!

I bought this blade on the recommendation of my brother who is a professional woodworker. My miter saw is a 25 year old Dewalt, that is feeling it's age. This blade has made an old saw cut like a new one. It makes beautiful cuts on hardwoods, with minimal chip out and it's thin kerf design prevents "stalling". I cut quite a bit of thick material with the saw, and the Freud blade really makes a differance. Not having to spend time "cleaning" up miter cuts really makes my day. I would recommend this blade to anyone who needs a great cutoff blade at a small price.

Hello to those interested,
I feel it necessary to alert those interested in purchasing the 10" Hitachi dual compound saw. With my recent purchase and set up of this saw I was surprised to note the inability to compound to the left of any more than 30 degrees. With the addition of a tightening nut on the side of the chip guard which hits the fence when sliding!!! I believe this is an addition to the saw of recent months and may not be a problem on older models. I hope Hitachi will rectify this probblem ASAP.

Sincerely,

Richard W. Grieves d.b.a.
Cape Shorew Woodworking

This is a great saw. The cuts produced are as smooth as glass and really do not need any sanding. This beats all the other miter saws I have ever used and with its sliding capability it nearly eliminates the need for a radial arm saw. I use mine for general woodworking and home repair and have found it to be indispensable. Great saw and well worth the investment.

We have used the Hitachi 8 1/2" saw at work for a five or six years now. We have never had any problems at all with it. But when I decided to buy my own saw, I check out other brands, too. The Makita was a close second, but since I know of at least 3 people that have the Hitachi 10" and haven't had a single problem, that is what I chose. It has every feature that I would possibly need. It even has positive stops that aren't even listed on the specs. The saw that I received came with 2 blades... a 40 tooth and a 72 tooth. I highly recommend the Hitachi.

I just put away my auto body tools after fixing the damage to my new (?) miter saw station. I'm inclined to believe the stand was conveyed to UPS in damaged condition: It only came from Carlisle to Bucks Co., PA; and I get at least two undamaged UPS packages every week.
Was the weak link the poor Hitachi.TracRac packaging, or Amazon's disregard for customer satisfaction?? Either way, I need the stand, so I'm stuck with damaged goods and an unsatisfactory shopping experience.
Now that it's back to its intended shape, the UU610 is a great stand - well designed - well constructed - made in the USA.
If you're looking for a stand, buy this one. BUT, buy it somewhere where you can open the package and inspect it for damage (not Amazon).
If you know anyone at Hitachi/TracRac, tell them it's time to send their packaging engineer to assisted living.

No worries about packaging and the components were in excellent shape. The assembly of the stand was almost complete except for the wheels and miter saw attachment. I torqued the stand a little too much when attaching the miter saw to the stand and broke the base of my saw. So, this should tell you how strong the stand is.

I am a weekend hack and this stand is more than anything I will need but I hate buying junk and always try to the best I can afford. The wheels don't really come in handy because I disconnect the saw when transporting it (too awkward).

Also, this stand looks exactly like the Bosch TracRac. If you can get a better deal on the Bosch, you are probably getting the same stand.

I purchased the Hitachi UU610 for $149 @ Lowe's (They are discounted from $199).

I had to have a second one shipped because the first one was damaged. Replacement service was great. As with the Hitachi miter saw, packaging leaves something to be desired. Once all was put up it really works nicely.

I liked how this saw was heavy and stable and it cut beautifully...for the 15 minutes that the motor lasted. Burned out before I got through cutting up one sheet of plywood.

I understand that these things happen and WMH and ToolCrib/Amazon were very good to order a replacement motor for me. However, since it's coming from Taiwan, it would have taken 2-1/2 months to get here. Again, WMH and ToolCrib stepped up and agreed to pay for shipping the saw back to ToolCrib/Amazon for a full refund well after the standard 30-day return policy. So service wasn't the issue, it's the availability of replacement parts that is the concern.

So I ordered a Powermatic to replace the Jet (hey, you've got to upgrade whenever possible, right?)

Also, the documentation that comes with Powermatic and Jet are pretty scarce in the details. It's important to note that these 5HP beasts pull alot of amperage. WMH recommends a 40amp breaker for both the Jet and the Powermatic. This necessitates an 8-guage wire from breaker to outlet. Pretty beefy, but it sure beats a fire...

All in all, although disappointed in the downtime, to be fair to the Jet, it's a nice saw that really does a good job. The service is good too. I'd like to think that this is an isolated incident, and given the other reviews, that's very likely. So take this with a grain of salt if you need to, just be aware of the wiring needs that aren't plainly spelled out in the manuals and be aware that if you do have issues, you'll likely get good service, but it may be a LONG time before you get your saw fixed.

This is my third table saw in twenty plus years. I've had it for a few years now.
There have been other saws that where used but, they belonged to my friend/employer.
This saw is SOLID, My use is varied. over the years, primarily restoration and cabinet work. All those other saws pointed to this setup. Five HP, absolutely! Hard woods "like butter". My first was a Sears cable- drive contractors, second a Taiwan Delta knock off, contractors ( still have).
I added the Incra Jig TS, having used them for years and appreciate their precision.
Workmanship is slick, the cast Iron polished. Jet, has endeared me with their products and customer service with prior experiences, so I knew that was a given.
Shipping, via FedEx Freight with a hydraulic tailgate made this heavy delivery a breeze. A moblile base gives you options in the shop.
Now, I can forget about it, in a good way, knowing that it's very very capable. Now its the projects, design, and of course the wood.

Bud

Absolutely great saw. I've had it for a year now. Before I bought this saw, I used a Delta 10" contractor's saw for a lot of years. I liked that saw and cut a LOT of wood with it, but the 1-1/2 hp motor was a bit on the weak side. When it was time, I knew I wanted a Cabinet-type saw with a lot of power. The only saws that I really considered were the Powermatic, Delta and Jet. I did a lot of research to determine which was the best saw. The cheapest was definitely the Jet with the Powermatic being, by far, the most expensive. With the amount of money that I was spending, I didn't have a problem paying more if I felt that I was getting more for the money. With all that said, I chose the Jet, and I have not been disappointed in the least. This machine is a monster. You can shove a piece of 2" oak through it as fast as the blade will allow with no motor bogging. As far as fit and finish go, it's beautiful. Shipping was great. Everything arrived in perfect condition. Set-up was quick and easy once I had all the correct parts. This leads me to the only downfall to my experience. The hardware to set up the fence, (bolts, nuts, and washers), were missing. I did not want to wait a week for Jet to send them to me, so I went to the local Home Depot and purchased the items for about $4. Everything else went smoothly. Though the missing items were frustrating at the time, I certainly would not downgrade my rating after using this great saw. The one thing that I would recommend is to buy the Delta mobile base. It is built well and much easier to use than most of the other bases available. The Delta base fits the Jet saw like it was made for it.

If you do woodworking for a living or are short on free time this may not be the stand for you. Don't forget you have to go and buy all the wood shelf's, cut and sand them. It took me the better part of a day to get done. Of course I am fussy and proud of my work. Other may slap it together faster and be happy with their results. I'm retired so spending a day making it cost me no paid work time.
Both ends of the shipping box were missing when I received it. My mailman was nice and he had taped up both ends.
I opened the box and started to assemble and found I was short one leg. There are 4 legs, two of one kind and two of the other kind. Well my box had 3 of one kind and 1 of the other. A toll free call to the company and they sent me out the missing leg in just under a week. Very good service. They wanted the wrong leg sent back with their UPS prepaid mailing label. Phone UPS for pick and they wanted some ungodly amount of money to pick it up. So I made a 10 mile trip to UPS.
I have a Makita model LS1013F 10" sliding compound miter saw mounted on it, and I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

After buying the Rousseau 1000 Mobile Planer Stand and loving it I decided to get a stand for my Miter Saw. I love this stand just as much as the the first. I would rate it five stars, except that vertical supports were about an inch to long or the top hole were the pins for the wings attached was drilled about an inch to low. Some adjustment was required, cutting off the top of the verts so that the wings cold be opened. Then moving the top table up another inch or so becasue the measurments suggested in the manuel were off by about the same amount as the top holes.
I noticed another reviewer was called by the president of the company, if the president would like to speak with me I would be more then happy to come discuss tool stands while on a jet boat ride through hells gate and Canyon. (if you never been to Clarkston you have to go)

It moves, stores stuff, has infeed\outfeed, it is the perfect shop stand. The assemble wasn't the easiest but anyone with a shop should be able to do it.

If I had once complaint I would have liked to see the support wings supported on the edges with metal vs a single support underneath. Long term the wings will warp if kept out.

This is not simply an orange or "rebadged" DeWalt, you can't just look at the spec sheets, you have to look at the saws, or better yet use them like I have. Yes, it does have the same motor and motor assembly and cutting capacity (an important aspect), and therefore much of the specs are the same. However, there are lots of important differences (some important, some not) that make the DeWalt "Heavy Duty" and this one, well, not:

- The dust bag support is different and weaker, it can't support a full bag without bending or even (yikes!) breaking.

- The base is made of thinner/lighter stock and won't stand up to as much abuse without bending or warping.

- The base doesn't have any clamping holes in it, and B&D does not offer any aftermarket clamps for it.

- The blade guard isn't metal reinforced like the DeWalt.

- The included blade is inferior to the standard DeWalt blade, and really should be replaced by anybody serious about the quality of their cuts.

- The miter and bevel metrics are either plastic or sticker on plastic, whereas on the DeWalt they are silkscreened stamped metal.

Is the saw a great deal? YES! For [money]vs [money] for the DeWalt, I *easily* think it's the better value for the average Weekend Handyman. But you *do* get something for that [money]. I'm not saying the differences are worth [the money], to most people they aren't (including me), but to somehow try to make yourself feel better about this saw by saying "oooh...it's really worth [more money] since it's identical to that [money] saw" is simply not true.

From a cutting standpoint, if they had the same blade, they would perform the same, and how well a saw cuts IS the most important feature. For [money] you can buy the identical blade which comes with the DeWalt and you'd still be [money]ahead and have the "same saw" from a quality of cut and cutting capacity standpoint. But it would *NOT* be "the same saw, only orange". There are a lot of things that work in unison to make a great saw, and in many of these areas the DeWalt has improvements over it's cheaper sibling to help justify the heftier pricetag.

I'm not advocating that you go out and buy the DeWalt, in my opinion it's overpriced for even these changes I've stated above. Sears sells a Craftsman (Ryobi) for [money] which is the quality of the DeWalt, and one for [money] which blows it away. I'd buy one of those two models, or this B&D, before the DeWalt.

Simply stating that this is identical to a DeWalt but different color is a misleading falsehood. I've seen this posted on multiple review sites, and it's wrong everywhere it is posted.

It doesn't mean it's not a good value, to the contrary, I think this saw is probably the best value in the 10" compound miter non-sliding category. It *blows* away all of the [cheaper] models, and even most of the [more expensive] models, and from a cutting standpoint keeps up with the [most expensive]models.

This saw is a tremendous value @ [the price]. It's just not a DeWalt. :-)

Works very well with most wood stock. The blade provided isn't ideal. I replaced mine with an 80 tooth fine crosscut blade. Also the addition of one or two clamps would have made this saw a real winner. Blade stop works very well. Dust bag support rod needs to be made stronger. I broke mine the first day and rebuilt it stronger.

Pound for pound this Compound Miter is best saw available for the "Harry" homeowner. The extensions coupled with a surprisingly strong motor add to this already good deal. The cuts this unit can make are smooth and accurate. Really if you aren't a "pro".... buy this unit. It comes with a 2 Year warranty (most Industrial units offer 1 year), and is backed by the best service powertool company: Black & Decker! Accessories and replacements are easy to obtain. [...]

wonderfullly fitting case. only one problem.....no cushion/quilting/protection from being bumped/dropped. if they ask, tell them to build next one with some foam in it .

I am sure this carry case works just fine and is long overdue. I put mine in a "hard side" spotting scope case (since Bosch offered no case at the time) and it has protected it for several years. A tool this sensitive and accurate needs some transportation protection. Good thinking Bosch!

When I purchased my Bosch miter angle finder I debated whether I really needed a carrying case; however, after receiving the angle finder I saw that I really needed to protect it. the carrying case does just that.

There is no doubt that you get a lot of blade for the money with this combo pack and I'm happy to have the blades for some applications. However, I've been disapointed with the performance of the 80 tooth blade.

I've had trouble with a few things, the first is that when cutting a bevel (saw tilted), I see quite a bit of deflection in the blade on anything but the smallest of stock. Cutting 3/4 pine caused this blade to deflect, thus bind, thus burn, and leaves me with an uneven cut. I'm confident that it's not my saw (Delta TwinLaser - 15 amp motor) because other blades work well.

The other thing I don't love is that it takes forever to wear the yellow paint off the blades with cuts - and so every cut has a hint of yellow for quite a long time. Not a big deal, but kind of unecessary.

To round it out, I'm just not that happy with the cut even when it's straight down. I get chipping or tear-out on almost any kind of lumber that I've tried... red oak, pine, poplar, etc. It doesn't matter how fast or slow I make the cut. While that's a pain, I will say that the center of the cut is very smooth.

The rough cut blade does do a fine job for cutting framing lumber straight up and down - very fast. I have not needed to use that for a bevel cut, but I would guess it has the same problem.

So, if you do rough cut work and don't have a need to make bevel cuts, these are probably a great deal. If your needs are more, then I would say spend your money on some better blades.

Just right for clean cuts. NOT for use on laminate flooring.

I looked at several places for the Dewalt miter blades and your site offered me the best choice and the best price. I am thoroughly happy with your service and your product. I am going to buy this combo if it is offered the next time I need Miter blades. I will refer everyone I know to this site and product.

I agree this blade makes a smooth cut but it burns cherry while ripping too slow. Here are my initial findings. Pros: Cuts smooth and glass-like but only if you push through evenly and don't stop. Less tear-out and great crosscuts. Very quiet, very sharp and doesn't bog down. Cons: Burns if you rip without even speed. Must push harder woods faster to avoid burns. Produces very fine sawdust and more flys up above the blade (yes, in your face) than below. This is probably to be expected. It's probably the tradeoff to get a smooth, finish cut.
What would I do different? I would still buy a Freud as the quality is 2nd to none for the price but I would choose a wider kerf on the assumption that the thin kerf in this case appears to allow too much blade contact with the wood probably accelerating the burn. This I believe because the new blade leaves a red mark on the wood sometimes (easily removed) from the blade coating. You can also clearly see the carbide cutters are only slightly wider than the blade. I will try a featherboard next to eliminate the burn.
I would still buy this blade and deal with the occasional burn as most woodworkers need a thin kerf blade for one reason or another. Resawing is the best reason to need a thin-kerf blade in my humble opinion.

Great blade for the price. This blade handles all my cutting needs with ease....clean crosscuts, strong rip cuts, and even does a decent job on sheetgoods. It brought new life to my old 1hp contractor saw! It made a noticeable difference!

Can't beat this ATB/Flat tooth combination blade for general every day use on the table saw. I use a zero clearance insert in the table and this blade excels at everything except the trickiest materials..(two sided melamines, ripping thick hard wood, etc.)It is also the safest combo blade I have used...will NOT kick back on you unlike several other well known brands because of the way the teeth are designed...whisper smooth, teflon coated, new laser cut expansion slots, thinner kerf with a lot of carbide to provide several sharpenings...a great investment. I also like the bright red color of these Freud blades. As a woodworker that experienced a bad accident when I was just learning the trade, the red color of the blades immediately make you pay attention when flipping that power switch....subtle but psychological trigger for added safety....Best price and qualified for free shipping from Amazon, how can you beat that?

The TK406 is a good crosscut blade capable of clean cuts. It's well made, and in typical Freud fashion, it's a good value as well, but I think their own LU88 is a better blade and better value at only $10 more. It makes cleaner cuts and doesn't dull quite as fast as my TK406 did. The teeth on the LU88 are larger, harder, sharper, and hold an edge longer. So, while the TK406 is fine, it's simply a matter of the LU88 having more advantages. Wish I'd known about the LU88 before I bought the TK406....too soon old, too late smart!

edit-01/23/2006: It's been several months now and I still LOVE this blade. I have used it to cut everything from oak to treated pine to plastic but it even handles that stuff like a real trooper. It is a little slow to rip with, but not bad. For what I do in my hobby shop I don't mind at all. The last cut I made with it is as smooth as the first.

original text: I have to admit that I only bought this blade this morning and couldn't wait to try it out. I installed it on my Jet JWTS-10 table saw, the cheapest of the line. I have made other improvements to the saw but this blade has been one of the best.

In my review of the saw I state that the original blade is good for a starter blade. This one DEFINITELY takes it to the next level and beyond. No tear out AT ALL, either ripping or cross cutting. SMOOTH finish. NO SAW MARKS!!! And it's fairly quick at ripping too. I was concerned about buying another blade designed primarily for cross cutting, and Freud doesn't rate this blade as the best for ripping either, but my results so far have been excellent.

I may add a blade stabilizer, though Freud claims you don't need one with this blade. The plate is a bit thicker near the arbor than it is at the teeth. A 3.5" should do it.

Enough said. Buy it!! For around $35.00 you can't, CAN'T go wrong. A Forrest Woodworker of this quality will cost you nearly THREE TIMES as much.

I hope you find this review helpful, and as always, Good Luck with your own dreams!

I installed one of these in a Delta 36-225 (a "bargain" CMS) and have since made hundreds of cuts in oak moulding and stock up to 2"x6". Results have been uniformly superb. Even at extreme bevels, the saw moves easily through the wood, with the cut surfaces glass-smooth. With this blade, I don't see much need for the 80-tooth; cuts are as good as I'll ever need. Likewise, I hardly bother with the 40-tooth, since with the thin kerf this cuts plenty fast through anything I put to it. All in all, this has got to rank as one of the better purchases I have made.