Miter Saws Reviews

Well built and simple to use like all Makitas. Pretty lightweight too compared to their older models.

My only complaint is with the very lightweight kerf boards (strips of plastic under the blade). If you get careless and push the saw down too fast, the blade catches and blows the kerf boards to smithereens.

Like a lot of these saws, you really need three hands to change the blade. There's a cover that keeps trying to spring back into place while you're removing/replacing the blade bolt.

It draws 15A, so make sure you've got a serious extension cord to go with it!

I have owned the original LS1220 for several years and have been pleased with the performance. I see Makita has upgraded the blade from a 24 tooth to a 70 tooth blade for smoother cutting. I have been waiting for the orginal Makita blade to wear enough to rationalize getting a nicer blade. My only quibbles so far concern the plastic retractable blade sheath which is flimsy compared to the rest of the saw, and the sawdust collection bag which I quickly replaced with a home made adaptor for my Fein vacuum.

I'll tell you right now, I've tried ALL the other saws on the market: miter, compound miter and sliding compound miter in all sizes, and this saw is the best. I think the sliding saws are over priced and more-apt to run out of alignment and bog down in heavy materials. They also require dedicated work stations that make them as unwieldy as the radial arm saw you are probably trying to replace. The 10" compound miter saws, while more affordable, lack the cutting capacity and, frankly, are not getting the design and build attention that the bigger saws are. The 12" compound miters fall in the middle. (And in the middle the value is always best). They get attention to build and design because they are aimed at the contractor, they have a decent cutting capacity, and they are solid, yet portable. I chose this one out of all the other 12" saws because it has a zero-clearance throat plate (a must to eliminate tear-out), excellent miter detentes, and a solid motor. It also comes with stock extensions (that actually work) as standard equipment. The upgraded blade is top notch. I even bought a second LS1220 for the professional shop where I work. If you're going to pay a lot, make it count!

The product itself is great. The delivery time and customer service from Amazon were horrible. Listed as in stock, ship in 24 hrs and deliver in 3-5 days. DID NOT ship for 7 DAYS or 168 hours with an estimated delivery of 9-13 days. Finally arrived 13 days after ordering.

This saw is fantastic ! It has plenty of power & is extreemely accurate. The 12" blade will allow cutting of fairly wide pieces & cuttting trim is a snap ! The only thing bad about this saw is its weight. I believe that if it were lighter though, it wouldn't perform as well. I often use it on the tailgate of my truck - & It DOESN'T MOVE !Bosch quality at an affordable price........What More Could You Want ? Lazer mabe ? That's a different saw but Bosch has that too !

The clamp goes on well and holds on to material securely. The only draw back is that the size that will fit in the miter clamp is limited by the rails securing the hold down. Really not a flaw, just an inconvenience. Amazing how Delta stuff fits so well on Delta products.

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I just received this Delta Deluxe Miter Gauge #34-928. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how long ago I ordered it. I guess a fresh batch is in so order it quick. Now on to the item. When they say that it is accurate, the first thing I did, when I took it out of the box, was break out the Bosch Digital Protractor. It measures angles with a digital readout in tenths of a degree. (Equal to 3600 dots in a circle, no matter how small the circle) I put the miter gauge to the test. I clamped an aluminum level onto the face to extend the surface, and guess what? I got perfect readings after trying the detent stops, and even got the same results when I eyeballed a setting just using the pointer. It wasn't even off by a tenth of a degree.
At first I was confused, because some of the stops weren't right on the number, then I realized that they have stops at the popular detents, and some of those are in tenths of a degree.
Point number two is that I was impressed that the miter gauge bar that rides in your miter slot has little Allen bolts imbedded in it, so you can adjust it perfectly, to eliminate any play. When I put it in my Powermatic 66, it fit so perfectly, without any play, that I don't even need to fiddle with it. It is so snug that you would have to measure the play in thousandths of an inch, as in non-existent, yet it slides along the track like it was on greased wheels. It fit my Bench Dog miter track on their Router table extension for table saws the same way. The Might T track miter track guides had a little slop in it, but that is obviously the track and not the gauge. I guess you can tell where I will be using it. (Although the play is adjustable for any 3/4 x 3/8 track)
Point three is that the bottom of the gauge is polished so smooth that it will not scratch your saw tabletop. The front face of the gauge where you rest your work, looks like it was fine ground-polished with something like a 1000 grit wheel. You can see ultra-ultra fine lines going in a circle from where it was fine machined.
I strongly recommend that you also get Delta's clamp attachment that works with this gauge. The one that I bought is the 34-568 clamp assy, and it fits and works perfectly. Delta and Amazon feature the Delta cheapy miter gauge with the clamp as a combo package for about the same money as buying this Deluxe gauge and the 34-568 clamp assy as separate pieces. So for about the same money you are getting Delta's best, and in this example it is worthy of that title.
The gauge and clamp combo perfectly resolves the problem of when you are trying to cope the ends of your rails in a raised panel bit set. You know the problem, you have to hold that two-inch wide board and run the bit over the tip. Trying to get the bit to not move the board, by either pushing it a little away from the fence, or run into the second fence face causing a stop is a major accomplishment. Many use sleds with clamps on them, but then you are raising the work piece off of the table to make up for the sled base plate. With a router, that is a major consideration, because that oftentimes leads to having to raise the bit higher up out of the collar, causing more vibration and potentially a dangerous bit flying condition. This gauge and clamp combo locks it in just the same, but keeps the work piece flat against the tabletop. The other advantage to that is if you are running some larger pieces at the same time, you can do it by removing the gauge, and not have to change a bit setting. Wow! I'm getting off on this, I don't know about you. :-)
Another point is that the picture doesn't do it any justice. The fit, the finish, the accuracy of the deluxe gauge is better than any other miter gauge I have seen, even the one that came with the Powermatic saw. I can't recommend this high enough. Is it because it is a waxed Ferrari sitting in the garage? No, it is because it is as accurate and fine as a miter gauge can get. Buy one, you won't be sorry. Hope this helps.

The saw blade makes nice smooth cuts in both ripping and crosscuts. Little sanding is required. I highly recommend the saw blade.

The 50T combo with 4 ATB and 1 raker tooth is a very common tooth configuration for a 50T general purpose blade. Freud, Leitz, Oldham, CMT, Systimatic and many other top manufacturers offer a similar configuration. This one holds it's own for about half the cost. It's versatile and cuts cleanly on many types of materials on both crosscuts and rip cuts, and leaves a flat bottom kerf because of the raker tooth. The DW7150 also offers a teflon coating for easy cleaning and reduced heat build up. It uses large C3 teeth for long life and should withstand many sharpenings. A perfect all around blade at a great price for the average DIYer and serious hobbyist alike.

DeWalt is not kidding about it not being compatable with any but the newest of their chop saws. I thought I might be able to adapt it to my DW708 - no way. Otherwise, if you have a new saw, it would probably work great.

The thing works really good but the adj screws are a little bit on the loose side. After using for a couple of weeks it had to be readjusted. Don't know if screws moved or just what happened.
but I still give it 5 stars because used a delta and I was not quite as happy with it as I am this one.

This item is very easy to install. Just make sure you plug the power switch in before trying to work it. For some stupid reason, I had it in my head that the thing worked on batteries and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Once I plugged the saw in and the lights came on, I realized what a fool I was.

Anyway, the item is easy to install and operate. There is an adjustment to make it so that you can have the laser show on the right or left side of the line you are cutting, which I thought was a good idea for those of you who are that good at measuring that a 1/16th of an inch means bad cut. If I'm within a 1/4 I'm usually pretty happy.

Hope this helps. I think its a good buy for these saws.

Excellent tool, precise, and easy to use.
Blades are relatively fragile and somewhat costly to replace..and are hard to find.

Not a perfect tool by any means, but very useful in a wide variety of applications. Compact with an extra long cord and adjustable speed control.

Need to do an undercut at a doorway? This is very easy to use.

Probably use it more often than I should, given the cost of extra blades, but it is very handy if you are doing moderate complexity remodeling or building. Have used to quickly cut drywall (put a hole through wall for air-conditioner, nice, fast way of cutting drywall), plastic pipe, undercut doors, mitre door trim (without the box actually). ...

I am using this saw blade on a radial arm saw. It makes excellent crosscuts on anything from 1/8" plywood to 2 x 4's. It does have a slight tendency to grab on the thicker wood. Overall I am satisfied.

I've tried a few of the [similar] range 80-tooth blades, and this one is by far the best. Don't try to compare it to the higher end blades like a Forrest Chopmaster because you will be disappointed, but for [the price], it's a keeper. For the couple of projects I've used it on, it cut smooth and left a nice surface with little sanding needed. It's also very easy to clean up with just soapy water and a brush. I'd say it's a very good blade for the money and likely the best in its class, thus the 5 stars.

Using this blade with a Delta TwinLaser miter saw, I have consistently obtained clean, splinter-free cuts. Look at the blade, however. The shot on this site depicts a 72T blade, and the rack at the home improvement store where I purchased mine also had 72T and 80T "Fine Cut Off" blades mixed together. I have the 80T blade.

Sure, it doesn't have a PTFE coating, but wiping down a blade from time to time with a bit of solvent to clean off pitch is no big task. And Freud's carbide tips are beefy and sharp. I don't anticipate any problems, having had good luck in the past with their Diablo 7.25" circular saw blades.

Freud makes the best bades for your money. I'm a custom home builder and use Freud blades exclusively for all my trim work. I've been building custom homes for 25yrs. and have tried every blade made. You can't beat Freud!

Be aware that the model sold at Lowe's for $159 is the UU610CZ, a "little bother" model to the UU610. The beam is shorter, it cannot accept an "extension stop," and it DOES NOT INCLUDE THE ROLLER FENCE AND STOP. It is a "price point" model designed to sell for around $150. It does, however, include the wheel kit.

Note also that this is a "universal" miter stand, and can accomodate any size and any brand of miter saw, not just 12" and not just Hitachi.

I'm giving 4 stars because at only $30-$40 less than the UU610, unless you just don't need the capacity or the roller fence and stop, and you do need the wheels, it doesn't seem like as good a value as the UU610, T3B, or T3.

The Hitachi UU610, Bosch T3B, and TracRac T3 are all made by TracRac and are exactly the same basic stand, differing only in COLOR (green, blue, or black) and in which accessorias are included. ALL are "universal" stands, and include identical saw mounts.

The T3 includes an extension, extension flip stop, and wheel kit. If you want "everything," this is the best value vs. buying one of the other two stands and purchasing the accessories.

The T3B includes the wheel kit but not the extension stop (although TracRac customer support says it does include the extension, just not the stop, but this doesn't make any sense, and the extension is not shown in any of the pictures).

The UU610 does not include the extension stop or the wheel kit. It does include a 'stop' that attaches to one of the roller fence rollers.

This stand appears to be the little brother of the UU610! Both are made by TracRac. The stand is very sturdy and lite. Assembly was simple and takes about 30 minutes give or take a few minutes upon your ablilies. Directions are simple pictures that anyone can follow. If you plan on leaveing your saw on the stand don't bother with the rubber feet because they will just get in the way of assembly or just put it in last. I mounted a Hitachi C10FSB sliding miter saw. IT fits perfectly since there is an added bar that you can mount for the trianglular mounting pattern. It appears that all saws will fit since the mounting materials will slide as far appart as you like. The dual extension arms extend out to 8 feet apart and will easily hold 12 to 16 ft of material. The big brother UU610 doesn't come with the extensions will cost an extra $70 to buy but are a little longer! This seems to be the perfect homeowner miter saw stand at a very reasonalble price!

Having used both western saws and japanese saws for a time, I can look back at projects and instantly tell which was made with which. This could be due to an improvement in skill but I am not the only convert who has seen the results. The japanese saw does an astounding job. This is due to its superior design; its ease of use, its quality of cut, its smaller kerf, its insane sharpness, and its speed. Of course there are westerns saws that have these qualities but rarely have I ever seen them all in one saw. Logically, people will argue that there are such saws to be had in a western design but one must consider the fact that to buy this superior western saw you must take your old saw and hack off your arms and legs to pay for it. Now where are you?

As I look at this particular saw I see an easy recommend and not only because I have one. As a college student and amateur woodworker I have several concerns when buying tools, quality and cost (I am a college student!). This saw provides both and a little bit more. Not only is it inexpensive in light of other japanese saws, it isn't a cheap saw either. I would say that it makes a good transition saw for a traditional western user, it is not so expensive that you cannot try it out to make up your own mind. It is also a transitional saw for those like me who can't quite afford a great Dozuki yet, use this one or another like it Sharksaw makes an entire line of affordable japanese saws from ripping to ultra fine trimming 30 teeth for inch (find a western saw that has that or imagine the dovetails), find out what you don't like about it or what you do then search out a better quality saw that suits your needs.

I will use a car analogy here, most of us are learning to drive these for the first time. Why invest in a Rolls Royce and wreck it than start with a used Ford that is dependable and replaceable?

I agree totally with the previous reviewer. This whole line of japanese pull saws cut like laser beams. These are the only hand saws I use. For me, there is 1 draw back...the blade is so thin and flexible that I initally had trouble making the blade cut a nice 90 degree end. The blade had a tendency to bend and start cutting at an angle. I overcame this by cutting a small groove on the top and sides of the board to be cut and then followed that. Works great now.