Chances are you will work with 1×6’s or 2×4’s, and they often come in lengths of 8 feet. What is the best tool to cut these boards into smaller lengths? You guessed it, a miter saw does this task quite well.
A miter saw designed to make accurate crosscuts and miters on a workpiece at selected angles. Most miter saw models are small and portable, and come with blade sizes ranging from 8 to 12 inches. The first power miter saw was designed by Ed Niehaus for the Rockwell Company back in 1964. Since then, numerous improvements have been added to form what has become one of the most sophisticated types of power saws on the market.
The power miter saw allows you to make accurate cuts by pulling a spinning circular blade down onto your workpiece in a controlled, short motion. You will typically hold your workpiece against a fence which guides you to make accurate angular cuts. The standard position of the blade is usually fixed at 90 degrees. The miter index allows you to change this angle of the blade relative to the fence.
A majority of miter saws allow precise one-degree increments while some have stops which enable you to quickly make cuts at common angles like 15ͦ , 22.5ͦ , 30ͦ , and 45ͦ . Miter saws are generally very popular saws on the market today due to their versatility and useful tools that can perform a wide range of projects. They are widely used by home remodelers, professional contractors, furniture makers, carpenters, woodworkers, craftsmen, and DIYers.
When you mention miter saws, most people think of wood, which is the most common material used with these power tools, but some have the capacity to cut materials like aluminum, plastic and even concrete. Modern miter saw models come in a variety of sizes, price ranges, and capabilities, depending on what you want to accomplish. So we strongly advise that you don’t hurry out and purchase the first power miter saw that catches your eye.
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Here Are the: "Top 5 Miter Saws" You Can Find Today!
Other important factors that informed our decision during this research include product durability, brand reputation, motor type, applications, accuracy and overall design. Having considered all the above, below is the list of our top 5 best miter saws for 2018.
The Dewalt DWS780 is a 12” double bevel sliding compound miter saw that comes with some really very impressive features. If you’re looking for a professional, heavy-duty miter saw for medium to heavy-duty projects then probably this is the model you should buy.
It comes with a 15-amp motor that delivers up to 3800 RPM which is more than what you need for a wide range of cutting applications. It tilts from 0-45 degrees in both directions which means that things like crown molding are a piece of cake. The measuring elements of this machine are great too. The miter base comes properly and precisely calibrated and designed.
The dual bevel mechanism allows you to fine-tune and adjust the unit with no hassle whatsoever. The machines just about 56 pounds which means moving it around your workshop should not be much trouble. The overall design is very well crafted and a closer look will reveal that indeed engineers paid serious attention to details.
Performance
At the 0 degrees setting, this machine can cut material of up to 13.75 inches wide and 4.4 inches thick. The “back fence” can allow you to cut up to 16 inch wide boards. There are positive locks and stops at all common miter angles, as well an override that allows you to set your angles to any desired value.
The DWS780 miter saw is a double bevel mode, which means it can tilt to the left or right, making it easier to cut complex miters such as for tapered boxes or crown molding. Each side has 2 fold-away pawls which provide positive bevel stops for 22.5 degrees and 33.9 degrees. At the rear of the unit, you will find a 3-wing knob which loosens and locks the bevel adjustment.
Other than bevel stops, this model also comes with a depth stop which is made up of a wingnut, depth adjustment screw and the stop itself. The depth stop is often used to limit the blade depth to provide more control when cutting taller work pieces and grooves. On top of that, XPS work light shades some light on your workpiece with an alignment shadow to help you make straight, accurate lines.
Durability
Dewalt is well known for designing, quality, and durable power tools. This particular model comes with precision-machined castings, bevel system, versatile stainless-steel miter detent plate, fence and rugged guards that are designed to overcome the constant rigors associated with their job.
As you can tell, the DWS780 is a great unit with tons of neat features. The machine is quite easy to use, well-designed, precise and affordable. It offers more than enough power to handle pretty much all of your tasks.
The Good
The Bad
A glance at this model will quickly tell you how incredible it is. The Festool Kapex KS comes with enough features and power to tackle any size of a project without a hassle. It has a variable motor that delivers speeds between 1400 and 3400 RPM. It can cut through any wood material and any angle of your desire.
The blades are designed specifically to reduce vibrations and noise while the measuring elements are well calibrated and properly aligned. The dual laser design means cutting accurate angles with accuracy and precision just got easier.
Looking at the overall design will immediately reveal that they invested a good amount of time in putting everything together on this machine. Everything is well positioned at the right place, convenient and easily accessible. It might not be the easiest miter to use for beginners, but a quick browse through the user manual should provide all the basics. With a little practice, even the most inexperienced users should be able to operate it within a relatively short time.
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As already mentioned, the measuring elements are excellent. The bevel and miter bases are what make the real difference between premium and cheap units. And judging by the two elements, this model is easily one of the most accurate and precise units within its category. The FastFix system helps you to change the blade quick and easy without having to struggle with recalibration and alignments.
Safety on this particular model is well taken care of. It comes with a transparent and easy to use automatic blade guard that only slides to reveal the spinning blade when you start to cut your material. Every important control liver and knob is well within your reach so you can react quickly in case something goes wrong.
While other brands take the dust control features as an afterthought, this unit doesn’t. It comes with a dust extraction system that captures up to 91% of dust, which is incredibly tempting. The best part is that it’s integrated into the unit instead of just being a single mounted dust bag.
Performance
The Festool Kapex KS miter saw doesn’t come with a premium price for nothing; performance is on a whole new level. It comes with a variable speed motor which is powered by the Festool’s unique multi-material control (MMC) electronics. The MMC technology provides a constant blade speed during cutting to match the material being cut. This protects the unit’s motor from overload and possible damage.
The Kapex KS comes with a special cutting position which provides enhanced cutting capacity by making use of the back portion of the unit’s blade more effectively. The blade can cut the material vertically up to 4.75 inche x 0.75 inches. You can cut crown molding up to 6-5/ inches when in a nested position similar to the 12 inch miter saws.
The bevel adjustments are finely tuned too. It comes with a fine-adjustment knob that you can use to cut up to a fraction of a degree with impressive precision. The bevel angle is quite large and easy to read too. You will also appreciate the convinient11 bevel stop points including 0, 15, 22.5, 30, 45, and 57 degrees both to the right and left.
The Kapex also features special trenching capacity that allows you to cut trenches and create lap joints. This can be engaged by simply flipping a knob. You can adjust the trenching depth by simply turning the same knob. In case you haven’t noticed, this is a premium miter saw model, hence the exceptional quality and performance.
The Bad
Most users who have worked with the Makita LS1016L claim that it cuts through wood like a hot knit through butter. Well, as you will find out, that is not far from the truth. The saw arrives well calibrated and ready to report to work right out of the box.
The Makita LS1016L comes with a laser guide for enhanced accuracy and a smooth startup feature for ease of operation. It has a high capacity to handle various cuts, delivering professional and quality results in no time. The motor is pretty powerful too; at 3200 RPM you can expect decent versatility when ripping through a variety of wood materials.
With a crown molding cut capacity of 6.6” in a vertical, nested position, you can expect some quality performance across other different cuts. The saw also promise a 12-inch capacity a 90-degree angle and a 4-3/4-inch cutting capacity on baseboards vertically.
This particular model delivers a high level of accuracy and large cutting capacity thanks to that Steel Rail Sliding System and linear ball-bearings. Additionally, the exclusive 4.75” sliding fence system allows you to adjust the fences up or down for precise bevel and miter cuts. On top of that, built-in laser and see-through blade guards make it easier to see and make accurate cuts.
There is also a dust extraction system, ergonomic rubberized D-handle and an extra-large trigger switch for comfortable and easy operation.
Performance
As already mentioned, the Makita LS1016L comes with a powerful 15-AMP direct drive motor that delivers up to 3,200 RPM. This kind of design and power enables you to cut through a variety of material without a struggle. The blade never experiences lag or variation in speed when cutting which translates to accurate, smooth and quick cuts.
The patented retractable guard mechanism and direct-drive gearbox technology are thoughtfully engineered to increase this machine’s vertical cutting depth. The 6.6 inches crown molding cut depth on this model happens to be the largest in its category. As earlier indicated, you can expect a 12-inch cutting capacity at a 90-degree angle which compares to the pricier models. The Steel Rail Sliding System and linear ball-bearings are handy features if you want to make “dead-on” accurate cuts.
The 4.75” sliding fence mechanism features lower and upper fence adjustment which allow precise bevel and miter cuts for a wide range of applications. This models allows for miter ranges of 0-52 degrees to the left & 0-60 degrees to the right and positive stops at 45˚, 31.6˚, 22.5˚, 15˚ and 0˚ both to the right and left.
The rear bevel lock has settings of 0-45 degrees both to the right and left with stops at 45, 33.9, and 22.5 degrees. The one-touch miter lock is designed to offer increased efficiency and accurate adjustments.
To guide you in making precise cuts, the Makita LS1016L features an in-built laser that indicates the cut line & micro-adjustments to facilitate accurate “right-of-blade” or “left-of-blade” cutting.
The Good
The Bad
This is yet another DEWALT model that made it on our list and this should already tell you something about the products quality and the company’s reputation. The DW715 has incredible power that will probably cater for all your cutting needs. The company has also put in a lot of effort to achieve remarkable accuracy that will flirter even the most experienced professional woodworkers.
The design is also quite sturdy and attractive –built on a solid foundation –and everything works as expected. The measuring instruments such as the bevel adjustments and miter base are well calibrated and straightforward. The engineers behind this model put in a lot of effort to ensure that it’s easy to use and even beginners can get a hold of it within a few hours; especially after referring to the detailed user manual.
The safety features on this unit are not exactly outstanding, but that doesn’t make it any less safe compared to models in its category. It comes with a transparent blade guard made of hard plastic; this means you can clearly see the blade as it rips through the material. The blade included is pretty thin and incredibly sharp. In case you need to use a thicker blade, the blade changing mechanism is quite easy even for a beginner. The DW715 also comes with a dust collection system that captures a significant amount of dust.
Performance
The DW715 is not a bestselling miter saw on Amazon and across the market for nothing. This saw comes with some incredible performance that makes us think they really underpriced it. It features a dependable and powerful 15-amp motor that delivers speeds of up 4,000 rpm. This allows you to make quick cuts during molding or framing, as well as other miter-cutting and crosscutting jobs.
It also has a precise, stainless-steel miter adjustment plate with 11 positive stops which allow you to make quick cuts at common angles. The cam-lock miter handle allows you to make quick, accurate angles with ease too. The saw has a wider miter capacity ranging from 0 to 50 degrees to the right and left which adds versatility.
When it comes to bevel cuts, this model can deliver accurate 45-degree cuts through a dimensional lumber measuring up to 2 x 8 inches. The saw also enables you to make bevel cuts ranging from 0 degrees to 48 degrees to the left and 0 degrees to 3 degrees to the right. The bevel stops include at 48, 45, 33.9 and 0 degrees.
Generally, this saw is extremely versatile, accurate, powerful, and it makes setting and cutting bevel angles and miter angles an easy and quick process.
The Good
The Bad
The Hitachi C10FCE2 miter is currently one of the best selling miter saws on Amazon. From trim carpenters to framers, to woodworkers, pretty much anyone who works with timber will find this model indispensable. If your project demands reliability, versatility, and precision from your tools, the Hitachi C10FCE2 might be one of the tools you need. Perhaps most importantly, this model is a functional cutting miter saw that offers value for each penny you invest in it.
Hitachi clearly understands that a quality and reliable miter saw needs to have a powerful motor and a strong blade. For that reason, this model features a 15-Amp motor and 10-inch blade. The motor delivers up to 5000 RPM, which is remarkable for a miter at its price. This motor is also designed using replaceable brushes which make maintenance much easier and the motor will last longer. With that power capacity, the saw can cut through a wide range of materials including plywood, wood, aluminum slashes and soft fiberboard.
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The 10-inch blade features 24 teeth made of tough tungsten carbide material. The cutting speed coupled with the tough blade construction allows it to cut through hardwoods with ease. It even allows you to cut stacks of 4 x 4, 2 x 6 and 2 x 4 posts at 90 degrees with no struggle. The motor kicks the blade to life immediately without lagging when you press the trigger on the handle.
Being a compound miter saw means it can tilt from the right to the left to allow for quick bevel adjustments. The bevel scale ranges from 0-45 degrees to the left and the miter angles range from 0 and 52 degrees to the left and right for maximum flexibility. There’re positive stops at 45, 31.6, 22.5, 15, and 0 degrees, which will allow you to make quick bevel cuts at these common angles.
The precision on this machine tells you how serious Hitachi takes their work. The miter angle and bevel scale are accurate right from the factory and you don’t need to recalibrate anything once you get your unit. Additionally, the arm or blade won’t wiggle around when in use allowing you to make precise, clean cuts.
There’re several other features on this model that offer convenience and comfort. For instance, the horizontal handle comes covered by a soft and breathable Elastomer material. The covering helps reduce vibrations and enhance the grip when pulling the blade down to cut your material. In addition, the aluminum fence pivots and raises up to 4” in height allowing you to make vertical cuts for crown molding.
The table support on this unit is also large enough and has a vise and clamp to prevent workpieces from moving. When working with larger pieces, attach the support extension on the right or left and you have more space. There is also a dust collector and a dust bag to capture sawdust and debris leaving you with a cleaner working environment. On top of that, the saw weighs only 26.3 lbs which makes it portable and easy to move around.
Overall, the Hitachi C10FCE2 makes an excellent choice for users looking for a reliable, durable and versatile miter saw at an extremely affordable price.
The Good
The Bad
Choosing the best miter saw, as you can see, is not that complicated. The most important thing is to first identify your cutting needs and your budget, and then compare a number of saws that fit your requirements. Whichever your budget estimates, always go for good quality, durable, reliable and versatile models. Our list above factors in all these across different price ranges. So feel free to go with any of our recommendations as they are already thoroughly vetted, reviewed and carefully selected.
Philippe Allaire and all-saws.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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