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Miter saw for instrument building
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Author:  bcombs510 [ Wed Oct 05, 2016 7:27 am ]
Post subject:  Miter saw for instrument building
Hello,

I'm in the market for a miter saw. I've read a bunch of threads on here about the merits of 10" vs 12" when it comes to deflection, about the quality of the bearings, etc...

I can't justify the festool, so if I was in the 500 - 700 range is there one folks would recommend? I was leaning toward either the Bosch or Jet 10". This will be used only for instruments. The saw it is replacing will be used for home projects only from now on. :D

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks!
Brad

Edited: Both the Bosch and Jet are 10". My head is swimming from reading speeds and feeds from the manufacturers websites. :D


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Author:  kencierp [ Wed Oct 05, 2016 7:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
We have an 8" Hitachi slider, used for custom and production work -- nice, no slop, very accurate.
Author:  Woodie G [ Wed Oct 05, 2016 9:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
What do you want to do with it? Our 12" Dewalt belt driven double bevel miter saw gets far less use than any other stationary tool in the shop, and most of that is on rough stock prep to get things cut to useful lengths for resaw or to fit the 48" crosscut limitation on the cabinet saw.

At Habitat, most of our carpenters own and use either one of the Makita LS series sliders or the newer Dewalt 12" compound or the 10" slider. Working trim guys favoring the smaller LS due to weight (it has to be carried or wheeled to/from the truck at the beginning and end of the day) and the soft start feature (which can save a walk back to the drop to reset the breaker when running off a long extension). At about $500, the 10" LS is a in your price range, but again, is the money better spent on a good 10" table saw that can more accurately handle most cuts?

You might consider how important good dust collection for your shop, as other than the custom-designed rig we have here in the shop, the dust collection on these tools ranges from terrible to mediocre with the exception of the $1500 Festool I saw at the Baltimore Woodworking Show last year - expensive, and that's without the $600-$800 for the vacuum! Even our shop rig that uses a 4" drop is just OK...
Author:  Terence Kennedy [ Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
I have a Bosch slider that is about 15 years old, it works great but as mentioned dust collection is tough. About the only thing I use it for routinely in lutherie is cutting the end of a neck to length and it is very accurate for that. The rest of the cross cut stuff is smaller pieces and I use a table saw sled.

It's great for other projects and I use it a lot for those things however I use it so infrequently in guitar building that I have moved it to the garage to free up space in my shop for stuff I use more often and keep the place cleaner.
Author:  SteveSmith [ Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
I have a 10" DeWalt miter saw left over from my custom furniture days that I use a fair amount but I could just as easily do everything on the table or band saws. I will probably pull the miter saw station out when I do my upcoming shop redesign.
Author:  ernie [ Fri Oct 07, 2016 4:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
Used older radial arm saws or sliders can be found inexpensively on CL for rough work. I have both for cabinetwork and luthiery
Author:  Alain Desforges [ Sat Oct 08, 2016 4:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
About 6-7 years ago, there was a shoot-out in one of the major wood-working magazines. The Bosch had won, so I decided to go with that since I was in the market for one at the time, and, I had found one at a super deal at Home Depot.

It was bang-on right out of the box. I have nothing but good things to say about mine. Mind you, I think that any saw will serve you well, as long as it's well set up and you use a good quality blade.
Author:  Clay S. [ Sun Oct 09, 2016 8:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
If you just want it for luthierie you might consider a non motorized version. Less of a problem with dust collection, light weight , stores out of the way, and not much slower for most of what we do.

https://www.amazon.com/Nobex-Champion-1 ... B001F7P3K4
Author:  Alex Kleon [ Sun Oct 09, 2016 9:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
Clay S. wrote:
If you just want it for luthierie you might consider a non motorized version. Less of a problem with dust collection, light weight , stores out of the way, and not much slower for most of what we do.

https://www.amazon.com/Nobex-Champion-1 ... B001F7P3K4


I've got one of those that I used for cabinetry and the odd trim job. It's still the best tool for making cuts on very small pieces of wood, and keeping your fingers safe.
You really have to let the saw do the work, though. If you put too much downward pressure while sawing, the blade will start to deflect resulting in a poor cut, even with the blade properly tensioned.

Alex
Author:  Clay S. [ Sun Oct 09, 2016 6:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Miter saw for instrument building
"You really have to let the saw do the work, though. If you put too much downward pressure while sawing, the blade will start to deflect resulting in a poor cut, even with the blade properly tensioned."

I've found that to be true of power miter saws too, but the pressure for deflection is much greater. Poor technique can over come even the best engineered product. gaah

One other advantage of the non powered version - it's quiet.
For a production shop it may not be the best choice, but for a luthier hobbyist it could make sense. After my Makita miter saw was stolen, a friend gave me an old Ryobi 10 inch. I get by just fine with that (and a backsaw for finer cuts).
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