This is what a miter saw ought to be: accurate, sturdy, powerful, versatile, user-friendly and packed full of cool features. If we had to choose a favorite aspect, it would have to be the handle. It’s vertical. It’s horizontal. And it’s a couple of other things in between. It locks quickly and easily into any of four positions, so both lefties and righties have complete comfort and control.
This saw is beefy: It weighs in at 55 pounds and it’s got a huge 25-1/2-inch base with built-in sliding extensions that bring your total support area to 40 inches. If you’re in the market for a stand for this saw as well, we like both the Bosch TracRac as well as the DeWalt DW723.
The dual bevel is a great feature, swinging 0 to 47 degrees left and zero to 46 degrees right, with positive bevel stops at 31.6 and 33.9 degrees for flawless crown molding cuts. For miter cuts, the blade swings an impressive 52 degrees left and right. There’s even a micro-fine adjustment here, letting you override a detent by as much as 2 degrees. Now that’s precision.
We absolutely love the fence on this saw – Bosch calls it a Speed-track sliding fence – because it’s a full 4 inches tall and has a beautifully readable inch-scale on it. It’s perfect for crown molding, handling pieces up to 6 inches wide when angled against the fence.
We’re suddenly rethinking our earlier statement about our favorite feature on this saw; on second thought, it might well be that all the controls – including the bevel lever – are up front. We’re pretty tired of reaching around a saw body to set a bevel, so this is a most welcome upgrade. Adjustments are so much faster and easier, and all the scales are right up front, too.
Capacities are generous for a non-slider. With a 0-degree miter and 45-degree right bevel, you can cut a 2-by-6; beveling to the left, it will handle a 2-by-8. With an upright blade, you’ll cut a 4-by-4 with ease.
And yes, this saw has a laser cutting guide, but unless you really want one, we wouldn’t let that sway a decision on this saw one way or the other. It’s a nice feature if you’re likely to use it, but most of us woodworkers prefer to get a visual on exactly where that blade meets the wood.
In all, this is a beauty of a saw, with features you aren’t going to find on other saws in its class. And we still can’t pick our favorite between the handle and the up-front controls. It’s all good.--Kris Jensen-Van Heste
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