Last week we posted about the Black Friday 2015 table saw deals that caught our attention. Here, we’ll do the same thing for miter saws.
We have had a couple of requests so far, from DIYers and woodworkers, although I don’t think I’ve heard from contractors yet.
For woodworking applications, keep in mind that you might also want to buy a nice crosscutting saw blade, or other blade that suits your applications. Miter saws typically come with so-so-quality general purpose blades that are better suited for framing work than fine joinery.
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Sorry, No Dewalt DWS782
Last year’s Dewalt DWS782 sliding 12″ miter saw was based on their DWS780. It first appeared in April of 2014, and was actually very close to the DWS780, except for the lack of XPS cut guidance lighting and being bundled with a lesser blade.
Sorry, it doesn’t look like Dewalt is selling these again this year. If they are, it’ll be a surprise, as the DWS782 isn’t available online or in stores yet.
Dewalt DWS709 12″ Sliding Miter Saw
But here’s the good news – Dewalt has come out with the DWS709 sliding 12″ miter saw, which also looks to be very heavily based on the Dewalt DWS780 sliding miter saw design.
However, there is one additional difference we could identify, and maybe more that we cannot.
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The Dewalt DWS709 miter saw has a maximum cutting capacity of 2″ x 14″ at 90°, and 2″ x 10″ at 45°, while the DWS780 can handle 2″ x 16″ at 90° and 2″ x 12″ at 45°.
The DWS709 is priced at $399 and is likely the hot buy replacement for the DWS782. Maybe we’ll see a doorbuster discount or something to the effect, but I don’t think so.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Dewalt DW715
This Dewalt DW715 12″ miter saw has a single-bevel compound design, which is enough for lots of different types of users. Some might prefer a dual-bevel design, but you pay more for greater adjustability.
Right now this saw is $249 at Amazon – not eligible for their $25 off $100+ Dewalt promo – and $299 at Lowes. Lowes’ Black Friday 2015 sales flyer shows that it’ll be on sale there for $199.
Judging from user reviews, this saw is less featured than some of Dewalt’s other miter saw offerings, but apparently not lacking in the least as far as quality is concerned.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Dewalt Free Stand Offers?
Sometimes the DWS780 is bundled with a free miter saw stand, although I don’t think I’ve seen such a sale this year yet. It might come during the peak of the holiday season, or maybe not. Please keep your eye out for such a deal, and let us know if you find it!
Bosch Miter Saw Deals
It doesn’t look like Bosch’s awesome Axial Glide saws are on sale for the holidays, but they do have a 12″ miter saw, the CM12, that’s currently on sale AND eligible for Amazon’s $25 off $100+ Bosch promo discount.
It’s $286 before discount, $261 after.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Craftsman Miter Saws Deals
There are a couple of Craftsman miter saw deals as part of Sears’ Black Friday 2015 tool deals:
Craftsman 10″ Miter saw, $100
Craftsman 10″ Sliding Miter Saw, $170
Craftsman 10″ Sliding Miter Saw, “Rail Forward” style, $190
None of these sales are especially fantastic, but Craftsman miter saws are decent for the money. I used a Craftsman miter saw for a while before donating it, and aside from having to square things up once or twice, it was great.
Hitachi Miter Saw Deals
As you might have noticed, there’s a $25 off $100 Hitachi tools promo going on right now too. Over at Amazon, their 10″ compound miter saw is eligible for the discount, but only the one that’s equipped with a laser for cut line guidance.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
I have had great experiences with Hitachi power tools, and have heard good things about their miter saws. If I was shopping for a miter saw on a budget, Hitachi’s 10″ would be at the top of my list.
There will be a Hitachi miter saw on sale at Lowes as part of their pre-Black Friday sales event, for $99. Hopefully Amazon will match this, explaining why only one of their saws is eligible for the $25 discount. Or you can pick up one of these saws (the non-laser version) at your local Lowes.
Update: the non-laser Hitachi miter saw just went on sale for $99 at Amazon.
Ryobi Miter Saw Deals
I don’t think I saw any notable Ryobi miter saw deals this year, have you?
Kobalt 10″ Sliding Miter Saw
Kobalt’s 10″ sliding compound miter saw is currently $179, but it’s destined to drop to $159 during Black Friday/Thanksgiving weekend.
Kobalt 7-1/4″ Sliding Miter Saw
This image from 2 years ago shows a pile of Kobalt 7-1/4″ sliding miter saws that were in plentiful stock after the holiday season. As a post from the time discussed, these saws dropped in price during the holiday season. Maybe we’ll see another deal this year, but it looks like only the 10″ model is featured in the Lowes 2015 Black Friday sales flyer.
Ridgid 12″ Sliding Miter Saw plus Free Stand
As of now, there’s only one Ridgid miter saw deal that we know of – this 12″ sliding miter saw and free MSUV (miter saw utility vehicle) saw stand.
I’m a little surprised by how well regarded Ridgid miter saws seem to be by their users. I don’t think I have ever had a Ridgid miter saw on my radar for personal use or review, but seeing so many positive reviews might soon change my mind.
Tis 12″ sliding miter saw has a very unusual-looking base. It looks to be an almost space-saving design, which is highly desirable for workshop and portability purposes. The free miter saw stand looks pretty beefy too.
The combo is a “special buy” at $499. The saw is usually $499 by itself, and the MSUV miter saw stand is currently sold for $199.
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Any More Miter Saw Deals?
Have you found another miter saw deal worth mentioning? Please let us know!
Do any of these deals stand out to you?
Personally, I’m curious to know more about the Dewalt DWS709, and how closely it might resemble the DWS780 or DWS782.
As for the one that interests me most, I’d have to look at the Ridgid or Hitachi. Go big or go small.
Paul
I bought the DeWalt 12″ single bevel saw last year. The Lowe’s was nice enough to sell me the floor model, which was an older version and compatible with the XPS light upgrade. I recently got the Ridged MSUV which is very nice and I needed that (wheels and removable saw required) compared to the DeWalt stands currently available.
Does anyone know what the part number is and where I can order extra mounting brackets for the MSUV? They do not seem to be readily available and the pair on Amazon must be for an older model of the stand as they did not fit. My goal is to build an extension fence that connects to the cart but is removable when I fold it up. The bracket would square it to the saw and the side supports on the cart could keep it level.
Matt Steele
Still wishing I picked up the DWS780 last year. Gah.
James
The Bosch CM12SD is on sale at Menards for $599.00 ($50.00 off) and you can stack their 11% rebate on it when they are going on.
fred
The best deal I see on a Bosch GCM12SD is $470 ($495 – $25 with the BOSCH25 Coupon) with free shipping – but it is for a factory reconditioned unit from ToolsPlus
Scott
Yes! I was hoping for a miter saw-related post. I’m a new homeowner and there are a few projects I’d like to tackle that require either a miter saw or a table saw. I’m leaning more towards the miter (but can be convinced otherwise by a good argument). I’d like to stay under $150, but I also only have the budget for one saw right now. Is it worth the money to spring for a sliding miter saw to gain the extra cutting capacity? Does anyone have experience with these saws or others in the price range?
Stuart
For the same money, I would rather have a non-sliding miter saw than a sliding one. In theory, the non-sliding one might be of better quality.
Sliding saws are larger and more expensive. If a non-sliding one can handle most of your needs, you could always use a different saw, such as a circular saw, for times when you need just a little extra cutting capacity. Or you could pay a nominal fee for the lumber supplier to cut larger boards for you.
Scott
That makes sense- I also assume there’s some correlation between the number of moving parts and durability.
Stuart
The way I see it, more parts at the same price could mean lower quality parts.
If you have $100 to spend on 2 kitchen knives, you’re going to see a big quality difference than if you have $100 to buy 5 kitchen knives and a 6-piece steak knife set.
In a sliding miter saw, the rails and bearing blocks likely contribute a lot to the cost. So if you opt for a non-sliding miter saw, you can get a less expensive saw of comparable quality, or comparably priced saw of greater quality.
That’s just my preference. If you need the greater cutting capacity a lot of the time, then a sliding miter saw might be the better option.
Ray
I would go with the Craftsman 10″ non slider saw for homeowner use. The old Hitachi miter saws were great, we had a really bad experience with one of the new 12″ saws though.
Scott
Thanks for the suggestion. As long as the 10″ saw can cut through a 4×4 I doubt it would limit anything I’d want to do.
duke5572
Homeowner? You don’t need a sliding miter saw, unless it’s a cheapo 7 1/4″ model, which might actually be a solid choice. The absolute baseline power cutting tool is a 7 1/4″ circular saw (start there if you haven’t already), so you could share blades.
Miter saws and table saws are pretty much mutually exclusive. A table saw might be more versatile overall, but it would require a large time investment in constructing jigs.
If it were 1978, I would absolutely recommend a radial arm saw! It can do everything, and if you have the space you can snag one on Craigslist for almost nothing.
NERemodeling
All I know is deal or no deal, this December I’m buying the new X2 36v BL Makita sliding miter saw!!
Eric
What is the COO of each of these?
Stuart
Celestial Object Origin?
Earth.
In all seriousness, I’m fairly certain they all come from some part in Asia.
fred
My Bosch GCM12SD was made in China – as are ( I suspect ) some of the other miter saws on the market now. We had some earlier Makita saws that were made in the USA – and perhaps some of their models still are. I think that I’ve seen some Dewalt’s and Milwaukee saws that are made in Taiwan and some Makita’s that are made in China. I believe that the Festool Kapex is made in Germany – and I have no clues about where the Hitachi’s are made.
Toolfreak
The Kobalt 7-1/4″ saw is the $99 Lowe’s Black Friday deal this year.
I’d agree that the $100 Craftsman 10″ or the Hitachi 10″ would be the way to go for the money, though. Good saws for DIYers or just to have in a garage for home projects.
$261 ain’t bad at all for a 12″ Bosch though, if you either want/need something that big or just want a higher end saw.
A fixed 10″ single bevel does seem to be the sweet spot for miter saws, at least for decent quality at a good price. I haven’t really needed anything bigger, or a sliding saw, but there have been times where it would have been nice. If you have a circular saw for the bigger cuts, you can usually live with a fixed 10″ miter saw.
fred
The other cost issue – relates to the blade that comes with the saw. Jobsite table saws – even higher-end ones sometime come with blades suitable only for rough cutting. The same is true for some miter saws. We’d always replace the stock blade with a higher quality one for trim work – saving the stock blade for times we had to cut lots of framing or pressure treated wood. Our go-to Forrest Mitermaster blades cost more ($250 or so for the 12inch) than some low-end saws.
Toolfreak
The cheap saws almost always come with 40T framing/general purpose blades, and they are usually the most basic steel blade you can get.
Even spending just $20-30 on a new blade can make a basic saw cut incredibly well.
I don’t think there’s a need to spend more on a blade than the saw (especially if the saw costs hundreds already) unless you’re getting into expensive pro stuff like intricate trim work or perhaps cabinet building/professional wordwork, or maybe even specialty materials that need their own particular blade.
A Bosch saw with a good Bosch Daredevil blade is a great option without breaking the bank. Freud blades seem to be really good as well.
For those on a budget, the $100 Craftsman saw can use the black-color Craftsman saw blades, which seem to be a really good value for how well they cut for how much they cost, especially if you buy them in a two-pack on sale.
fred
The Bosch GCM12SD came with a 60T Combination blade (Bosch 1 609 B00 209) – that as you might think was decent – but not great. We always found that (for a 12 inch saw) a superior quality 80T to 100T blade worked better for us.
I didn’t mean to say that you needed to buy a very pricey Forrest 100T Mitermaster or their somewhat less costly 90T or 80T Chopmaster to get a good cut- but even a decent Freud Diablo 80 tooth blade will set you back $50. We liked the Forrest blades – because they produced a very smooth cut and with re-sharpening costs thrown in – we reckoned that they came at a very competitive cost on a cost per cut basis. If you are only making a few cuts per day on average – then you may never be able to pay back the added upfront cost.
Dan M
I used the $25 off deal to get a Makita LS1040 10-Inch Compound Miter saw delivered for $165 from Amazon. It got a lot of use over the weekend cutting blocking and I was impressed with the build quality and no fuss design. It was between this and the Hitachi – both would have been fine, I’m sure, but it was a matter of go with the brand you know.
Josh
The Dewalt DW716 is on sale for $299 at Home Depot and it comes with a work stand, whatever that means. Looks decent enough and you could probably add the dos light if you wanted it.
Mike
I don’t know the price but I noticed that a pallet ryobi miter saws were sitting under some black plastic at home depot with all the other black friday stuff.
Ben Gladd
Love the dewalt 12 inch saw!