Best Mitre Saw under £350

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Norfolk75

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As per the title really. I'm looking for a Mitre saw for under £350, I've read reviews on many shop websites but always feel you get a better answers from members on here who seem to have a lot more knowledge.

My preferred Mitre is a sliding one. Thanks in advance.
 
Mine!

I jest but I have a superb Elektra Beckum KGS 300 sliding mitre saw which I bought in 1997 and which is in pristine condition and not being used. It is the pre-braked induction motor version, and is built like German stuff of old; that is like a brick outhouse. When Metabo took Elektra Beckum over they continued making the saws to the same standard for a while but the current offerings, whilst excellent, do not share the same feeling of hewn from a rock that the lovely EB stuff did.

If I were looking at a mitre saw under £350 I would give the Makita range a serious look or add a £100ish to your budget and have a look at the new Festool Kapex KS60 which Toolfest have at £464.

Anglia Tools have showrooms dotted around your part of the world so I would go and have a really good look at what they have to offer. With a few exceptions, most mitre saws are made in the Far East and vary in price and quality but any the propriety brands will be good saws and meet your needs at a very reasonable price.
 
When looking keep in mind the size of blade your table saw use's very convenient to have the same size blade's in both, it also seems most don't like the laser guide's I don't have one on my Makita LS1013 which I rate, its quite an old one now, but still gives very good results.

Mike
 
I have just bought an Evolution RAGE3 FP2552 2440V compound mitre saw, £149.00 from screwfix along with the Evolution stand and I am well impressed with it. Does what it says on the box and accurate.
 
I had a kgs300 and it was a cracking saw
it only died when i forgot to lock it on the stand...they dont bounce sadly
had that for nearly 10 yrs and never missed a beat

Steve
 
SteveF":141ehyyc said:
I had a kgs300 and it was a cracking saw
it only died when i forgot to lock it on the stand...they dont bounce sadly
had that for nearly 10 yrs and never missed a beat

Steve
Click to expand...

Ouch! But you are right, the KGS 300 is a fabulous saw as was the folding table that came with it ( and now, with a medite MDF top, a very stable base for my Kapex). They don't make 'em like they used to and the induction motor is absolutely superb.

I still use the wonderful EB 315 bandsaw and the EB dust extractor and in 20 odd years they have never missed a beat. I did think of upgrading the 315 but a cursory glance at the equivalent modern offerings had me scurrying back at the double to the sanctity of my Teutonic wonder kids.

I will have to put the KGS mitre saw on the for sale thread as I am not using it.
 
..I had been looking for months and recently took the plunge with the Metabo kgs254...well under budget, large cutting capacity and not too heavy to lug around....happy so far...
 
Thanks for the replies. It was a flip in the end on whether to go for the Metabo or Makita & I've decided this one I really like is MAKITA LS0815FL if anyone want to put me off this or has reservations on this particular model please feel free to say.
Thanks.
 
If this is the 214mm saw I would suggest the Metabo is much better value as the larger, 250 dia saw gives a much bigger cutting range..(+cheaper to boot). There are also some pretty awful reviews about on some Makita saws. (See Amazon reviews on this saw). I looked at some when I was searching, and the "rail" movement seemed very "gritty", the more expensive ones seemed better, but again you do pay a lot more for Makita models....for me it was the Metabo (managed to get one at £199 off Amazon)....

..and with the money you save you can buy a decent stand for it as well.....
 
Stevebod":1qhsc854 said:
If this is the 214mm saw I would suggest the Metabo is much better value as the larger, 250 dia saw gives a much bigger cutting range..(+cheaper to boot). There are also some pretty awful reviews about on some Makita saws. (See Amazon reviews on this saw). I looked at some when I was searching, and the "rail" movement seemed very "gritty", the more expensive ones seemed better, but again you do pay a lot more for Makita models....for me it was the Metabo (managed to get one at £199 off Amazon)....

..and with the money you save you can buy a decent stand for it as well.....
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve. Which metabo mitre saw are you referring to for £199? The 305m is £279 and the 216 is £169. Also which stand would you recommend? Cheers
 
I think Steve is referring Metabo KGS254 which is widely available around the £210 mark. Its worth checking prices, I have used FFX for a lot of my stuff with no problems and they have it for £214.

The Makita you are looking at is a smaller saw than the Metabo but only you know what capacity you need but whilst you can always cut smaller with a big saw you cannot .....you get the drift!

If you can, try and see and use some of the saws before you purchase because on the two examples you have looked at, the handle and safety switches arrangements are quite different. The Makita has a vertical handle whilst the Metabo has a horizontal one and countless forums are divided on which is best: my EB is horizontal, my Kapex and Symetric saws are vertical and I must admit to preferring them.

I don't think there is much to choose between either brand, reviews are plus and minus on both.

Most manufacturers produce their own saw stands, one of my friends has the Metabo stand and it is very good and another has the Evolution stand which he bought at Screwfix and has his Dewalt saw mounted on it. It was half the price of the Metabo one and he rates it as excellent.

( One of my sons bought the little Metabo, the 216M from Amazon Warehouse during the Xmas 20% off sale. It looked the business but he couldn't get it to cut at 90 and returned it).

Pat
 
Really sorry in advance if this turns out like a hijack, but needing a little urgent advice and this was the nearest active topic on mitre saws...

My trusty old Makita LS1013 packed up over the weekend... well i say packed up, more like destroyed itself!! :cry: :cry:

From what i can figure the brushes had worn down, dropped out of their carriage and got trapped against the housing and destroyed half of the commutator, whilst the motor was still spinning the bits of the commutator/remainder of the brushes had been pin-balling around in there and caused some serious damage which resulted in a sudden off balance shudder and immediate lock up of the motor and blade!
Needless to say, i just about filled my pants whilst simultaneously jumping to one side followed closely by a nasty clatter and breakage sound. Looking round half expecting to find the saw and part of my right arm laying on the floor!
It happened so quickly and jumping was an instinctive reaction :oops:

After dusting myself off, checking no one saw what happened or heard me squeal like a girl. I picked the saw back up, the remnents of my work piece i was half way through cutting and inspected the damage, the motor is shot, the blade is like a banana and the cast base broke when it hit the floor! (good news was i still had my right arm and count to 10 on my fingers, so not a total loss :mrgreen: )

Anyway, on my way home this evening i headed down to my local shop to get a new one.
Since the LS1013 was the dogs do-dads i decided to go for its updated replacement the LS1016! Gets home, gets it out the box and :-s *head scratch* something doesn't look right! The dude had brought an LS1018 out of the back. It was getting late so only had time to phone and say it was the wrong one, turns out they only stocked the 1216 and i'd only been charged for the 1018 anyway but he could get me one if i really wanted one however the 1016 was less than £70 cheaper than the 1216 hence why he doesn't stock it!
So I said i would look this over and let him know tomorrow... As i want it for fine woodwork and precise mitre and compound mitre cuts the 12" version is liable to have excess deflection and the extra cut depth is unnecessary for me!
Only £70 cheaper is still the cost of a good quality 2nd blade for the LS1016 and maybe fish-n-chips on my way home

Jumps on the google box to double check i wasn't thinking of some other model, as usual hits up the reviews and OMG, :shock: just about every serious woodworkers review for shop use says its pretty much a complete and total piece of errr 'poo' and would rather pay the same price for a second hand 1013.... :evil:

It was 50/50 fault that i ended up taking the wrong saw home...The family run shop have been super good to me over the years so don't want to ask for my money back but don't want to end up with a useless piece of junk that's only good for cutting firewood!

They are Makita dealers, but also deal in Dewalt and Bosch. They can get Scheppach or other major brands on request but would be a couple of weeks wait.

I don't mind waiting, and i don't mind paying the extra to the value of the LS1016 (£500 inc vat) but don't want to spend much more than that!
Could anyone give me any advice on what to do/or get it replaced with Please? [-o< [-o<
 
I feel for your loss, I have a LS1013 and would not hesitate to try and replace it with another of the same model, its one of the only machines I have which I just plug in and use, no messing with fettling it just gets used.

You know you want another, find one and buy it.

Mike

EDIT: must check the brushes.
 
It was second, maybe 3rd hand when I got it and had definitely been used as a site saw by its previous owner. So I was over the moon it was actually still so accurate to start with.
I had not long stripped the bed down to de-sawdust it and had forgotten to bolt it back down to its station, hence why it ended up on the floor, well peeved at myself for that or it may have been repairable!
Anyhow, since the money is spent (and the new one is not faulty best i will get is a credit note) I won't be getting another 1013 anytime soon ](*,)
Any similarly accurate alternatives anyone could suggest in my price range?

Oh and BTW MikeJhn thanks to your advice (and others) on my thread asking about the Fox PT I'm going for the Axminster Trade machines package (which is why I can't spring for something much more than £500)
 
I've got an LS1018 and have had it for a few years now. I can't say I think it's a bad saw at all. Very accurate in fact, once properly calibrated that is - it came out of square from the factory IIRC but has held its settings well since then. It has great capacity too which might not be what you want a chop saw for most of the time but that can be useful when you need it. I'd say put the reviews to one side and try the saw before you make up your mind. If mine fell off it's stand and smashed I'd probably buy another one in a heartbeat.
 
So the Makita I want is the LS0815FL £269 it's not for work or anything like that just for cutting timbers, surely this saw would be suffice for someone like me. I also live more or less opposite Anglia Tools also who have it for that price.
 

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