In Brief.

The fact that a slide compound mitre saw is an important major purchase for many tradespeople has obviously not gone unnoticed by any of these manufacturers. Each and every one of them are more than capable of doing the job, and doing it well. We found that there are really only minor differences between the machines, and a decision to buy should be based on the task at hand. We were impressed by the degree of accuracy that every one of these machines had. In every case, if you lock the machine into an angle, then that is exactly what we got time after time. Although laser technology is not often considered a high priority by many trade users, probably with good reason for some hand held tools, we found that models with lasers were significantly faster to setup for each cut. We were also able to quickly align the mark to the edge of the blade accurately without exposing the blade’s teeth to our fingers! When not obscured by the depth of the timber, Hitachi’s splinter guard did the same thing. Great when new but we did wonder how damaged the splinter guard would get with some heavy handed use.

What We Did.

We asked company representatives to demonstrate their products in order to overcome any negative opinions that could be the result of poor or inaccurate setup. During this process we are able to record some obvious details such as blade and motor size etc but most importantly we could see how the experts use the equipment. Then we used the machines – and formed an opinion of ease of use, ease of adjusting the machine and we measured many of the cuts for accuracy. Having made the decision that if they could cut this they could cut anything, we selected a very heavy, very old, piece of 3” x 3” hardwood. Not even the smallest or cheapest machines had any trouble with it at all! Overall Festool is ahead of the field, but not as far ahead as one might think. As we said, all manufacturers have obviously put a great deal into the design and manufacture of these machines and it showed. Honestly, different testers formed different opinions; my preference was probably for Makita; Bosch or perhaps the mid range Hitachi would be higher on my colleague’s shopping list.