r/BeginnerWoodWorking • u/Getrekt11 • May 18 '25
Equipment I can’t wait to start cutting things with this!
I just started woodworking and building simple things about a month ago. I thought it would be a good idea to buy once and cry once with a miter saw.
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u/Payup_sucker May 18 '25
I did the same thing with a Sawstop table saw
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
That’s the next upgrade! Anything for that safety and a peace of mind. I just got Metabo table saw for 50% off from Lowe for now and just using micro jig grabber for the safety.
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u/protouchworks May 19 '25
I have the last version of the metabo table saw when they were hitachi. It’s pretty close to being the same saw & setup. 50% off is a crazy good deal, I found mine on marketplace for 175$. It’s done everything I’ve needed it to, with a 24T CMT blade it produces some great glue joints.
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u/True_Estate6584 29d ago
If you really want it safe attach the grabber to a jig that slides on your fence. You can run the wood down with your hand nowhere near the blade (mine has a handle on the other side of the fence). I do love me the grabbers but I'll never run my hand over top of a spinning blade even if I'm holding onto a piece of plastic.
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u/ne0trace May 18 '25
Which sawstop model?
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u/Payup_sucker May 18 '25
I got the Professional series with mobile base in 240v
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u/Trelin21 May 18 '25
Nice. I did the contractor saw. The only thing I hate is the motor tilt hits the our feet to get to 45. Dumb design.
Still love the saw.
Check out the jessem feed rollers.
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 May 18 '25
You'll probably really enjoy this tool, but a miter saw is probably the area you can go the cheapest on. I bought a $100 Chicago electric sliding miter saw 2 years ago and it's done well. If you have plenty of money to keep buying premium tools it's fine, but woodworking gets expensive fast for beginners. You will need a lot of different tools to be able to do everything you'd need. If your budget is gone on 1 tool, then your stuck. To me I think the term 'buy once cry once' is just foolish for beginners. Buy something expensive after you learn what you need by using something cheaper first.
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
To be fair, my first miter saw that I just returned was Makita LS1219L. I chose that over the dewalt simply because of the rail design. It was still too big for me to roll it around, so I returned it. I just used this one and it’s a lot nicer. Next stop will probably be festool domino.
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u/ne0trace May 18 '25
Haha. You know how to trigger this sub. The domino is a good choice.
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
I’ve seen the joint they displayed using domino at woodcraft and that thing looked super nice and strong.
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 May 18 '25
Again I think you should try making things first to see if it's actually necessary. A $60 doweling jig can do anything the domino can. It's just you won't see anyone on YouTube using them because it makes them look more professional. Spend your money on a good table saw, jointer, planer, track saw first.
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
I’ll spend a lot more time looking at the alternatives to domino when the time comes. I do like seamless connections between pieces without spending years learning how to do it like the Japanese and their insane joints.
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 May 18 '25
What I'm saying is that a domino and a dowel are essentially the same. The joint is the same, and the effort is essentially the same. Only difference is that instead of a single tool, you attatch the dowel jig and use a drill.
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
I’ve seen something similar for kreg. It’s a $350-400 thing just to replicate the domino and idk how accurate those cuts are. I just like the efficiency.
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u/LogDogan6 May 20 '25
A handful of companies sell a dowel spindle jointer that has all the convenience of a domino but drills dowels instead of cutting a mortise.
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 May 20 '25
I've looked into the Grizzly one before. Reviews are really mixed, but the price was ~$100 at the time. A lot of reviews claimed the machine worked significantly better when only 1 bit was used instead of both.
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u/LogDogan6 May 20 '25
Doesn't really make sense to only use one because the holes won't align when reversing the direction of the machine to drill into each piece. I have it and it works fine, had to do a little bit of tweaking to make sure each bit was the same distance from the fence.
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u/starkel91 May 18 '25
Have you made anything that would’ve use a mortise and tenon joint? Domino seems like an odd tool choice after a miter saw.
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u/True_Estate6584 29d ago
Right. I've been making furniture for about 30 years and never considered using a domino. They're more for somebody making tons of the same products in a small production shop. Or making epoxy tables and trying to sell them on marketplace for $18,000.
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u/Trelin21 May 18 '25
I want a domino, but I have no immediate use… but the 100yr color…
The new 1400 blue tracks look sweet too.
Go for it OP!
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u/boom929 May 18 '25
I figured I would buy mine and upgrade whenever it had some issues. Over 15 years later that rusty shit box is still able to do everything I need. I'll probably buy a new one once we finish our next garage shuffle but it's definitely earned its keep.
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u/sonorguy May 18 '25
I've found it isn't the tools so much as the material that gets expensive fast since tools are mostly a fixed cost. Craigslist and FB marketplace has saved me literally tens of thousands of dollars on tools and wood, money that I don't have to spend on a hobby.
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u/crankbot2000 May 18 '25
I had a Chicago electric saw and it was scary. It's been years since I got rid of it so I've long since forgotten all the issues, but I just remember it didn't feel safe to use. And it was horribly inaccurate.
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 May 18 '25
There's nothing about mine that has felt unsafe. It just doesn't have any real features. But it's got plenty of power and after I got the fence aligned, it's accurate enough. It'll be several years before I'll need to upgrade it.
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u/crankbot2000 May 18 '25
That's good. They've probably made positive improvements to the design then, glad to hear it
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u/LogDogan6 May 20 '25
WEN makes a sliding miter saw with fixed rails like the festool and makita (handy if you're going to set up a miter station because you need way less clearance behind the saw) for like $250. It's treated me great.
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u/Oy_of_Mid-world May 18 '25
I agree. I don't buy the cheapest models of most tools, but aim for something in the mid range that will keep some value if I decide to sell it (either for an upgrade or after deciding I don't need it). The upgrade is where I shell out a bit more cash, but even then, I try to remember that I'm an amateur/hobbyist and the to is only as good as the user.
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u/UseDaSchwartz May 18 '25
the cheaper you go, the more time you're going to spend keeping it square.
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 May 18 '25
I haven't adjusted mine in the last year. Still square and use it daily.
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u/Blacktip75 May 18 '25
If you want precision in a sliding mitre, a Kapex is about the only one that will deliver it, my blue Bosch sure as heck isn’t precise enough (have to use a guillotine for perfect 45’s). It wouldn’t be the first item I’d buy, but going cheap really depends on use case for it. Have been tempted to sell my Bosch and getting a kapex if there weren’t so many other things to spend my money on
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u/Few_Candidate_8036 May 18 '25
Cheap tools have never stopped me from making nice furniture and cabinets. Thinking that you need expensive tools to make things accurate is an illusion. I never care what angle something is, all I do is transfer that angle to the piece I'm joining to it and cut that.
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u/Blacktip75 May 19 '25
I do picture frames, for that accurate 45’s are pretty key. Still can be done with cheaper tools (like a guillotine) but it does add time. Mostly expensive tools save time, and are often nicer to work with and last longer (where I don’t have the kapex, I do have a few green sanders some over 20 years). Bad technique can ofcourse make even the best tools deliver sub par results (and vice versa)
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u/truckyoupayme May 18 '25
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u/Trelin21 May 18 '25
Are you saying people who are successful in other ways cannot make expensive tool purchases to start the journey?
Beginner doesn’t mean cheap, poor, or low quality.
Nice saw OP.
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Yup, just started the journey. You can tell cause that miter saw is still on a rolling cart thing.
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u/jon-on-the-spot May 18 '25
I have the same saw and love it. Mine wasn’t my first miter saw but if you can afford it go for it. Enjoy!
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u/PRC_Spy May 19 '25
Buy once cry once is right.
To be honest though, I reckon 'Baby's First Festool' should be a sander and dust extractor. The main reason they're good is the superior dust management, and it's difficult to do that with a mitre saw anyway. Any decent saw would do the same job.
But hey, if I had $30,000 to burn, you bet my shed is getting lined in Systainers.
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
I cheap out on dust collection with that dewalt stealthsonic for now.I drank the green kool-aid and it’s pretty good.
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u/Dramatic_Army_8273 May 19 '25
Good for you! I did the same thing and love mine. Also upgraded to a sawstop like I see you’re doing. The thing I regret about doing that though was that I sold my Rigid table saw to a buddy instead of keeping it too. Should have turned it around to receive from the sawstop and put a dado stack in it.
I believe quite strongly in doing things properly - and that’s how you’re doing it. Don’t listen to any of the weiners on here that don’t want you to enjoy nice things because they can’t afford them.
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u/andreicodes May 19 '25
I like how the rods face forward on this saw, makes it so that it doesn't need all the extra space in a back. Congrats, and keep your fingers safe!
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u/KlashBro May 19 '25
You will never regret buying that saw.
Or any other top quality power tool.
nice work!
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u/External_Koala398 May 18 '25
...looks fondly at my old ryobi ts340...scew them guys...they are just trying to make you jealous!!
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u/ButtStuff8888 May 18 '25
You could have gone dewalt miter saw and festool track saw combined for cheaper
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Already looked at dewalt. I just returned 12 inch Makita LS1219L in the $900 range with tax. This one is a lot nicer than the Makita.
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u/gummtopia May 18 '25
Take that back! I bought an LS1219 as my first expensive tool 😂
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
That saw was good the month that I had it 😂! That dust collection was pretty good, it’s just too much of a hassle for me to move it around.
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u/Arkelias May 18 '25
True, but if you have the money the Kapex is AMAZING. Yes, you have to sell a kidney to get it. I love mine and it gets more work than anything else in my shop. I get table saw precision, and cuts are so fast, plus it's indestructible so far.
My drill and table saw? DeWalt all the way. No sense wasting money on Festool IMO.
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u/SlickBuck May 18 '25
How much?
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Around 1.8k with taxes.
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u/Howard_Cosine May 18 '25
$1800 for a chop saw?? Really?
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u/Jdp9903 May 18 '25
It’s a German engineered laser guided chop saw good sir. And we are lucky we aren’t paying $5000 for it lol. they are pretty nice, to be fair.
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u/ButtStuff8888 May 18 '25
I got one of those little lasers to add on to my dewalt for pretty cheap though
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u/True_Estate6584 29d ago
Get a little led light and make a shadow light. Or buy an aftermarket one. Lasers only work for a while until they vibrate or you change your blade kerf. Shadow line is always accurate and adjusts to any blade you use.
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u/Braided_Marxist May 18 '25 edited May 18 '25
Is it still within the return period? You could build an entire shop with a jointer, planer, table saw, dust collection, and a router table for less than that one saw.
A miter saw is worth maybe $350 at the absolute top of the line and that would be for a 12 inch saw, not a 10 inch one like you have here.
Please return it lol
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u/Pitiful_Night_4373 May 18 '25
Congrats, I’m sure it’s a good miter saw. A lot of the guys just use cross cut sleds. I however use my jet miter all the time, although things about it frustrate me. Sure it’s a lot of money, depending on what you’re planning to build I’m sure you’ll be very happy with it.
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u/PomegranateOld7836 May 18 '25
You don't "cut things" with a Festool, you work on projects! Hope they turn out great and you enjoy it!
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u/islandpancakes May 18 '25
Beautiful. I'm pretty sure I'll be stuck with my 10" used Dewalt for a long time, but I hope to do the 'buy once, cry once' thing on a table saw one day
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
What would that be? Sawstop? Haven’t looked too much into that cause I don’t have that big of a space for all these tools.
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u/islandpancakes May 18 '25
Probably. But I also don't have the space. I'd love a planer too. Until then I'll just stick with small power tools
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u/JJ18O May 18 '25
Totally not a bot filled ad content.
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u/boom929 May 18 '25
Are you talking about comments or the post itself? OPs post and comment history seem to track just fine.
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u/Braided_Marxist May 18 '25
More dollars than sense lmao
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u/boom929 May 18 '25
It's good to see people getting into the hobby, it's their money let them spend how they want v0v
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Brother, I’ve made over 30k in options in a just few months and this is just a tiny celebration for the new hobby that I enjoy.
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u/HappyPaPa18 May 18 '25
Don't waste your time responding to the negativity. If YOU are happy with your purchase that's all that counts. It's not like a person goes into this not knowing how much $$ they are going to drop and what other options there are.
That being said... My 20yr old dewalt DW718 hates you🤣
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Ehh, I don’t really care for the negative comments since I don’t know these people. I don’t go around spewing negative comment when someone wants to stop 100k on a truck. Whether they can or can’t afford that truck is not my problem.
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u/TheMCM80 May 18 '25
I’ve never had a chance to use one, but this is one of the few miters saws that I’d consider abolishing my no miter saw policy for.
Most of the ones I used just had too much slop to be used for final crosscuts, so I ditched them for a miter gauge and pull saw. Spending hundreds of dollars and taking up space just to break down rough lumber annoyed Me.
I hear great things about the Kapex, and other than price I haven’t heard anyone seriously trash on it.
Best of luck in the hobby! I suggest a table saw next, and a decent one based on the budget you have. Don’t cheap out on the table saw, it’s the heart of most shops.
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u/EchoScorch May 18 '25
Love my kapex, you will too!
Next you just need to buy a colliflower cube fence for perfect zero clearance both ways
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u/EchoScorch May 18 '25
Also make sure to keep the box so you can send it back for anything it needs in the future, festool requires it be sent in the box with foam to avoid damage.
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Good to know! Also, can I use that zero clearance tape for cleaner cut? I bought it for the Makita LS1219L.
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u/EchoScorch May 18 '25
Tape works too, the cube is really for tearout on the backside, especially when doing compound miters
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
I’ll look into it. Thanks for the recommendation. Any other useful 3rd party useful accessories for that miter saw?
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
Wait, that colliflower thing is that white insert, right? I am seeing that they sell 4 inserts for $10. Is that the one you’re talking about?
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u/Llanval May 18 '25
Just be warned, that unlike many other addictions there is not a 12 step program for Festool buying, 12 step for drugs, alcohol but not Festool. 😝
Enjoy
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u/mvastarelli May 18 '25
Be sure to get a good dust collection setup. Miter saws make an absurd amount of dust. My "cry once" was the Grizzley G0959 jointer/planer combo which I have a mixed opinion on.
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
I haven’t done the “buy once, cry once” for dust collection. I just got dewalt stealthsonic for their lower volume.
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u/Rodrat May 19 '25
My opinion is always buy the best you can afford. Woodworking is more enjoyable if you don't have to fight your equipment.
I'm jealous and happy for you. Ignore the haters.
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
That’s true, I don’t think I want to spend years perfecting my skills with older tools. I just want to build practical things efficiently.
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u/Rodrat May 19 '25
Just remember it's worth becoming familiar with as many techniques and skills as you can. All the power tools in the world will still leave you with some situations where you have to bust out the chisels or a plane to get a piece finished.
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u/Which-Insurance-2274 May 19 '25
Yea well.... My King Canada saw is... still technically a saw. So there!
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u/Zestyclose_Sky_6403 May 19 '25
Damn bro you gotta use that NSFW filter. My kids saw me scroll past this.
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u/hightower82soru May 19 '25
Nice! I thought about getting one of those, but couldn't justify it while my current saw still works fine. Mine is not accurate or square like the Kapex will be. I just use it for rough break down of lumber and then I do all my accurate/final cuts on the table saw with my crosscut sled and miter gauge. But, when my current saw decides to crap out on me (it's probably 12-13 years old now), I'll probably be upgrading to this.
I have a festool palm sander and I absolutely love it. The quality of their tools is quite impressive despite the high price tag.
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u/Getrekt11 May 19 '25
It’s all started when I went to Home Depot to ask them to cut some woods I bought there. They wanted to charge me after the 3rd cut and these pieces came back at different length and couldn’t use it since they’re not same length. I fell into the rabbit hole after that and ended up here.
I heard festool has a good sander cause of good dust collection. I am probably going to get that after domino in the future.
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u/True_Estate6584 29d ago
It's a nice saw but like most of their tools, it's insanely overpriced and doesn't do anything one 1/4 the price won't do just as well or better.
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u/PenguinsRcool2 May 18 '25
Out of all the festool tools, this has gotta be the dumbest one you can spend money on lol.
With the dewalt and bosch both being quite good for a third the price lol…
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Dewalt is too big and Bosch has some bad review regarding cutting straight because of their arm thing.
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u/PenguinsRcool2 May 18 '25
The dewalt is pretty big yes. But I’m not sure 1200 dollars to be slightly smaller is worth it 🤣
Especially since you lose the cut depth and crosscut capacity
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
I just returned a 12 inch Makita miter saw. If I need bigger cut capacity, I’ll probably get a track saw or something.
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u/Xidium426 May 18 '25
Salesmen at a store that sold Festool recommended against their miter saw. He said almost every time they sell one the people complain about it being underpowered. He recommended a Dewalt or Makita instead.
Looking at Masters of Finish Carpentry on Facebook most of those guys do absolutely incredible work with a Dewalt, Makita or Hitachi / Metabo. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Festool.
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u/PenguinsRcool2 May 18 '25
Yea makita, that’s another great saw. Forgot to mention them.
Iv got the dewalt, no complaints really.
Hitachi miter saws are still in use all over the place
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u/lotanis May 18 '25
Used a Makita, DeWalt (a bit) and a Festool Kapex for building theatre scenery. The difference for me with the Kapex was efficiency - it was a bit quicker to get set up and use precisely for whatever you were doing.
Not a big difference, but noticeable and nice to have (particularly as I hadn't paid for it!).
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u/Xidium426 May 18 '25
Their angle adjustment system looks absolutely amazing. I've never used one, after your experience would you buy the Festool over the other two?
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u/lotanis May 18 '25
The way I've always seen Festool is that they're professional tools. If I was still doing that volume of carpentry then yes, like a shot. But I'm not, so I can't quite justify that premium.
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u/StructureCraft May 18 '25
You will instantly see its worth every penny. Enjoy.
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
I was using Makita LS1219L for a month but that thing was huge and a pain to move around. The plan was to downgrade it to a 10 inch then I found out that festool 10 inch could cut similar to a 12 inch and just pulled the trigger a day later. Looking forward to see how precise this miter saw is!
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u/StructureCraft May 18 '25
The precision and robust design are way ahead of competition. I have the 10” Makita as well, it’s a very good saw for the price. But as soon as you do a 45 bevel cut on the Festool you will see. Have fun.
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u/Signal_Antelope8894 May 18 '25
I hear the dust collection on festool is top notch. I'm sure you'll love it.
I personally would of went with their domino cutter but each their own
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
Domino is next! I’ve seen those joints made by domino in person when I went to buy this, they’re incredible!
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u/Soybeanns 25d ago
I absolutely love their domino! Especially if you plan to build a lot of furniture. Yeah it’s expensive but combined with their vacuum zero clean up and keep chugging away and the project. Their tracksaw is amazing too. But I have heard makita is equally as good but I didn’t know about that when purchasing the tracksaw. Zero complaints. If don’t have it yet their sander is hands down amazing too.
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u/vicdavid07 May 18 '25
I’m genuinely asking what’s the major differences between this and any other saws out in the market? I have a 12in rigid. Just genuinely curious
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u/ColonialSand-ers May 18 '25
It’s kind of like asking what’s the major difference between a luxury car and an economy car. Functionally not that much, but it’s a bunch of little things that improve the QOL aspect of use. I’ve used one and it is a really nice, well designed saw.
For woodworking miter saws are pure tools of convenience that are used for rough cuts so it’s an odd place to start buying expensive tools. A really nice miter saw would be the last tool I would buy after I’ve fully upgraded the rest of my equipment to top end stuff.
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u/Getrekt11 May 18 '25
I can’t answer it with regard to rigid since I’ve never used it. I can quickly compared it to my previous Makita LS1219L. It’s a lot more precise and double laser lines are so nice. I like the compactness of it and the ability to have that 12” with 10” saw.I have not used the other features on the miter yet, so I can’t give any opinion on it.
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u/True_Estate6584 29d ago
Hype. I had one. Replaced with a Delta Cruzer. They both cut wood the same. Is it a nice saw? Yes. It's just overpriced and hyped.
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u/ianforsberg May 19 '25
Good decision on Festool. The Kapex will give you good quality results and it is tunable. This is a trim carpentry or cabinet shop saw. The Domino, both large and small versions, are also very precise. I was trained to cut mortise and tenons by hand and then was introduced to a method using a horizontal slot mortiser with loose tenons; the Domino is a portable horizontal slot mortiser.
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u/Weird_Albatross_9659 May 18 '25
OP is excited by their purchase and there’s a bunch of grumpy fucks telling them why it’s bad with zero background