A couple of people have now recommended the Makita 10". What makes
this better than the 12"? Is it considerably better than the 12"? In
the near term, I will need to cut some 4x4 and 4x6 lumber.

Thanks -

- Josh

Manny Davis wrote in message ...
DLGlos wrote in
:

On 19 Nov 2003 13:05:59 -0800, (Joshua) wrote:

Thanks for the advice on the blade. Why are so many manufacturers
pushing their thin-kerf blades? What is their advantage? Do they cut
quicker?

As for the saws, the Makita, Ridgid, and Dewalt (yeah, big yellow is
now in the running again) all have really nice angle scales. The
Ridgid's is probably the easiest to set (nice big easily reachable
levers) followed by Makita and then Dewalt.

I like the idea of a sacrifical fence and plan on doing that. I
believe all of the above saws provide holes in their fences for
mounting a wood or poly fence.

Another question: does anyone have any comments about table flatness
and/or fence trueness? I've heard lots of good things about the
Makita, some great and some really poor things about the Dewalt, and I
only have 2 data points about the Ridgid (both good). It seems to me
that the Ridgid may have an easier time keeping their table flat
because it is one piece (vs. a turntable inside of a table design).

- Josh

Just to confuse you up some more, I have always heard good things
about the Hitachi sliders. Seems their 8 1/2"er was one of the first,
and is widely considered to be a good example.

It was one of the first, if not thee first. But it's not that great
of a saw. I've used quite a few of them and right now, the Makita ten
incher is the best, IMNSHO.

Their newer C10FSB
looks to be a very nice saw, and seems very reasonably priced at $399.
If you like lasers, you can buy the same saw with one for a extra
C-note (Model C10FSH). I'm looking to replace my crappy Craftsman with
broken fence, which was a gift from my father-in-law.

Note: I am in no way connected with Hitachi. However, I have often
found their tools to be right up there with the best, but priced more
like the Ryobi line. Maybe its advertising and overhead. Haven't seen
to many Hitachi advertisements or promos. I did buy one of the 14.4V
cordless drill kits ($79 @ Lowes with 2 batteries, a kick ass
flashlight, and charger) to replace an ailing, older Porter Cable, and
have been amazed.

DLGlos