For those wanting a bit more capacity than the recent Aldi offering and
not having an aversion to lower cost power tools, B&Q have a 250mm
MacAllister 1800W Double Bevel Slide Compound Mitre Saw at £119, reduced
from £169.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...condid=9286368


The site has a pic but no useful data.

Summary:
250mm blade, 30mm arbour
Max cut 280 x 80mm, with predictable reductions for mitres & bevels.

Seems reasonably chunky but not tried out in anger.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs

fred wrote:

For those wanting a bit more capacity than the recent Aldi offering and
not having an aversion to lower cost power tools, B&Q have a 250mm
MacAllister 1800W Double Bevel Slide Compound Mitre Saw at £119, reduced
from £169.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...condid=9286368

I bought the 300mm (305mm?) version 6 months or so ago for, iirc, £140.
Not had a problem with it yet. The angled dials are slightly out, so for
a straight cut you need to set it at around 2 degrees, but that is soon
sorted with a few test cuts when you first try it.
It is a rather harsh motor, and quite noisy. With the supplied blade it
gives pretty decent clean cuts.I keep meaning to buy a good quality
blade, but have never got round to doing it, though I should do really,
as a good blade would make it better I'd think.
Overall very good value.
Alan.
--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

"fred" wrote in message news
For those wanting a bit more capacity than the recent Aldi offering and
not having an aversion to lower cost power tools, B&Q have a 250mm
MacAllister 1800W Double Bevel Slide Compound Mitre Saw at £119, reduced
from £169.


http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...condid=9286368


The site has a pic but no useful data.

Summary:
250mm blade, 30mm arbour
Max cut 280 x 80mm, with predictable reductions for mitres & bevels.

Seems reasonably chunky but not tried out in anger.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs



So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.

Weird. :-)

In article , George
writes

"fred" wrote in message news
For those wanting a bit more capacity than the recent Aldi offering and
not having an aversion to lower cost power tools, B&Q have a 250mm
MacAllister 1800W Double Bevel Slide Compound Mitre Saw at £119, reduced
from £169.


http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...condid=9286368


The site has a pic but no useful data.

Summary:
250mm blade, 30mm arbour
Max cut 280 x 80mm, with predictable reductions for mitres & bevels.

Seems reasonably chunky but not tried out in anger.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs



So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.

Weird. :-)

If you need to ask what the extra 2 inches is for then . . .
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs

"George" wrote:

So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.


And a "prestigious" brand name. ;-)

"Bruce" wrote in message
...
"George" wrote:

So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.


And a "prestigious" brand name. ;-)


JCB is the logo on my electric planer doesn't mean JCB made it. ;-)

In article ,
fred wrote:
For those wanting a bit more capacity than the recent Aldi offering and
not having an aversion to lower cost power tools, B&Q have a 250mm
MacAllister 1800W Double Bevel Slide Compound Mitre Saw at £119, reduced
from £169.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...condid=9286368


The site has a pic but no useful data.

Summary:
250mm blade, 30mm arbour
Max cut 280 x 80mm, with predictable reductions for mitres & bevels.

If that's the one I played with in the store the other day it seemed to
not be terribly rigid. Of course the display one could have had something
loose - but it just seemed springy, somehow.

My PP one cuts 12" - and that's the minimum I'll except. I put up a lot of
shelves. ;-)

--
*The closest I ever got to a 4.0 in school was my blood alcohol content*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"George" wrote:


"Bruce" wrote in message
.. .
"George" wrote:

So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.


And a "prestigious" brand name. ;-)


JCB is the logo on my electric planer doesn't mean JCB made it. ;-)


I don't regard JCB as a prestigious brand name for anything except
full-size construction plant made in JCB's own factories.

I wondered what were the origins of "MacAllister". Is it a well
established and respected brand that I just happen never to have heard
of, or is it just another meaningless brand name that got made up in a
15 minute meeting of spotty young advertising executives?

"Bruce" wrote in message
news
"George" wrote:


"Bruce" wrote in message
.. .
"George" wrote:

So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.


And a "prestigious" brand name. ;-)


JCB is the logo on my electric planer doesn't mean JCB made it. ;-)


I don't regard JCB as a prestigious brand name for anything except
full-size construction plant made in JCB's own factories.

I wondered what were the origins of "MacAllister". Is it a well
established and respected brand that I just happen never to have heard
of, or is it just another meaningless brand name that got made up in a
15 minute meeting of spotty young advertising executives?



Dunno? the MacAllister I know is makers of Agricultural machinary.

Bruce wrote:
"George" wrote:


"Bruce" wrote in message
...
"George" wrote:

So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.


And a "prestigious" brand name. ;-)


JCB is the logo on my electric planer doesn't mean JCB made it. ;-)


I don't regard JCB as a prestigious brand name for anything except
full-size construction plant made in JCB's own factories.

I wondered what were the origins of "MacAllister". Is it a well
established and respected brand that I just happen never to have heard
of, or is it just another meaningless brand name that got made up in a
15 minute meeting of spotty young advertising executives?

You got it in one. B&Q had two ranges of own label power tools. IIRC they
were Performance Power (light grey) & Performance Pro same livery as
MacAllister.

Performance Pro is now called MacAllister

Complete ****e IME both ranges.

A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so badly
made.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"The Medway Handyman" wrote:



Bruce wrote:
"George" wrote:


"Bruce" wrote in message
...
"George" wrote:

So for an extra £69 we get a slightly bigger depth/width cut.


And a "prestigious" brand name. ;-)


JCB is the logo on my electric planer doesn't mean JCB made it. ;-)


I don't regard JCB as a prestigious brand name for anything except
full-size construction plant made in JCB's own factories.

I wondered what were the origins of "MacAllister". Is it a well
established and respected brand that I just happen never to have heard
of, or is it just another meaningless brand name that got made up in a
15 minute meeting of spotty young advertising executives?

You got it in one. B&Q had two ranges of own label power tools. IIRC they
were Performance Power (light grey) & Performance Pro same livery as
MacAllister.

Performance Pro is now called MacAllister

Complete ****e IME both ranges.

A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so badly
made.


Thanks Dave - warnings duly noted!

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Complete ****e IME both ranges.

A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so badly
made.

As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2008-05-24 02:03:16 +0100, John Rumm said:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Complete ****e IME both ranges.

A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so badly made.

As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

Indeed.

It's difficult to see how said product, purchased from a grocer's could
in some way be more satisfactory or better made than one at three times
the price.

Perhaps the Didldi marketing experts, seeing the comment in the
instructions "This product may remove your nuts", saw it as an
opportunity also to increase their sales of party snacks. :-)

John Rumm wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Complete ****e IME both ranges.

A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so
badly made.

As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

b) MacAllister is promoted as a top brand and isn't especially cheap, in the
same price range as green Bosch, Skill, Ryobi, B&D etc. - all cheapish tools
that work properly.

I returned my 'distress purchased' MacAllister & bought a Makita for a
little more.



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article 4837bf98@qaanaaq,
Andy Hall wrote:
A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so
badly made.

As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

Indeed.

It's difficult to see how said product, purchased from a grocer's could
in some way be more satisfactory or better made than one at three times
the price.

Perhaps I've missed the groceries sold at B&Q. Which isle are they on?

--
*I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular saw
you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you observe
the most basic safety rules.

--
*When it rains, why don't sheep shrink? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Perhaps I've missed the groceries sold at B&Q. Which isle are they on?

Wonder where the 'a' went?

--
*When companies ship Styrofoam, what do they pack it in? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2008-05-24 08:59:56 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article 4837bf98@qaanaaq,
Andy Hall wrote:
A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so
badly made.

As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

Indeed.

It's difficult to see how said product, purchased from a grocer's could
in some way be more satisfactory or better made than one at three times
the price.

Perhaps I've missed the groceries sold at B&Q. Which isle are they on?

The Isle of Dogs, probably. :-)

On 2008-05-24 08:58:33 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:



John Rumm wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Complete ****e IME both ranges.

A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so
badly made.

As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

In that it's a hand held tool, perhaps. However, a SCMS with sticking
mechanisms, flimsy guards etc. is able to quite nasty things.




b) MacAllister is promoted as a top brand and isn't especially cheap, in the
same price range as green Bosch, Skill, Ryobi, B&D etc. - all cheapish tools
that work properly.

This was one of my points. The advertising and marketing promotion
is not a good indicator of product quality. It is why I look at issues
such as service and spares backup. These indicate a commitment on the
part of the manufacturer to a product and product type.

I mark down heavily products offered with a three year warranty but
where the execution of the warranty is only replacement and there is no
proper spares and service. Any marketing fool can do this. It is
simply playing the numbers game on product returns and throwing a small
drop in margin at a sales objection.


I returned my 'distress purchased' MacAllister & bought a Makita for a
little more.

Exactly, and this is the most important point. When it comes to
product quality and especially safety what is the point of low price?

Here we have been debating a difference of £3-400 or so in relation to
proper and safe products vs. £50 supermarket special offers.

I think you made the point that for some people this is about having a
product or not. Fair enough. I wonder what most people would say if
asked what 1-3 fingers was worth to them.

This is the point. In that context, a properly manufactured and
supported product is only a little more.

On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular saw
you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you observe
the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...

b) MacAllister is promoted as a top brand and isn't especially cheap, in
the same price range as green Bosch, Skill, Ryobi, B&D etc. - all cheapish
tools that work properly.

Ryobi are not DIY tools, they are light to medium trade. Lots of tradesmen
use Skil tools. Their circular saws were legendary, giving the name Skil
for a circular saw.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4837d73b@qaanaaq...
On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular
saw
you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you observe
the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......



If it sticks closed its safe.
If any guard sticks open you should stop using the machine, an open guard
isn't dangerous in its self so as long as you stop using it until its fixed
it should be safe.

Any guard can break, what do you envisage causing the breakage?
Even a top quality tool can have a broken guard and then it is as unsafe as
a cheap one with a broken guard.


I wonder which machine has the safest guard.. my really cheap circular saw
(Argos £8) with a metal guard or my Hitachi circular saw with its half
plastic guard? Both cover about the same amount of blade and both move
correctly.

Why the £8 saw you ask, well its not very safe putting a metal cutting disk
in a saw with a plastic guard and an £8 saw is much safer than an £200 angle
grinder for cutting wire mesh.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Doctor Drivel"
saying something like:

Ryobi are not DIY tools, they are light to medium trade.

"Light to medium trade."

Hahahahahaha... I've yet to meet a tradesman that would put up with the
cheap crap that Ryobi charge too much for. What they are good for is a
disposable one-site tool that *will* get nicked, thus preserving the
decent stuff.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

On 2008-05-24 11:17:10 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4837d73b@qaanaaq...
On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular saw
you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you observe
the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......



If it sticks closed its safe.
If any guard sticks open you should stop using the machine, an open
guard isn't dangerous in its self so as long as you stop using it until
its fixed it should be safe.

Yes and no. The typical behaviour of poorly designed and made guards
on this type of machine is that they partly stick and then ping open
suddenly.

Fixing it may require the replacement of parts. Are they available?



Any guard can break, what do you envisage causing the breakage?

Flimsy construction and poor design; being struck by material being cut.


Even a top quality tool can have a broken guard and then it is as
unsafe as a cheap one with a broken guard.

Indeed. Then the important question becomes one of whether a
replacement guard can be purchased or not.




I wonder which machine has the safest guard.. my really cheap circular
saw (Argos £8) with a metal guard or my Hitachi circular saw with its
half plastic guard? Both cover about the same amount of blade and both
move correctly.

Where's the third saw? My Hitachi saw hasa metal guard.


Why the £8 saw you ask, well its not very safe putting a metal cutting
disk in a saw with a plastic guard and an £8 saw is much safer than an
£200 angle grinder for cutting wire mesh.

SHould a metal cutting disc be put into a saw at all? Did you ask
Argos whether their tool is designed for that purpose?

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article 4837bf98@qaanaaq,
Andy Hall wrote:
A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so
badly made.
As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

Indeed.

It's difficult to see how said product, purchased from a grocer's could
in some way be more satisfactory or better made than one at three times
the price.

Perhaps I've missed the groceries sold at B&Q. Which isle are they on?

IME the vegetables are manning the tills...

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Andy Hall wrote:


I think you made the point that for some people this is about having a
product or not. Fair enough. I wonder what most people would say if
asked what 1-3 fingers was worth to them.


Might be popular in Norfolk. :-)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

The Medway Handyman wrote:

a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

Generally more accidents happen with fixed or bench machines rather than
hand-held - with a circular saw both hands are usually tied up holding
the machine which makes it harder to get them into the path of the
blade. Chops saws etc often claim digits and fine slithers off the free
hand.

Having said that - any type of circular saw takes no prisoners, and the
market for handheld saws will be much bigger.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

dennis@home wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4837d73b@qaanaaq...
On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of
circular saw
you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you observe
the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......



If it sticks closed its safe.
If any guard sticks open you should stop using the machine, an open
guard isn't dangerous in its self so as long as you stop using it until
its fixed it should be safe.

Any guard can break, what do you envisage causing the breakage?
Even a top quality tool can have a broken guard and then it is as unsafe
as a cheap one with a broken guard.

I had a NuTool chop saw for a while. Only small capacity and not very
accurate, but it was ok for chopping studwork. However the guard was
flimsy and clunky in operation. The metalwork that made up the various
leavers etc was rather bendy and hence you could find various sorts of
odd behaviour in use. Sometimes it would prevent the saw plunging fully
giving a partial cut. Other times it would stick the head in the down
position requiring you pull it up to get it to spring back, and other
times it would foul on the work piece by not opening in time.

So generally speaking it was a liability, and you had to take great care
to not get careless with it when rectifying the various stoppages.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message


I had a NuTool chop saw for a while. Only small capacity and not very
accurate, but it was ok for chopping studwork. However the guard was
flimsy and clunky in operation. The metalwork that made up the various
leavers etc was rather bendy and hence you could find various sorts of
odd behaviour in use. Sometimes it would prevent the saw plunging fully
giving a partial cut. Other times it would stick the head in the down
position requiring you pull it up to get it to spring back, and other
times it would foul on the work piece by not opening in time.

So generally speaking it was a liability, and you had to take great care
to not get careless with it when rectifying the various stoppages.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

But thats a NuTool(aka power devil?) these should never had been placed on
market,B&Q got shut of this junk pronto and things have still not changed in
their range of cheap power tools.
Aldi's power tools are considerably better and above the B&Q range in
respect to construction and pricing.

Doctor Drivel wrote:

Ryobi are not DIY tools, they are light to medium trade. Lots of tradesmen
use Skil tools. Their circular saws were legendary, giving the name Skil
for a circular saw.

Skil is just another mid price brand owned by Bosch these days. Not a
patch on the original tools bearing the name. Better than Ryobi mind
you. ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
et...
dennis@home wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4837d73b@qaanaaq...
On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular
saw
you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you
observe
the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......



If it sticks closed its safe.
If any guard sticks open you should stop using the machine, an open guard
isn't dangerous in its self so as long as you stop using it until its
fixed it should be safe.

Any guard can break, what do you envisage causing the breakage?
Even a top quality tool can have a broken guard and then it is as unsafe
as a cheap one with a broken guard.

I had a NuTool chop saw for a while. Only small capacity and not very
accurate, but it was ok for chopping studwork. However the guard was
flimsy and clunky in operation. The metalwork that made up the various
leavers etc was rather bendy and hence you could find various sorts of odd
behaviour in use. Sometimes it would prevent the saw plunging fully giving
a partial cut. Other times it would stick the head in the down position
requiring you pull it up to get it to spring back, and other times it
would foul on the work piece by not opening in time.

So generally speaking it was a liability, and you had to take great care
to not get careless with it when rectifying the various stoppages.

I would have thrown it away.
Even the cheap tools I have bought don't have guards that bad.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:48380905@qaanaaq...
On 2008-05-24 11:17:10 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4837d73b@qaanaaq...
On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular
saw
you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you
observe
the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......



If it sticks closed its safe.
If any guard sticks open you should stop using the machine, an open guard
isn't dangerous in its self so as long as you stop using it until its
fixed it should be safe.

Yes and no. The typical behaviour of poorly designed and made guards on
this type of machine is that they partly stick and then ping open
suddenly.

Fixing it may require the replacement of parts. Are they available?



Any guard can break, what do you envisage causing the breakage?

Flimsy construction and poor design; being struck by material being cut.


Even a top quality tool can have a broken guard and then it is as unsafe
as a cheap one with a broken guard.

Indeed. Then the important question becomes one of whether a replacement
guard can be purchased or not.




I wonder which machine has the safest guard.. my really cheap circular
saw (Argos £8) with a metal guard or my Hitachi circular saw with its
half plastic guard? Both cover about the same amount of blade and both
move correctly.

Where's the third saw?

???

My Hitachi saw hasa metal guard.

My Hitachi doesn't.



Why the £8 saw you ask, well its not very safe putting a metal cutting
disk in a saw with a plastic guard and an £8 saw is much safer than an
£200 angle grinder for cutting wire mesh.

SHould a metal cutting disc be put into a saw at all? Did you ask Argos
whether their tool is designed for that purpose?

Why not?
Why would I ask Argos when I have a user guide?
Do you ask screwfix employees how to operate a table saw they sell?
Would you be foolish enough to trust their answer?

In article 4837d73b@qaanaaq,
Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular
saw you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you
observe the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......


No worse than a saw bench with a fixed guard, surely?

--
*Vegetarians taste great*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
Chops saws etc often claim digits and fine slithers off the free
hand.

Any idiot that gets his fingers that close deserves to lose them.

--
*I want it all and I want it delivered

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
George wrote:
Aldi's power tools are considerably better and above the B&Q range in
respect to construction and pricing.

I got the Lidl 10?" angle grinder the other day. Works just fine. Soft
start too. 20 quid with no blade - a diamond one from Screwfix cost more
than the tool.

--
*I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2008-05-24 14:04:07 +0100, John Rumm said:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article 4837bf98@qaanaaq,
Andy Hall wrote:
A MacAllister circular saw nearly had my bloody hand off it was so
badly made.
As I recall someone saying:

"For many its a question of a £50 insert name of shed special tool
here or not having one at all"

;-)

Indeed.

It's difficult to see how said product, purchased from a grocer's could
in some way be more satisfactory or better made than one at three times
the price.

Perhaps I've missed the groceries sold at B&Q. Which isle are they on?

IME the vegetables are manning the tills...

Except on Sundays when university students often do the job. Mind you,
these days that doesn't say a lot.

On 2008-05-24 18:03:48 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:





I wonder which machine has the safest guard.. my really cheap circular
saw (Argos £8) with a metal guard or my Hitachi circular saw with its
half plastic guard? Both cover about the same amount of blade and both
move correctly.

Where's the third saw?

???

A guard can only be the safest if there are more than two.



My Hitachi saw hasa metal guard.

My Hitachi doesn't.



Why the £8 saw you ask, well its not very safe putting a metal cutting
disk in a saw with a plastic guard and an £8 saw is much safer than an
£200 angle grinder for cutting wire mesh.

SHould a metal cutting disc be put into a saw at all? Did you ask
Argos whether their tool is designed for that purpose?

Why not?
Why would I ask Argos when I have a user guide?

Does the user guide say that you can?

On 2008-05-24 18:10:11 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article 4837d73b@qaanaaq,
Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-05-24 09:06:19 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) circular saws are amongst the most dangerous power tools. Far more
dangerous than SCMS IMO.

A chop saw - or sliding variety - is about the safest type of circular
saw you'll find. Very difficult to do anything stupid with it if you
observe the most basic safety rules.

Unless the guard sticks or breaks.......


No worse than a saw bench with a fixed guard, surely?

The same principles apply

dennis@home wrote:

I had a NuTool chop saw for a while. Only small capacity and not very
accurate, but it was ok for chopping studwork. However the guard was
flimsy and clunky in operation. The metalwork that made up the various
leavers etc was rather bendy and hence you could find various sorts of
odd behaviour in use. Sometimes it would prevent the saw plunging
fully giving a partial cut. Other times it would stick the head in the
down position requiring you pull it up to get it to spring back, and
other times it would foul on the work piece by not opening in time.

So generally speaking it was a liability, and you had to take great
care to not get careless with it when rectifying the various stoppages.

I would have thrown it away.

Oddly a neighbour wanted to buy it from me when I replaced it with a
Makita LS1214... this was after me telling him just why it was so crap
as well!

I did not have the heart to accept money for it, so I gave it to him.
(at least I know he will probably never use it - so that ought to render
it safe!)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
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\================================================= ================/

In article , A.Lee
writes
fred wrote:

For those wanting a bit more capacity than the recent Aldi offering and
not having an aversion to lower cost power tools, B&Q have a 250mm
MacAllister 1800W Double Bevel Slide Compound Mitre Saw at £119, reduced
from £169.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...condid=9286368

I bought the 300mm (305mm?) version 6 months or so ago for, iirc, £140.
Not had a problem with it yet. The angled dials are slightly out, so for
a straight cut you need to set it at around 2 degrees, but that is soon
sorted with a few test cuts when you first try it.
It is a rather harsh motor, and quite noisy. With the supplied blade it
gives pretty decent clean cuts.I keep meaning to buy a good quality
blade, but have never got round to doing it, though I should do really,
as a good blade would make it better I'd think.
Overall very good value.
Alan.

Thanks for the reply.

Mine appears to be true to the dials so far.

I agree that it's unrefined but I'd say it's fit for the purpose I
bought it for.

Plunge cut before sliding needs to be gentle to get the truest edge,
perhaps a confirmation of Dave P's suggestion of lack of rigidity.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs