Sliding mitre saws (B&Q Macallister !)
 

Hello,

For too long I have managed with one of those "handsaws in a frame"
mitre saws and I was thinking of buying a sliding mitre saw. I've
tried to use google to look back at posts in this group and they don't
seem very complimentary about cheap brands. I realise you get what you
pay for to some extent but is all this criticism justified or is there
some brand snobbery?

B&Q's own-brand Macallister saws are only about one hundred pounds
with further discounts in the sales at the moment and seem much
cheaper than anywhere else. But I read on old post saying that GMC
make Macallister for B&Q and that GMC went bust last year. If that's
so, how come there's so much of their stuff still about?

Does this mean there is no after sales service and no spare parts to
be had?

I will pop into a shop to see one in real life but some old posts
suggested they were neither rigid nor accurate. Have things improved
since these old posts were made?

Is it that these GMC/Macallister ones are particularly badly made or
are these criticisms common to all cheap mitre saws?

OTOH surely anything is better than what I'm using at the moment!

TIA

Sliding mitre saws (B&Q Macallister !)
 

Fred formulated the question :
Hello,

For too long I have managed with one of those "handsaws in a frame"
mitre saws and I was thinking of buying a sliding mitre saw. I've
tried to use google to look back at posts in this group and they don't
seem very complimentary about cheap brands. I realise you get what you
pay for to some extent but is all this criticism justified or is there
some brand snobbery?

B&Q's own-brand Macallister saws are only about one hundred pounds
with further discounts in the sales at the moment and seem much
cheaper than anywhere else. But I read on old post saying that GMC
make Macallister for B&Q and that GMC went bust last year. If that's
so, how come there's so much of their stuff still about?

Does this mean there is no after sales service and no spare parts to
be had?

I will pop into a shop to see one in real life but some old posts
suggested they were neither rigid nor accurate. Have things improved
since these old posts were made?

Is it that these GMC/Macallister ones are particularly badly made or
are these criticisms common to all cheap mitre saws?

OTOH surely anything is better than what I'm using at the moment!

TIA

I paid around £70 to Argos for one, for occasional use and mine (not
McA) has been absolutely great. Absolutely rigid and accurate.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Sliding mitre saws (B&Q Macallister !)
 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Fred formulated the question :
Hello,

For too long I have managed with one of those "handsaws in a frame"
mitre saws and I was thinking of buying a sliding mitre saw. I've
tried to use google to look back at posts in this group and they
don't seem very complimentary about cheap brands. I realise you get
what you pay for to some extent but is all this criticism justified
or is there some brand snobbery?

B&Q's own-brand Macallister saws are only about one hundred pounds
with further discounts in the sales at the moment and seem much
cheaper than anywhere else. But I read on old post saying that GMC
make Macallister for B&Q and that GMC went bust last year. If that's
so, how come there's so much of their stuff still about?

Does this mean there is no after sales service and no spare parts to
be had?

I will pop into a shop to see one in real life but some old posts
suggested they were neither rigid nor accurate. Have things improved
since these old posts were made?

Is it that these GMC/Macallister ones are particularly badly made or
are these criticisms common to all cheap mitre saws?

OTOH surely anything is better than what I'm using at the moment!

TIA

I paid around £70 to Argos for one, for occasional use and mine (not
McA) has been absolutely great. Absolutely rigid and accurate.


Yes, I too have got one of these http://tinyurl.com/yfzyjso and it's handled
everything I've thrown at it.

I've screwed it to a piece of worktop, with a batten underneath, so that I
can clamp it in my Workmate.

The dust bag is a bit of a joke, but the saw is very rigid and robust, and
produces accurate cuts. [I can take or leave the laser guide].
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Sliding mitre saws (B&Q Macallister !)
 

Roger Mills wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Fred formulated the question :
Hello,

For too long I have managed with one of those "handsaws in a frame"
mitre saws and I was thinking of buying a sliding mitre saw. I've
tried to use google to look back at posts in this group and they
don't seem very complimentary about cheap brands. I realise you get
what you pay for to some extent but is all this criticism justified
or is there some brand snobbery?

B&Q's own-brand Macallister saws are only about one hundred pounds
with further discounts in the sales at the moment and seem much
cheaper than anywhere else. But I read on old post saying that GMC
make Macallister for B&Q and that GMC went bust last year. If that's
so, how come there's so much of their stuff still about?

Does this mean there is no after sales service and no spare parts to
be had?

I will pop into a shop to see one in real life but some old posts
suggested they were neither rigid nor accurate. Have things improved
since these old posts were made?

Is it that these GMC/Macallister ones are particularly badly made or
are these criticisms common to all cheap mitre saws?

OTOH surely anything is better than what I'm using at the moment!

TIA

I paid around £70 to Argos for one, for occasional use and mine (not
McA) has been absolutely great. Absolutely rigid and accurate.


Yes, I too have got one of these http://tinyurl.com/yfzyjso and it's
handled everything I've thrown at it.

I've screwed it to a piece of worktop, with a batten underneath, so
that I can clamp it in my Workmate.

The dust bag is a bit of a joke, but the saw is very rigid and
robust, and produces accurate cuts. [I can take or leave the laser
guide].

Does it have a depth stop Roger? e.g. can it do half lap joints?


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

Sliding mitre saws (B&Q Macallister !)
 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Roger Mills wrote:

Yes, I too have got one of these http://tinyurl.com/yfzyjso and it's
handled everything I've thrown at it.

I've screwed it to a piece of worktop, with a batten underneath, so
that I can clamp it in my Workmate.

The dust bag is a bit of a joke, but the saw is very rigid and
robust, and produces accurate cuts. [I can take or leave the laser
guide].

Does it have a depth stop Roger? e.g. can it do half lap joints?

Yes, it's got a screw you can turn to limit the depth of cut - so that you
can cut part-way through a piece of wood, or cut slots, etc.

Considering that some very similar machines cost several times as much as
this saw, I was very impressed with the build quality for the price.
Obviously I don't know how well it would perform if I were using it all day
every day - but for my DIY usage, it's more than adequate.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Sliding mitre saws (B&Q Macallister !)
 

"Fred" wrote in message
...
Hello,

For too long I have managed with one of those "handsaws in a frame"
mitre saws and I was thinking of buying a sliding mitre saw. I've
tried to use google to look back at posts in this group and they don't
seem very complimentary about cheap brands. I realise you get what you
pay for to some extent but is all this criticism justified or is there
some brand snobbery?

B&Q's own-brand Macallister saws are only about one hundred pounds
with further discounts in the sales at the moment and seem much
cheaper than anywhere else. But I read on old post saying that GMC
make Macallister for B&Q and that GMC went bust last year. If that's
so, how come there's so much of their stuff still about?

Does this mean there is no after sales service and no spare parts to
be had?

I will pop into a shop to see one in real life but some old posts
suggested they were neither rigid nor accurate. Have things improved
since these old posts were made?

Is it that these GMC/Macallister ones are particularly badly made or
are these criticisms common to all cheap mitre saws?

OTOH surely anything is better than what I'm using at the moment!

I bought a MacAllister saw about a year or so ago in the sales - just been
out to look at it and without major excavation I couldn't locate anything
which gave a model number.
As far as I can recall it was 1800W and had a 300mm+ width of cut.
I bought a fine toothed blade from Screwfix because the standard blade is a
bit agricultural for anything but rough cutting timber.

I also bought the cheaper of two folding saw tables/benches which was also
on offer.
This I find very useful as it has extending arms which can support long
pieces of wood.
It also holds the saw at a good height.
It is like a four leg saw horse which folds up.
The downside is it takes a little while to set it up, but until I get my
workshop together I have this problem anyway and it seems a lot better than
a workmate.
I can't locate this on the B&Q website but then the website is absolute crap
at searching.

Accuracy?
Accurate enough for me, and there is fine calibration available if you feel
the need.
Red eye laser? Waste of time - if you can't line up the blade with a pencil
line on the wood then a laser isn't going to help you.
Rigid? As far as I can tell it is built like a brick walled outhouse. No
complaints.
The bag even collects some of the sawdust - but I doubt if many budget saws
(even with a vac attached) would gather up all the sawdust from a compound
mitre saw in full flow.

I would expect that the robustness depends on the model - the 1300W one may
be more flimsy than the 1800W ones.

I can't work out the difference between the two current 1800W ones apart
from the width of cut; but why have two very similar models with slightly
different widths of cut?

Be warned that they seem to change the models quite frequently so past
performance is no guarantee of future performance.

The saws have a three year guarantee so parts should be available for at
least that length of time.

HTH
Dave R