Bosch and Jet Miter Saws

[Staniam]

Does anyone own either a Bosch or Jet miter saw? If so what do you like or dislike about them and would you recommend a better saw or brand for the $500-$700?

Unfortunately the Kapex is out of the question for price and this purchase would be down later this year anyways but I'm just curious.

 

[duburban]

Get a cheaper unit and save for the Festool?

I don't even consider the Jet miter saws. They always look like a rebadged version of something.

I really like my bosch 10" saw. I'd buy another now just for the upfront bevel controls. If I was looking for something real sweet for the shop it would be the 10" glide Bosch.

 

[Thunderchyld]

I was faced with the need to replace my miter saw recently, decided to bite the bullet on the Bosch 12" axial glide unit. 

I wanted to buy the kapex, but I didn't have the room in the budget and needed a saw asap.  I narrowed it down to either DeWalt or Bosch, decided to order the 12" Bosch after getting to check out the 10" model at a friends.  The main reason I chose the 12" vs the 10"... well, it was only a $40 price difference and I already have a small assortment of 12" blades.  The additional cutting capacity might be useful at some point, but that remains to be seen.  Possibly when I do closet shelves for the boys rooms or have to deal with more playsets.

I can't really give an in depth review of the saw yet, UPS only dropped it off a half hour or so ago, haven't gotten a chance to do the unboxing.  If things go as I'm planning, I'll be trimming out my downstairs windows this weekend, so I'll try to post an update with my thoughts.

 

[sae]

Order the Kapex dust apron before you even get started from Tom/Bob/your vendor of choice!

 

[G3Trim]

I would go with the Bosch axile-glide saw. I have the older 12" slide bosch and love the up front controls. Its so much easier and faster then having to reach around the back of the saw to adjust the bevel. The only draw back with the bosch is the weight, but none of the sliding compound saw are all the light.

 

[jacko9]

According to a review in Fine Woodworking see the following for Best Overall and Best Value;

Editor's Review: Tool Test: 12-in. Chopsaws
by Marc Adams
review date: April 2, 2014
Street price: $330
Accuracy of cut: Excellent
Quality of cut: Excellent

The first thing we noticed about the Bosch were deep milling marks on the table. These turn out to be a big benefit, gripping the wood to keep it firmly in place when cutting miters and bevels. With other saws, you have to maintain a tighter grip to keep workpieces from creeping. The stops and detents for common angle settings needed zero adjustment right out of the box. Also, the Bosch is the only model with a completely flat fence and table. Better yet, it produced the smoothest cuts, and flawless miter joints. Bosch got most of the little things right, too. The dust collection is the best of all the saws and the blade-braking system is smooth and fast. The blade is easy to change, and the guard stays out of the way on its own, the only one to do so. The only flawed feature was the graduated miter scale. The lines are thick and the pointer is imprecise. Also, when you set the pointer accurately at 90°, it is off a bit at 45°. The detents are accurate, though.

Read more: http://www.finewoodworking.com/tool-guide/product-finder/bosch-cm12-12-in-chopsaw.aspx#ixzz3QjR0jzVo
Follow us: @fwmagazine on Twitter | finewoodworkingmagazine on Facebook

 

[thedude306]

Does anyone own either a Bosch or Jet miter saw? If so what do you like or dislike about them and would you recommend a better saw or brand for the $500-$700?

Unfortunately the Kapex is out of the question for price and this purchase would be down later this year anyways but I'm just curious.

I had both the axial glide and the kapex in my shop for a couple of days.  It really comes down to what you want the saw (and accessories) to do.  I ended up with the 12" axial glide.

Kapex:

Lighter  WAY lighter.  If I was moving my saw around there is no question, this would have knocked the axial glide out of contention.
Accessories are top notch, and there are a lot of them, if you need them.
smooth and less play then the axial glide.  I still think the axial glide is the smoother of the two, but it's harder to deflect the kapex IMO.
The lasers.  They work.  They work REALLY well.  Bosch fell flat on their face not including them with the axial glide.

Axial Glide:

As good of DC as the Kapex with an extended apron (I have the kapex apron on my saw)  I didn't do any "scientific"  case study, both of these saws produce dust.  Add a zero clearance fence and start doing longer sliding cuts and I can't see a difference.  I really didn't see any difference for any of the cuts.
Big capacity if needed.
Perceived more power.  I can't tell you for certain that this was the case, I was using the festool blade and I have an FS Tool 100 tooth for the axial glide.  But the kapex strained where the axial glide didn't.
DEAD flat fence and table
Fit and finish was top notch, makes NO difference in the quality of the saw.
Price.  I bought it for a third of the Kapex.  Is that a "quality"?  I don't know.

Now, I am not making weird 1/2 degree miters all the time or hauling the saw around, if that was the case I would have looked harder at the Kapex.

The axial glide has been a great saw for me.  There's a bit of a learning curve to get a 12" cut straight.  I don't mean almost straight, or really straight that it doesn't matter.  I mean dead nuts square.  The saw can deflect if you apply pressure and side load it.  All saws deflect.  I had the kapex deflect.  It takes some skill to cut a perfectly square cut every time. 

My two biggest beefs.  It doesn't have soft start.  This saw will lift in your hand.  and NO LASERS!!!!  what was bosch thinking.  The have them on the European machines but not here.  I had them on my old makita and they sucked.  The ones on the Kapex are perfect.  I miss not even having a crappy laser.

And not an issue for me but the axial glides are heavy.

 

[JayStPeter]

I got a 12" axial glide last year when Lowes closed them out.  I haven't gotten my miter station in the shop reworked for it yet, but so far I like it.  It is huge and heavy.  Not even close to fitting where my old Delta 12" CMS went.  As mentioned, you have to hold/move it a certain way to get nice straight cuts.  Not too bad, but could lead to an occasional oops.

 

[Staniam]

So it looks like the Bosch is the way to go in my situation. Who knows, by the time I feel its necessary for a miter saw, I may just bite the bullet and hold out long enough to save a few thousand more pennies for the Kapex  [big grin]

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[ladilday]

i have the Bosch 5312 and like everything about it except for the poor dust collection and not having a laser. I added the Kapex dust chute but it was only a marginal improvement. On another thread someone has added a door sweep to their Kapex and that will be my next trial to improve the DC.

 

[blakjak220]

Bosch 10" axial glide here.... really impressed with it so far. I love me some Festool but just can't see spending $800 MORE for the Kapex. This Bosch cuts square, really good DC, super powerful and the up front controls are really nice. Like someone else mentioned... it'd be really nice if it had a couple lasers on it but that's just not worth $800 to me.

 

[Staniam]

I've been looking at the Bosch miter saws now as well as their table saws. Even their most expensive of each wouldn't meet the Kapex price. I'll be building a mini shop in the next couple months which is why I started this thread. Keep the experiences and info coming guys, and thanks.

On the DC side of things, how do the Bosch miter saws achieve the good dust collection? Do they come standard with a good set up or does Bosch provide an add on?

 

[sae]

I'll quote myself.

Order the Kapex dust apron before you even get started from Tom/Bob/your vendor of choice!

 

[Jaybolishes]

Another Bosch axial owner here.  I strongly suggest you buy the rubber dust boot behind the  blade that comes on the Kapex. It fits perfectly on the axial. This helped tremendously with catching more dust.  My dealer got it for me for $5-$10 bucks I believe.  I added a laser washer that installs with the blade arbor bolt and it's worked very well.

 

[blakjak220]

I've been looking at the Bosch miter saws now as well as their table saws. Even their most expensive of each wouldn't meet the Kapex price. I'll be building a mini shop in the next couple months which is why I started this thread. Keep the experiences and info coming guys, and thanks.

On the DC side of things, how do the Bosch miter saws achieve the good dust collection? Do they come standard with a good set up or does Bosch provide an add on?

The Bosch axial glide and the Kapex have the same sort of rubber DC 'boot'. The boot on the Kapex is positioned up higher and a little closer to the blade, which probably results in a little better collection, or at least it seems like it would. The Bosch boot is slightly smaller and it's positioned a little lower, but it still works very well - to me, it seems like plunging into a piece is what causes the worst failure in dust collection, but even then it catches a lot of it. Both saws have such a large horizontal capacity that most of the time you can avoid plunging at all and just "glide" through the pc from front to back resulting in really good collection. One of the other posters mentioned that the milling on the Bosch table has fairly deep grooves on it - this was something that I didn't like at first since my previous saw was milled smooth. But after using for a couple months I really like the deep milling marks, it makes it very easy to set a cut and hold it perfectly still without having to use the hold down clamp (which is also really well designed). The only thing is that those deep milling marks do make it a little harder to "micro-adjust" the board position by bumping it one way or the other to get right on the line because if you're putting any downward pressure on the board it just doesn't slide.

 

[jplemons]

I've been looking for a new miter as well. I started by looking at the 8 1/2" versions from Bosch and Makita. The new ones look great but I can't find many real-world reviews of them. I was considering the smaller one because of weight and overall size. My work area is a shared-space garage that will also have a small workout area that will house a Muay Thai bag and eventually a mat area for Jiu jitsu. As a result, I need to be able to move/store tools out of the way and often outdoors to do work/cuts. However, I just can't justify the cost of the Kapex. Not when I need other supplies, like a sander, clamps, etc.

Of course, now my wife says to just get a 10" slider so I can cut 4"x4" easily if I need to build something big.

 

[thedude306]

here is the difference in the aprons

festool on the left, bosch on the right

 

[jacko9]

I've been looking for a new miter as well. I started by looking at the 8 1/2" versions from Bosch and Makita. The new ones look great but I can't find many real-world reviews of them. I was considering the smaller one because of weight and overall size. My work area is a shared-space garage that will also have a small workout area that will house a Muay Thai bag and eventually a mat area for Jiu jitsu. As a result, I need to be able to move/store tools out of the way and often outdoors to do work/cuts. However, I just can't justify the cost of the Kapex. Not when I need other supplies, like a sander, clamps, etc.

Of course, now my wife says to just get a 10" slider so I can cut 4"x4" easily if I need to build something big.

Whatever saw you buy, the option of moving it out of the way quickly is a nice feature in a small shop and that's why I bought the Bosch Gravity Rise stand currently on sale for about half of what I paid for it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VZNEM0/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=30956160621&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=s&hvrand=916091580300585162&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_9nbczh1l1j_b

I have the DeWalt 12" slider mounted on mine and it's pretty easy to move around when needed but, really stable when you need to cut big boards.

Jack