DeWalt's Sliding Compound Miter Saw versus Festool's

[Michael Kellough]

The one thing that all the DeWalt saws got right, that most other saws did not, is how the fixed detents for standard angles are built in. Most of the saws have “as cast” detents. Those will never be extremely accurate. Better, but expensive, would be to machine the detents post-casting. Most of the saws I saw when I was shopping did not have machined detents.

What DeWalt did, was add a metal stamping to the saw with the detents stamped out. Those stamped openings can be made with very close tolerances, probably +/- 0.003” to 0.005”.

In addition the way the stamping is mounted on the saw allows adjustment of the angle. Also the individual markings are etched on the plate. Many saws have the markings as part of the casting process. The image below shows the stamping. Also note the black screw on the lower left that resides in a slotted hole. There are 3 or 4 of those screws, and the entire plate can be moved to match up with the blade’s angle.

Unfortunately, my saw never lived up to its accuracy promise. Either the motor’s shaft has some runout or the bearing is not tight enough, but if I want very accurate miters, I need to go the a sled on my table saw, or use my 45 degree angle dedicated picture framing sliding table saw.

How does the Festool saw make the detents?

View attachment 381071

The Kapex is the same, except the cutouts are on the inside of the arc.

 

[Packard]

The Kapex is the same, except the cutouts are on the inside of the arc.

That seems like the only reasonable way to get the accuracy that is required.

With my fixed chop saw from DeWalt, I applied that zero clearance tape, but the opening quickly enlarges in use. Which tells me that the blade is not running true, and explains why it is not suitable for real precision work.

 

[ericvc]

The Shop Nation dust shroud for the DeWalt really does a fantastic job in improving dust collection. The spindle runout is still a problem though. I am not at that point in my life to justify spending 3 times the price of the second-best slider on the market for a Kapex, but never say never...........except for the Festool routing guide, I will never spend $300+ for 3 little pieces of acrylic and a couple of knobs.

 

[Packard]

If you need extreme precision on miters, then oonsider a miter trimmer. These were developed by the LION Corp. in New England (Vermont? New Hampshire?). The Chinese knock offs put them out of business. Some of the copies worked as well as the original (though none had as good steel as Lion for the blades).

You would first make the miters on the saw. Then bring the piece to the trimmer to remove a sliver of material to “tune” it to a perfect 45 or 90 degree angle. I can make slivers thin enough to use as tracing paper, but I have never measured them for thickness.

You can trim other angles, but there are no positive stops for them and you would have to use a protractor to make the setting. These setup would be time consuming and would not make sense except for longer production runs.

Mine has positive stops for 90 and 45 degrees with a cam that allows very precise adjustments that never seem to go out of adjustment.

But note:

1. It cannot make the original cut, but only trim an already cut piece.
2. It is limited to about 4” wide boards.

Infinity Tool carries one that has gotten good reviews. All the branded versions are about $250.00.

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