Introduction

Compound miter saws keep improving

Power miter saws make short work of crosscutting lumber and molding. They're more space-efficient than most table saws, and since they're mounted on a stand, miter saws are faster and less tiring to use than circular saws. Basic miter saws, often called chop saws or cut-off saws, just cut straight across the board or miter an angle. (A miter is a joint formed by cutting equal diagonals at the ends of two pieces of material so they fit together exactly to make a corner.)

Simple chop saws are fine for cutting steel. However, for woodworking and carpentry, reviews recommend a compound miter saw that can cut bevels as well as miters. That's the kind of miter saw covered in this report.

The most recent miter saw comparison tests and reviews cover models that offer the most cutting capacity, with sliding blade assemblies that can reach a wide board. Milwaukee's 12-inch sliding miter saws can crosscut a board 13.5 inches wide, for example. Sliding compound miter saws are well tested at Fine Homebuilding, Popular Woodworking, Tools of the Trade, the Journal of Light Construction and Wood magazine.

The Milwaukee 6955-20 (*Est. $650) is praised both for its high precision and superior dust control -- rivaling the top-ranked (and far more costly) 10-inch sliding miter saw, the Festool Kapex KS 120 (*Est. $1,300). Like the Milwaukee and Festool miter saws, the less expensive 10-inch Makita LS1016L (*Est. $505) has a soft-start motor with electronic controls; it's less apt to bog down when cutting thick or extra-hard woods.

A nonsliding, 10-inch miter saw, which can crosscut a nominal 2-by-6 at 90 degrees or a 2-by-4 at a 45 degree angle, may offer enough cutting capacity for many users. ConsumerReports.org hasn't tested miter saws since 2007, but Popular Mechanics provides an excellent comparison review of the critically praised DeWalt DW713 (*Est. $220) with the newer Craftsman MiterMate 21226 (*Est. $250).

The Craftsman MiterMate is designed to easily match any inside or outside corner perfectly at the first cut, without the steep learning curve most miter saws require. We also found helpful reviews of the MiterMate at Wood magazine, where it's named a top tool for 2010. It's also reviewed at several blogs devoted to woodworking tools and by owners at Sears.com.

For cutting small molding and boards, consider a miter saw that uses an even smaller blade. We found good reviews for several models, but top ranking goes to the Craftsman 21180 (*Est. $80), which employs a 7.25-inch blade. Owners reviewing it at Sears.com are happy, and this model also earns recommendations at Workbench magazine and Toolsnob.com. This little Craftsman miter saw weighs just 16 pounds and includes an adjustable laser guide.

Laser guides are now less buzz-worthy than soft-start motors and good dust control, but they still get some reviewer attention. For example, the Milwaukee 6955-20 loses points in the Tools of the Trade comparo for not having one. Fine Homebuilding notes that Milwaukee talked to contractors, who said they'd rather have the dual work lights that illuminate both sides of the blade.

Laser guides are of little help in bright light. DeWalt and now Bosch make laser guides only as optional accessories for their miter saws, while Makita and Hitachi make their laser guides adjustable, with separate switches.