Looking for a 12" mitre saw

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You are comparing chalk with cheese, there. DW = heavy duty, trade, accurate, well respected, long-lived, good spares availability for long time, etc. SIP, on the other hand..... DIY and a lot cheaper.

Basically all of the "big hitters" offer 230 volt versions of their 300mm/12in trade mitre saws, e.g DW, Bosch, Milwaukee, Hikoki (ex-Hitachi), Metabo and Makita. They all have pros and cons; for example the Milwaukee and one of the Bosch models (the one with the reticulating arms) are both massively heavy if you ever need to shift them, the Hikoki is not the most accurate saw out there, etc. Any trade rated saw will be more robust and accurate than a DIY model such as the SIP, but you will end up.paying for that.

My own more recent experience is with the DW, Makita and Milwaukee saws, hence my comments about weight above (I also have a colleague with the Bosch on the current job - he needs a mobile base to cart it round and it goes up to upper floors on the freight hoist rather than being carried), and whilst I am often "Mr. Makita" I'd choose the DWS780 over the LS1219 any day of the week on the grounds that the DW fence arrangement is somewhat better than that on the Mak and that the shadow line technology DW incorporate for cutting alignment is virtually foolproof unlike almost all the lasers on the market (the exception being the Festool Kapex). This is, however, a personal bias and I'd recommend going somewhere like an Axminster Power Tool shop, DW dealer, etc. or the like to get a hands on feel for any saw you are interested in as these are expensive purchases and you may just find that a 12in saw is just too big. After all, most tradesman do perfectly well with an 8in or 10in saw for most of their lives, so do you really need a 12in saw?
 
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I purchased that one last year from Amazon, with the stand. I needed the extra depth of cut for the mitres on our synthetic decking. It's OK but not terribly accurate. It also takes up a lot of storage space.

I got it at a very, very good price so I am happy with the accuracy Vs price. The arms do flex very slightly though. At the time I could not justify the extra cost required to by a much larger diameter saw.
 
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last year i purchased the dewalt DWS778 last year, from FFX that was on offer and used to lay a laminate floor on a ground floor and various other jobs has been excellent
I have however, changed the blade to a Freud blade 60T & 80T which had a great life and fine cut
I would look into those blades if you want really fine cuts https://www.screwfix.com/p/freud-tct-circular-saw-blade-216-x-30mm-64t/2172f
I also now also use Freud on my dewalt circular saw
and fortunately in West Sussex have a company that will sharpen, much cheaper than a replacement.

My Son-in-law purchased the Evo , and unable to get the Freud blades to fit

Freud is Bosch
 
I used a makita for years, then it died on a job.
I rented one to finish the job and the landlord bought me a parkside from lidl as a nice present.
At the time i thought: "I use it until it dies".
6 years later is still going strong and i must be on my 10th blade (standard size) and 3 set of brushes.
Occasionally I see it in lidl for around £80.
Careful though, they also do a small one withouth sliding action and smaller blades.
 

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