Popular Woodworking 2004-08 № 142, страница 75

Hitachi C10FSH

Hitachi:

800-829-4752 hitachi.com/hpt

If you just have to have a laser on your saw (if for no other reason than to impress your neighbors), check out the Hitachi. The laser runs off the saw's power (no battery to replace) and is designed to indicate where the left edge of the blade will cut. Out of the box, ours was shooting down the center of the kerf and required adjusting. Once adjusted, we noticed that the dust deflector mounted at the rear of the blade blocked the laser line as the cut was made. This isn't a major problem, but something to note and get accustomed to as you work with the saw.

The Hitachi has a powerful motor equipped with a soft-starting feature. The quality of cut was very good, offering as nice a cut with the stock blade as it did with the new Freud blade.

The table operation was smooth and solid (locking between preset angles with a front-locking mechanism), and the saw fea

tured a precise and legible scale. It also has extended miter capacity to 47° to the left and 57° to the right.

The Hitachi is one of three dual-bevel saws in the test, allowing more convenience in making compound miter cuts.

The table itself was the second smallest in the test with no extensions included. The saw has a very small footprint and you should definitely use the rear support bracket supplied with it to keep it from tipping backwards.

An adjustable throat plate (that can go all the way to zero) was very nice. The fences were of adequate height but were out of alignment with one another, which caused some rocking at the center of the cut. Unlike most of the saws in our test, the two fences were individually adjustable, so the alignment was easily correctable.

The Hitachi is a nice saw with good performance, good capacity and has enjoyed a good reputation with users for years. And now this machine has the added benefit of a laser guide. While we can recommend the Hitachi as a good saw, it was barely edged out for our Editor's Choice award by the Makita and Bosch units because they were less expensive or had more features aimed at woodworking.

Makita LS1013

Makita:

800-462-5482 makita.com

As one of the most popular sliding compound miter saws on the market, we were anxious to see how the venerable LSI 013 stood up to the newest sliding compound models. We're happy to report the Makita still has the chops to do the job.

Cuts on the Makita were very smooth, with thesliding mechanism offering just the right amount of resistance. The 15-amp motor powered nicely through all the cuts and the included 64-tooth blade provided a superior cut. There's no need to upgrade this blade.

Unlike the other saws in this review, the Makita's slide mechanism lock was located at the front of the saw, which we found to be a very convenient feature.

The saw's large miter table offered ample support on its own. The extension supports just made it even nicer. And unlike some of the other "wire" extensions in the test, the extensions here are deep enough to support a board nearly the full depth of the table - a nice feature.

The miter scale on the table was mounted to the right (a less-standard location that's convenient when you're working on the left side of the saw) and

was precise and easy to read. The miter capacity runs from 47° to the left and 52° to the right, offering more than the standard 45°. This allows you to fine tune your miters for out-of-square cabinets or walls.

A good-quality adjustable throat insert finishes out the table area, providing easy zero clearance for mitering and bevel cuts.

As with the Bosch and Hitachi, the Makita is a dual-bevel saw, allowing easier compound miter cuts without too much mental recalculation.

The fences were on the short side (1 "-tall on the right) and of the one-piece design, but were square to the table and aligned accurately to each other. With the drop-down auxiliary fence in place at the left of the saw the height increases to 3", but it also threw out the squareness of the fence by V32" and there was a bit of play to the taller fence.

While one of the older designs in our test, the Makita LS1013 still impresses us with its simplicity, accuracy and excellent performance. And we also discovered that if you purchase this miter saw before the end of the year, Makita will even throw in a free 14.4-volt cordless drill to say thanks.

That extra tool wasn't necessary to convince us to select the LS1013 an Editor's Choice award winner. While it isn't as feature-laden as the Bosch, we were happy to save $70 and still have a quality sliding miter saw that will handle any precision job.

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