Popular Woodworking 2008-12 № 173, страница 28

Front and center. Bosch puts all the controls for setting miter and bevel angles in one convenient location.

Hitachi (dust bag in place), from the front of the fence to a wall behind the saw. The most space is required by the Ridgid, at 26 '/2". The others come inat IbVi" for the Bosch, 21 'A" for the Milwaukee, and 20⁷/i6" for the Makita.

Personal preference may make a difference in handle orientation. The DeWalt, Milwaukee and Ridgid saws have horizontal handles, while the Hitachi and Makita have vertical ones. The handle on the Bosch rotates to lour positions. For some of our editors this was important; for others it didn't matter.

Personal Preferences

Any of these saws might be ideal for you. Overall quality and accuracy, supplied blades and quality of cuts made were loo close for us to pick a clear winner. Our review is also written from t he perspective of furniture makers, not finish carpenters. We didn't put much weight on features we rarely, if ever, use.

Choosing the right saw for your shop will likely come down to specific features you value as well as price. If you can live without a laser guide, or don'i mind adding an aftermarket, blade-mounied laser, the new Milwaukee is a solid combination of features in a sturdy package. This combination of features, as well as dust collection that actually works, earned it our"Fditor'sChoice "award by a narrow margin. I flhe laser is important, the Hitachi is an excellent value. Hitachi's solid construction and combination of features for a relatively low price earn it our "Best Value" award.

There isn't anything wrong with the remaining saws. Our preferences are subjective, we wouldn't argue with other choices, and would likely be happy using the other saws lhat came in a very close second place. This is a category where performance and quality of

all the tools tested were very close. PW

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Robert is senior editor of this magazine. I lis latest honk is "Drafting & Design lor Woodworkers~ ( Popular Wood working books). Contact him at 5 U-531-2b'J0 x 11327 or robert.langSfwpiibs.com.

FESTOOL Kapex KS120

New on the market is this 10" saw from Festool. Because of its blade size, we didn't include it in this test, even though its capacity rivals larger saws. The other thing that separates the Kapex from the 12" saws is its price; it's roughly twice as much as the most expensive 12" saw we tested.

As might be expected, what you get for your money is what you get when you decide to purchase a BMW or Mercedes instead of a Chevy or Ford - luxury engineering and impeccable workmanship in the finished product. If you insist on having the best and don't mind paying a premium for it, you'll want one. Comparing a Porsche to a Chevy isn't really fair.

The controls on the Kapex are easy to operate, but some of them aren't very intuitive. We resorted to reading the manual to understand how some of the functions were controlled. There is a knob on the operator end of one of the sliding rails for setting bevel angles precisely, but no fine adjustment for setting miters.

This saw was designed lo be used with a vacuum instead of a dust bag, and dust collection was better than most of the saws in the test. But when cutting wide stock, a good deal of dust didn't make it to the hose and was left behind.

Cutting capacity was close to that of the 12" saws, and the sliding mechanism was smooth and precise. The Kapex is an extremely accurate, well-made saw, but like an expensive car, it isn't for everybody.

— RL

Consider the hack. Most of the saws in the test require a lot of space behind the fence. The DeWalt (with the dust bag removed) and the Hitachi take less room than the others.

FESTOOL USA

888-337-8600 or festoolusa.com ■ Street price: $1,300

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