Bosch 5412L 12-Inch Dual Bevel Slide Miter Saw with Laser Tracking
|
List Price: Our Price: $700.00 You Save: $708.00 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Bosch 5412L 12-Inch Dual Bevel Slide Miter Saw with Laser Tracking
Customer Review: Excellant saw, so far
Summary: 4 Stars
Im a contactor and we do all our trim work in house. After 10 great years of service, our Dewalt 708 finally kicked the bucket. After reading all the reviews I could find and talking with other trade workers, I limited my choices to the Dewalt 718, Makita 1214, and the Bosch 5412.
I thought the new Dewalt was a step back from our old 708. The head seemed to flex more , the rails are smaller diameter, I just didn't care for it. I liked the Makita, but just didn't care for the placement of the mitre scale over to the side.
That left the Bosch. After reading some reviews of arbor problems on this saw, I contacted Bosch to find out if this was a common problem. They admitted that they had had an arbor problem early on but had resolved it about a year ago. So I bought the Bosch.
First the cons:
1) First off the blade that comes with this saw is a joke. It had so much run out I thought the saw had the dreaded arbor problem. But after replacing it with the blade from the Dewalt it ran true and smooth.
2) I didn't care for the laser. In projects its line slightly to the side of the actual cut line. I felt more comfortable doing it the old fashioned way and just eyeing the blade to the cut line. Therefore the laser now resides in my glove box.
3) The mitre table was dead on out of the box. But the bevel was out 1.5 degrees. Setting the bevel on this saw is a little more difficult than it should be. It involves loosening 2 bolts, a set screw, and turning another bolt for the actual adjustment. I will say that once its set it should stay set for a long time.
The pros:
1) What a sweet cutting saw, with the correct blade and the saw adjusted correctly this is one fine trim saw. Plenty of power and very accurate.
2) The front bevel control is great. Time will tell how it will hold up on the jobsite, but this is really a nice feature for repeditive bevel cuts. I dont think it will be long before other saw makers will start offering a similar feature.
3) The adjustable handle,extending table, and detent overide are all nice features that make using this saw even more efficient.
All in all I really like this saw so far. Its almost made me forget the sad demise of my trusted 708, almost. But I can highly recommend this saw, just count on replacing the blade.
Update: Well, I've returned the saw to Amazon. As the poster a couple of posts above mine has mentioned the cuts on wider boards (6" to 11") left small gaps in the middle of the cut. At first I thought I might have had some blade deflection, but after changing blades ( I only use full Kerf blades) a couple of times the cut remained gapped at the same place in the cut. The first 2 to 3 inches the cut was perfect after that it was simply off. If for example you cut across an 8" piece of 3/4 birch plywood
then butted the cut edges together you would end up with a gap 2 to 3 inches long in the middle of the cut. Not a large gap, but large enough to require some filler. Not what you need for stain grade cabinets. Also, at least on my saw the slides were very temperature sensitive. At 40 degrees the slides were very tight. At 60 degrees and above it was fine. My Dewalt never did this.
Its really a shame, I liked the features of this saw alot. And weather my problem was caused by an slight arbor problem or a minor slide problem it just isn't do for my kind of work. I am now in the process of ordering a Makita LS1214. It dosen't have all the features of the Bosch, but hopefully it will be more consistant in its cut. Therefore, I have to lower my rating to 3 stars.
Customer Review: Excellent Saw- Great Price
Summary: 5 Stars
I just recieved my saw via UPS today, just in time to start a hardwood flooring project on my own house. Set up was a breeze and it mounted right to my old Trac Master stand. I was a bit nervous about wether the saw would be adjusted dead on after reading a few reviews that ripped on Bosch for this. Not so, with mine. I grabbed some scrap wood and tested miters and bevels from many different angles. 100% dead on from the factory even after enduring the UPS shipping. (the box came complete with many dents and rips) The only thing I could possibly suggest as an improvement would be to set the laser slaved to the saw power so it came on when you pressed a button on the handle but before the blade starts to spin. The Dewalt is like this. That being said, guess what? After about ten cuts, I was very comfortable with the process, and the tweaking would just make an excellent saw a little bit better. I have always loved my Bosch tools and this one just refreshed the love, Baby! And thanks to Amazon for their discount on power tools, I got the saw for $469!!
Tim
Customer Review: Excellent Tool
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a relative novice woodworker and I purchased this saw to frame a 6in. wide partition wall; split up a larger room to make a bedroom and smaller play area. The ceiling was at an angle, not always 45deg, and this saw helped get the job done right. The sliding, miter, and dual bevel features facilitated many of the cuts I had to make. I've used a 12in dewalt (without sliding) and felt the bosch was at least as good, but the addition of the sliding feature on the bosch is worth the extra cost and cheaper than the dewalt 12in sliding miter. I only considered bosch and dewalt as options due to a combination of product experience and cost.Customer Review: Excellent saw, but the blade could have been a little better
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this saw primarily for cutting up crown molding for a remodel job. The Miter stops were spot on right out of the box. Double checking with a protractor confirmed. Cuts a very repeatable.
The in box blade is OK for chopping up 2x4's, but you really need a finer blade for trimwork.
Really does excellently for that. The clamp is especially nice. It's a lever clamp instead of a screw down and it's very fast to use.
All in all, well worth it.
Customer Review: Fantastic - More than I hoped for
Summary: 5 Stars
I couldn't wait to brag on this saw! Bought this saw just before Christmas and have done 2 major projects and numerous small jobs because I can't take my hands off of it.
It setup in less than 15 minutes (and that consisted of screwing in the miter lock knob, installing the laser, and clearing a spot in the garage). Cut PERFECT 90 (zero) degree out of the box in locked position. I've now done everything this saw has to offer and it's DEAD-ON as it FLOATS through the cut.
I've done depth-of-cut (dado) cuts at 45 degree bevel (left and right) to create shop jigs. Already done 4x4s and 1 x 12s at 45 degree bevel. Did floor molding miters standing upright against back fence (sliding arm feature is awesome for this). Cut free-form angle miters and 45, 22.5, and 60 all in the pre-set locking stops - this saw is TIGHT. No play in the dual arm slider - solid. Bevel and Miter functions both utilize pre-locking stops. Miter adjusts left and right by simple trigger button then locks into place. Table turns smooth and with little effort. There is NO play in the mechanism. The dual bevel and dual miter feature is a DEFINATE plus - have already used both when I wondered if it was ever necessary.
Back fence is single piece to maintain accuracy from left to right side as it goes around the blade. Left and right fences slide in and out independently to accommodate bevels/miters - but a short 1 inch piece (unifence) stays in place so you always have a true back plane to square the work piece. The top part of the fence adjusts easily by loosing one knob - slides very easily in a groove and stays TRUE. Doesn't fall off and it's not clumsy.
Have never had a cut-off jam in blade slot or against fence due to misalignment. Side extensions are helpful. Never had a work piece hang or snag on the side extensions or on the fence as I was sliding it across the table. Everything about this saw is clean and smooth and well aligned.
It's got carry handles that seem to be placed in a balanced configuration although I've only moved it short distances (but MANY times). Has depth-of-cut setting (with quick release) which works on bevels and miters. Has a locking pin to lock the head in the down position for chop cuts or sliding cuts (or BOTH at the same time). Can also lock the slider at ANY distance from the fence. You can make any conceivable combination of cuts with this saw. This saw does not create saw dust - it creates saw "powder" and lots of it. Never seen anything like this before. RPMs are dead-on to make this saw glide through every cut. By the way, I used the standard blade that shipped with my unit in regards to all the comments in this review.
Laser is accurate but personally I line the blade teeth up on the cut line before powering up the saw. Blade guard has NEVER gotten in my way - including 45 degree bevels - will likely be the FIRST blade guard I've ever left in place. Blade brake is very nice! Base has numerous mounting holes for when the day comes. I've actually used the left handed operator feature a few times (which requires no adjustment - has dual buttons). This was handy when the best/safest way to hold the work-piece was on the right side of the table.
I built two large lofts for the kids' rooms. Serious projects with large (4x4, 2x8) to small (3/4" molding) lumber. Railings, ladders, bookshelves, tables, small hobby pieces, base molding (around 8 corners), and window sill - all using standard cutoffs to 45 degree bevels on up to 1x12" deep shelving. Cedar, pine, MDF, oak. All with perfect accuracy and perfectly flush joints! Including a couple of butt joints which are never a good idea, but were dead square with flat faces on this saw.
I've been getting by for years with a top-notch table saw and circular saw - debating too long whether to add a radial-arm-saw or sliding-compound-miter. I grew up with a radial arm available for cross cutting - but have been paralyzed for some time to make a decision between the two. After reading NUMEROUS opinions on the web, I decided on SCMS. WOW! What a waste of time the last few years have been. The price of this saw is immeasurable to the headaches you will save and accuracy you will gain. I paid $560 with free shipping and didn't have to pay sales tax. It was WELL worth it. Now I just noticed that Amazon has $110 discount for $500+ power saws. I used my hard earned Christmas bonus to help purchase the saw but missing out on the $110 savings doesn't even phase me as this saw is a steal at $560 without any discounts.
I could write more, but I've already spent so much time with my saw that I need to spend some time with my wife.... Family time tonight consisted of the kids helping dad screw some new (Bosch) shelves together in the living room while mom watched from the couch.