Circular saw / mitre saw: What do I need?

[Davie]

The obvious PH / Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor answer is 'the biggest and most unnecessarily powerful one you can find... however...

I'm not sure exactly what I need but I'm done trying to get straight / clean / accurate cuts using a £4.99 handsaw and with a few jobs that she's been nagging me about mounting up, I'm in the market for machinery.

I want to cut skirting boards and facias so 90deg and 45deg cuts plus fairly sporadic cutting off anything up to 3 x 2 batons... maybe bigger boards for the likes of loft flooring. I'm also a bit of a DeWalt tart but I'm not paying £500 for a mitre saw and table.

Looked at the entry level Titan mitre saws (sub £100) in Screwfix then debated if I'd do everything needed with a hand held circular saw having measured and marked the cut angles first... then I found a second hand DeWalt DW712 (£100) so debated that.

But the reality is, I'm not really sure what I "need" or if I need both... or neither. Not that fussed on brand or if it's 240V. Anything I should / shouldn't be considering or any "Go buy this..." suggestions?

Cheers

[Zetec-S]

Mitre saw.

I was making do with a jigsaw and circular saw for some wooden flooring and decking, will be caving in and buying one soon.

ETA: Circular saw worked well for rip cuts but trying to get it square for cross cuts was a ballache

Edited by Zetec-S on Saturday 28th October 21:15

[Mojooo]

If you are just cutting sideways on long pieces of timber - a mitre saw will keep it nice and simple and quick. e.g to cut down 4x2.

You can make cuts on a circular saw but a bit more fiddly and not as quick .A circular saw will give you more options though to cut down boards.

If you go for a circular saw to cut down load boards also look at a track saw - they speed up making straight long cuts

If you go for a mire saw then consider a sliding one which lets you cut wider boards and also compound - so you can cut down at an angle - useful for skirting.

If you know you are cutting loads of skirting and similar long pieces then a mitre saw is worthwhile.

[J6542]

Zetec-S said:

Mitre saw.

I was making do with a jigsaw and circular saw for some wooden flooring and decking, will be caving in and buying one soon.

ETA: Circular saw worked well for rip cuts but trying to get it square for cross cuts was a ballache

Edited by Zetec-S on Saturday 28th October 21:15

It’s super easy to get a square cut by using a framing square as your fence

As for the Op, if your doing skirting with external mitres then a mitre saw is the best tool. You need a coping saw for internal mitres.

[The Count]

I bought this one link a few years ago and certainly have had my pound of flesh our of it. It cuts metal too, which is a bonus and i haven't changed the blade after years of cutting thousands of pieces of wood. (a real bargain, plus it cuts larger sections of wood too)

[Escort3500]

The Count said:

I bought this one link a few years ago and certainly have had my pound of flesh our of it. It cuts metal too, which is a bonus and i haven't changed the blade after years of cutting thousands of pieces of wood. (a real bargain, plus it cuts larger sections of wood too)

I’ve got that one too, and it’s also put up with years of abuse without ever letting me down. If/when it dies l’d replace it with the same.

Edited by Escort3500 on Sunday 29th October 08:29

[Davie]

Thanks gents, looking like a mitre saw is the better option... I'm sure I could pick up a cheap / used circular saw if ifeel the urge to slice bigger boards.

And on which note...

Now sat deliberating between spending ~£100 in Screwfix for a Titan / Evolution, both appear to be similar spec / sliding etc etc.

Or...

Spending the same amount on the second hand DeWalt DW712 which looks to have had little use, but used comes with no warranty but for the money is it a better choice.

This is why I get nothing done...

[Mojooo]

I've got an evolution - its absolutely fine for DIY. Mine is about 10 years old.

Mine can also cut materials other than wood.

[agent006]

I had an evolution. It sent me fking spare trying to calibrate the angles properly. 45 degrees would always be 47 or 43, nearly there but still piss wonky when you put the join together. Even if you've got the angles set right, there's so much play in the rails that you can easily pull it a few degrees offline as you bring the blade down.

[57Ford]

Sliding Evo here too. Does a fantastic job if you’re prepared to put the effort in and learn its foibles using some scrap while setting up.

[Davie]

That’s what does worry me slightly. I’m no expert joiner but if said purchase was a bit iffy, it’d probably frustrate me. Hence, wondering if budget new is preferable to a used but arguably better machine or vice versa.

Father in law has a full van worth of Festool stuff, probably worth more than my house but he’s a joiner of 50 years but is on the fence between a cheap and cheerful machine that’ll do what I need (which is fairly low use / basic cuts) or picking up something used that may be s as better tool.

On the latter, quick search would suggest a used Dewalt 712 is about £250… I’ve seen one for less than half of that. Seems like a pretty good buy but I just don’t know if that’s a better choice than similar money, entry level new stuff via Screwfix

Edited by Davie on Saturday 28th October 22:44

[J6542]

Davie said:

That’s what does worry me slightly. I’m no expert joiner but if said purchase was a bit iffy, it’d probably frustrate me. Hence, wondering if budget new is preferable to a used but arguably better machine or vice versa.

Father in law has a full van worth of Festool stuff, probably worth more than my house but he’s a joiner of 50 years but is on the fence between a cheap and cheerful machine that’ll do what I need (which is fairly low use / basic cuts) or picking up something used that may be s as better tool.

On the latter, quick search would suggest a used Dewalt 712 is about £250… I’ve seen one for less than half of that. Seems like a pretty good buy but I just don’t know if that’s a better choice than similar money, entry level new stuff via Screwfix

Edited by Davie on Saturday 28th October 22:44

Get your father in law to buy a new kapex and give you his old one for Christmas. Or get him round to give you a hand with things.

[Davie]

He’s brilliant, sort of guy who rolls up on a Saturday to visit and by mid afternoon he’s got a Velux window in or a joining wall down… but, he’s far enough away that I can’t just nip round to cut up a few bits of skirting or such like. Hence, time has come to get something in the garage so when he does visit and assesses my handiwork… it doesn’t look like a drunk three year old has made the cuts with blunt bread knife.

[Davie]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution-r210sms-210mm...

Slept on it...

Swaying towards this on the basis a used one has no warranty / I don't know enough to spot any issues and these Evolution ones seems to be ok? Reduced to £109 just now which makes it look like a better but than the £99 Titan?

Any last words of wisdom before I pull the trigger... as the cool kids say

[Escort3500]

I’ve friends in the trade who all have expensive Dewalt, Milwaukee or similar high-end kit, and I’d agree that it’s better for precision work (and possibly longevity). I just couldn’t justify the significant cost difference for the sort of stuff I do, so went for the Evolution. Time will tell whether it’ll last as long (it’s about 6 years old and so far has been great).

[skeeterm5]

If you add a better blade to it you can get much finer cuts. The standard blade is good for general cutting but is a little coarse.

[Teddy Lop]

agent006 said:

I had an evolution. It sent me fking spare trying to calibrate the angles properly. 45 degrees would always be 47 or 43, nearly there but still piss wonky when you put the join together. Even if you've got the angles set right, there's so much play in the rails that you can easily pull it a few degrees offline as you bring the blade down.

This is my thoughts, anything where precision is paramount I stretch to the good kit. DeWalt sliding compound mitre saw, Makita track saw etc. I figure on them lasting a lifetime so why not.

No tool snob either I have tons of stuff like titan where it's usage makes premium difficult to justify, such as the table saw... It cuts just fine but the calibration/ guides are a joke, and the blade guard unusable!

[Davie]

Precision is subjective, I'm not going to be doing any sort of fine cabinet making, just general DIY (skirting, facias, shelving etc) so it doesn't have to be perfect but equally if the saw is a faff to set up or tricky to get a fairly accurate angle then I'll probably get a bit irritated.

Marketplace link incoming but this DeWalt isn't a million miles away and similar budget. It looks unabused and seems 'cheap' for what it is but I don't know if that's a good thing or alarm bells should be ringing.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/14276741...

My wife has just proclaimed "Just bloody make a decision will you" which is something I hear a lot...

[119]

Another Evolution victim here. God awful thing to set up etc.

One small job and it was binned and now have a Makita sliding compound and it is faultess.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-ls1018ln-2-260mm...

[Teddy Lop]

Davie said:

Precision is subjective, I'm not going to be doing any sort of fine cabinet making, just general DIY (skirting, facias, shelving etc) so it doesn't have to be perfect but equally if the saw is a faff to set up or tricky to get a fairly accurate angle then I'll probably get a bit irritated.

Marketplace link incoming but this DeWalt isn't a million miles away and similar budget. It looks unabused and seems 'cheap' for what it is but I don't know if that's a good thing or alarm bells should be ringing.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/14276741...

My wife has just proclaimed "Just bloody make a decision will you" which is something I hear a lot...

That looks legit but please be careful, the majority of decent kit will be nicked from some poor sod.