LOOK AT THE NEW TOY. . . Henro, eat your hear out!
- Thread starter Bob_Skurka
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Bob_Skurka
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( the only problem I had was when I brought the JD off the hill and parked it by the barn to clean it. Doing a ninety on grass scrapes up a lot of turf. The Ms. was steamed. )</font>
My wife called and asked if I tore up the grass. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I said not too much /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif and it should be in good shape by the time she gets back home /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
My wife called and asked if I tore up the grass. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I said not too much /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif and it should be in good shape by the time she gets back home /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
<font color="blue"> OkeeDon . . . I don't have a SLIDING compound miter saw . . . Hmmm!
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(Laughing) Well, I cheated. I already have a very good quality compound miter saw, and my son-in-law has a nice Ryobi cordless miter saw I can use, and I have a 14" chop saw. But, I need to cut a lot of 8" wide material, and I decided it would be faster with a sliding saw than a handheld skil saw. Harbor Freight has a current online sale on a Chicago 10" sliding compound miter saw for $99.99 (normally $199.99). I went down to the local HF store with a print-screen of the online sale price, and they honored it. I don't normally buy extended warranties, but apparently when an item is on sale, HF also cuts the price of the warranty. So, I got an additional 24 months (27 total) of no-questions-asked replacement for $20. I should be mostly done with my cutting projects by then, so I considered it $120 well spent.
A brief review -- it works, but the entire head and support is on dual sliding tubes mounted low, and the bearings are not very good. In other words, it feels rough when sliding, and occasionally hangs up, requiring an extra back and forth "bump" to complete the slide. Still. it produces a much straighter cut, much faster, than a skil saw, and I eliminated the need to use a speed square to draw a continuous line, because I can use a single pencil dot on the board to line up the saw blade. When you're making a lot of cuts, such a simple reduction in is nice.
When I got to the HF store, they also had an in-store sale on a 12" sliding compound miter saw, also a Chicago, but much higher quality, with a single large tube on which the head slid smoothly. Normal price $249.99; sale price $199.99. After some thought and some consultation with the refreshingly candid store manager, I decided to go for the better saw -- but they were out of stock, and I had a need for it that day. Upon reflection, I decided that there is better availability of a greater variety of 10" blades, and the 10" saw would do my job with no complications, so I saved a hundred bucks and sprung for the cheaper one.
I used the saw quite a bit yesterday. I added some lithium grease to the sliding tubes, and had no problems. I'm actually cutting hardi plank (7-1/4" wide), which is notoriously hard on saws, so I'm glad I got the warranty (the dust gets to motor bearings).
Best $127 (including tax) I've spent in a while...
</font>
(Laughing) Well, I cheated. I already have a very good quality compound miter saw, and my son-in-law has a nice Ryobi cordless miter saw I can use, and I have a 14" chop saw. But, I need to cut a lot of 8" wide material, and I decided it would be faster with a sliding saw than a handheld skil saw. Harbor Freight has a current online sale on a Chicago 10" sliding compound miter saw for $99.99 (normally $199.99). I went down to the local HF store with a print-screen of the online sale price, and they honored it. I don't normally buy extended warranties, but apparently when an item is on sale, HF also cuts the price of the warranty. So, I got an additional 24 months (27 total) of no-questions-asked replacement for $20. I should be mostly done with my cutting projects by then, so I considered it $120 well spent.
A brief review -- it works, but the entire head and support is on dual sliding tubes mounted low, and the bearings are not very good. In other words, it feels rough when sliding, and occasionally hangs up, requiring an extra back and forth "bump" to complete the slide. Still. it produces a much straighter cut, much faster, than a skil saw, and I eliminated the need to use a speed square to draw a continuous line, because I can use a single pencil dot on the board to line up the saw blade. When you're making a lot of cuts, such a simple reduction in is nice.
When I got to the HF store, they also had an in-store sale on a 12" sliding compound miter saw, also a Chicago, but much higher quality, with a single large tube on which the head slid smoothly. Normal price $249.99; sale price $199.99. After some thought and some consultation with the refreshingly candid store manager, I decided to go for the better saw -- but they were out of stock, and I had a need for it that day. Upon reflection, I decided that there is better availability of a greater variety of 10" blades, and the 10" saw would do my job with no complications, so I saved a hundred bucks and sprung for the cheaper one.
I used the saw quite a bit yesterday. I added some lithium grease to the sliding tubes, and had no problems. I'm actually cutting hardi plank (7-1/4" wide), which is notoriously hard on saws, so I'm glad I got the warranty (the dust gets to motor bearings).
Best $127 (including tax) I've spent in a while...
OP
Bob_Skurka
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 7,615
Don, I get catalogs from Harbor Freight, never bought anything from them. I didn't even realize they had stores.
It is raining now so I'm taking a break. It may be extended because the National Weather Service issued a severe storm watch for the next 6 hours. I'm just hoping that the trench I dug yesterday doesn't cave in!!!
It is raining now so I'm taking a break. It may be extended because the National Weather Service issued a severe storm watch for the next 6 hours. I'm just hoping that the trench I dug yesterday doesn't cave in!!!
frank_f15
Super Member, Rest in Peace
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Oh, and while the lovely Mrs is gone, I'm trading in my 10 year old Befco Cyclone RFM for a brand spanking new NH 914A side discharge MMM. And putting 3 skylights in the garage. And putting UV reflective film on 13 windows that catch the summer sun and warm the house. And getting the driveway repaved. And getting a decorative aluminum "wrought iron style" fence put in (by a fellow TBN member who is going to bring his PT 422 to drill the holes and let me play with it). And yesterday I just finished the excercise room, complete with TV/VCR mounted on the wall. And I am VERY CLOSE to finishing the adjoining bathroom to the excercise room that includes a stone "river" that flows across the floor out of the shower, complete with blue grout in the river bed.
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HOW LONG IS SHE GOING TO BE GONE? DARN THAT IS A LOT OF WORK FOR WEEKEND /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
)</font>
HOW LONG IS SHE GOING TO BE GONE? DARN THAT IS A LOT OF WORK FOR WEEKEND /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
OP
Bob_Skurka
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 7,615
She is gone for 5 weeks.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have a siding job to do in the next month using hardi plank. what type of blade did you use and how much dust does it create. I have never used hardi plank before so any suggestions would be appreciated.
thanks
chuck )</font>
I'm using the carbide tipped blade that came with the saw, it's either a 40t or 60t (we put it together and started cutting; didn't bother to count the teeth or read the specs). It cuts cleanly, but you have to go relatively slow. I usually use a diamond blade with hardiplank, but HF didn't have any 10" diamond blades, and ones I found online ran from $73 to $107 -- I kinda hate having a blade that cost more than the saw, so I decided to see how long the $10 blade in this saw would last. I've only used it for one day and it's holding up, I suspect it will last through my job, which involves siding 2 sides of a 24 x 50 building.
I clamped a 2x2 spacer to the fence to space the planks out 1-1/2"; makes it easier to finish the cut; I don't have to slide it in, or push it down, all the way. That means that my cut is starting at 8-3/4" out; that's about the limit. The 12" saw with the better slide would do 10" wide stuff for sure, and maybe 12" (1x12, 2x12).
There surprisingly little dust; the saw actually includes a dust collection bag! But, the cuts are relatively short. Back when we were using 4'x8' panels of hardipanel to skin our outdoor kitchen cabinets, the dust from a long cut would be really bad. We figured a new skil saw every third or 4th job; good ones wouldn't last any longer than cheap ones, so we bought the cheapest available. The diamond blades would last longer than the saws!
The first time we tried it at the customer's site, we set up the saw horses on the customer's porch, and put a film of dust on everything, including the pool. We quickly moved the horses out to the yard. Later, we invested in Snapper hardiplank shears (about $450 - looks like an electric drill with hardened blades instead of a chuck). These are fast and create no dust. Unfortunately, I packed them away preparing to move, forgetting I'd need them on this project, and they're in a box somewhere at the bottom of a pile of boxes in my garage. It sounded like a good excuse to get this saw.
thanks
chuck )</font>
I'm using the carbide tipped blade that came with the saw, it's either a 40t or 60t (we put it together and started cutting; didn't bother to count the teeth or read the specs). It cuts cleanly, but you have to go relatively slow. I usually use a diamond blade with hardiplank, but HF didn't have any 10" diamond blades, and ones I found online ran from $73 to $107 -- I kinda hate having a blade that cost more than the saw, so I decided to see how long the $10 blade in this saw would last. I've only used it for one day and it's holding up, I suspect it will last through my job, which involves siding 2 sides of a 24 x 50 building.
I clamped a 2x2 spacer to the fence to space the planks out 1-1/2"; makes it easier to finish the cut; I don't have to slide it in, or push it down, all the way. That means that my cut is starting at 8-3/4" out; that's about the limit. The 12" saw with the better slide would do 10" wide stuff for sure, and maybe 12" (1x12, 2x12).
There surprisingly little dust; the saw actually includes a dust collection bag! But, the cuts are relatively short. Back when we were using 4'x8' panels of hardipanel to skin our outdoor kitchen cabinets, the dust from a long cut would be really bad. We figured a new skil saw every third or 4th job; good ones wouldn't last any longer than cheap ones, so we bought the cheapest available. The diamond blades would last longer than the saws!
The first time we tried it at the customer's site, we set up the saw horses on the customer's porch, and put a film of dust on everything, including the pool. We quickly moved the horses out to the yard. Later, we invested in Snapper hardiplank shears (about $450 - looks like an electric drill with hardened blades instead of a chuck). These are fast and create no dust. Unfortunately, I packed them away preparing to move, forgetting I'd need them on this project, and they're in a box somewhere at the bottom of a pile of boxes in my garage. It sounded like a good excuse to get this saw.
GaryM
Veteran Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( And I am VERY CLOSE to finishing the adjoining bathroom to the excercise room that includes a stone "river" that flows across the floor out of the shower, complete with blue grout in the river bed.
)</font>
I'd like to hear, and see, more about this project.
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I'd like to hear, and see, more about this project.
