# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  Sliding mitre saw under $600

## TomBlackThumb

Hi all, my partner and I have recently bought our first house, and we've spent the last few months doing some decent-size renovations. We've got through by borrowing tools and expertise from family members, but since I've now got a decent powered shed (albeit not a huge one) I decided I needed to get my own stuff for future projects. 
I'm looking to get a sliding compound mitre saw next. Weighing up between wanting to buy a good quality tool that will last me a long time, and not wanting to spend more money than my skill level or need actually deserve, I've settled on $600 as the upper limit to what I want to spend. With a new mortgage, less is obviously better! 
I'm happy to look at any brand, although I reckon the Hitachis look  pretty awful : p. I'm even happy to look at second hand stuff, but I  worry that I won't know what possible problems to look for because I'm  just starting out with this stuff. 
At the moment something like the Makita LS1018L is looking pretty good, and I can get it for about $400. Are there any other recommendations around this price range?

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## METRIX

Trust me, you get what you pay for with power tools, and Makita is deffinetly NOT what it used to be, Cheap SH#* are words which can be associated to most new Makita
Take a look at BOSCH much better than Makita, only a little more cost. 
Hitachi was very good quality, but they no longer make any saws in Japan, all gone to China now, and you can tell looking at their quality now.

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## TomBlackThumb

The only blue Bosch in my price range is the GCM800s, for about $590. I'm not too keen on it though - I'd prefer a ~250mm blade, rather than a 216mm, for the extra cut size, and the slide mechanism doesn't look as sturdy (although I've only seen photos). 
Would you recommend the green Bosch PCM1800? That's much cheaper.

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## METRIX

If looking at the Bosch, I would look at the GCM 10S, but price is around $670, this is much better than the GCM800s, the rail system on the 800s is a bit poor quality. 
Bosch green is for home use only, these won't take a punishing like the blue series, it all comes down to how much you want to spend, $200 in this type of tool can make a lot of difference from ordinary to very good. 
This is a tool segment where you really get what you pay for, if you are after reliability, accuracy and safety you need to spend a little more 
We now have a couple of Bosch GCM 10SD, these replaced some unreliable Makita's, and have been great, a little bit heavy but otherwise cannot fault them

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## koshari

i have had an ls1017L makita CSMS for a bit over a year now and must say that for the price its fine, they have them at bunnings for $400. 
the difference between it and the ls1018L is the 1018L has a 45 degree offset motor from the slide to allow bevel cuts on the right hand side right down to 45 degree (where the 1017L has a straight shaft and only allows 45degree bevels on the left hand side). same size motor on both units. 
a friend of mine recently bought a 1018L and whilst not having seen him operate it i noticed the back timber rest had a 90 degree cut on the right hand side of the cut void so i would be interested how it would do a 45 bevel to the right without striking the rest???? if this is the case it sorta defeats the purpose of the 45 offset shaft on the motor/blade drive. the laser sight while handy is a bit of a gimmick IHO  
anyway back to the build, mine feels pretty nice for a 2 slide mech and for general building works is as nice as my eye and skill can push it. if i was to but a saw again i may have spent a little bit more for a bosch in a larger blade diameter (305mm) to give a little more range in cutting but given these begin around $800 i definitely couldnt justify twice the price. IMO you really cant go to far wrong with one for the present pricing, while its no festool or metabo, its a far cry from the ultra pov end of the range such as rockwell and ozito.  
just another not on the blue versus green bosch models, take note a few years ago that in some tools the green and blue are EXACTLY the same under the different colour casings, i know this with regard to angle grinders and rotary hammers as i have spent time in the past repairing them and the stators and rotors are interchangeable. the CSMSs may be different however but i just thaught i would mention it.

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## spiceboy

I bought a compound sliding mitre saw on ebay from  www.swartstools.com.au for around $250 and have been using it for about three months for cutting timber for kitchen cupboard and wardrobe frames.  I am happy with tihs saw as it meets my needs.  I guess the Makita and Bosch compound sliding mitre saws fall under a different category.

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## Micky013

Hey, 
My opinion, spend as much as you can afford. 
I originally had a cheap Ryobi, probably about $350 - it was junk. Then i bit the bullet and bought a Makita (the 12 inch) for $1,100 - the best saw i've used. I do agree that Makita's quality has declined but ive only noticed that in my cordless drill - the SCMS and circ saws that I've got are all the latest and work excellent. 
Cheers

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## chunky59

The other way to go about it is to spend a little more on your saw and then when finished you can always sell it and get some money back on  it and could possibly work out cheaper in the long run than buying a cheap unit that does not do what you want it to do.

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## cray-

I'll assume the OP has made a purchase by now, but just in case anyone else is researching and looking for help as I was, I'll add my 2c. I had a similar budget (read, not enough) that couldn't be stretched but I didn't want to waste good money on something that wouldn't last.  
My advice: don't discount buying something used. 
The older Makitas that everyone loves (LS1013, LS1214, etc.) were built like tanks so even a well used/loved model will cut as good as new and serve you well for many years to come. I picked up an LS1013 with a brand new Bluemak 80T blade (and the orig mak blade) for less than the cheapy Bunnings special model and couldn't be happier.

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