Thinking of buying a sliding mitre saw

Hi All,
This would be for general home DIY use
I have quite a few dewalt cordless tools (circular saw, jigsaw, planer and drills etc), and the 625 router , i purchased the 625 as it seemed it would cover everything i may need to do , with a 35 piece 1/2" bit set.

I'm thinking now of adding a Sliding Mitre Saw to my tool collection

I have seen a DWS774 £200 in wickes and quite liked it, seemed very portsble small footprint and solid with positive movements and locking
but they are out of stock
Screwfix has a DWS773 £199 - but that does not have the XPS shadow line

However, a friend mentioned an evolution , its a bit big, and did not appear as solid build and positive on the movements , also the rails come out the back a long way. I do like the multipurpose blade and the cutting sizes.

Problem is you cant go to a shop and see these side by side anymore , best i have seen is Machinemart, NO Dewalt or B&Q again no dewalt or Wickes only had a dewalt and a wickes brand.

So that got me looking at other models and the DWS778 £399- which seems like a really good saw, has a good range of cutting depths 300mm x 80mm , looks reasonably portable. I guess if i could find a deal for maybe this & spare blade and Stand , I would probably go for it.

I was thinking about the 18V cordless, but I'm not trade and will be near power , also it seems bigger as the rails come out the back, although some reports say double bevel.

The 778 with a portable dewalt mitre stand comes out quite expensive £399 + £135 from FFX
They are advertising 7 days of deals, next week 3rd June 2019, so hoping they have some deals on Monday - Dewalt day.

I would be interested in peoples views who have some of these tools and what they think.

As i say its just for general DIY use around the home.

look forward to users/members views

The specialist tool/builders merchants often have a range of different makes on display.

It's worth visiting an Anglia Tool Centre show room, or one of the tool fairs.

I have found Makita to be reliable.

Blup

Thanks
yes, I was planning on one of the tool fairs, but its not until Oct at kempton, I'm on the south coast West Sussex, (need to change my profile, moved last year)- so quite a journey to the tool Centres

The dewalt shadow system is a real advance -its not a gimmick.

The shadow is a bit vague but once you are used to it, it feels pretty accurate. It helps to get the saw blade lined up close to a pencil mark without having to take repeated nibbles.

Lasers arent great, they go out of calibration easily.

I think dewalt saws are pretty good, but do put metabo and bosch on your shortlist

I'll second the comments about DW mitre saws - in general site work when you see guys using their own saws they are often either DW or Makita. Same goes for the hire fleets. Personally I'd be leary of buying an Evo - seen too many of them go phut or have problems straight out of the box to trust the brand. I also agree with the comments about lasers - they can go out on saws which are constantly being moved (as in a trade environment). On most saws they are an indicator of more or less where the saw will cut - not an absolute!

Avoid Hitachi, poor build and no customer service.

Thanks
I’m in b&b nothing there
Going to Wickes next

But I think I may get the dws778 and stand plus some Freud blades
In I can get a good price For £500

eta said:

Thanks
yes, I was planning on one of the tool fairs, but its not until Oct at kempton, I'm on the south coast West Sussex, (need to change my profile, moved last year)- so quite a journey to the tool Centres

Click to expand...

There a few local tool suppliers you can try in the area, G+S in lancing, Brighton tools and fixings, freeways in Burgess hill and power tools direct are based in rustington.
Might be worth checking out

Usually cheaper online .

Recently bought a DWS780 and have been delighted with it.
Also if you can't get to any tool fairs or show rooms maybe try that 'pricespy' website, I've used it a few times now for tools and it gives you the best price online for specific tools.
It has definitely saved me a good few pound anyway.

Thanks
I ordered at FFX £399
Got a deal on the stand £119
And various Freud blades
Coming tomorrow
Really looking forward to having a play hopefully tomorrow

Hope it’s as good quality as the 774 I saw in Wickes and almost purchased

And hope the Freud blades are as good as they say

Thanks for all the advice

eta said:

Thanks
I ordered at FFX £399
Got a deal on the stand £119
And various Freud blades
Coming tomorrow
Really looking forward to having a play hopefully tomorrow

Hope it’s as good quality as the 774 I saw in Wickes and almost purchased

And hope the Freud blades are as good as they say

Thanks for all the advice

Click to expand...

Its worth spending time calibrating your saw, they are rarely spot on out of the box.

Freud blades arent bad, certainly worth the upgrade ftom the cheapie usually supplied.

Thanks , Calibration ? exactly how ? just with a square & 45 Degree square
Can you change the lock setting on the turn table

eta,
Instructions are here for reading whilst you wait for postman.
http://www.free-instruction-manuals.com/pdf/pa_1403886.pdf
I believe Page 10 is where it starts detailing how to calibrate.
SFK

brilliant thanks , I downloaded this morning, as i was trying to see if a dust bag would fit, but never really looked into the manual
will do now