I've never had one of these saws but watching our handyman/builder it's one of their most-user tools and I keep finding projects where it would save me a lot of time and give a better result than hand-saws or circular saw.
I've read around a bit about compound mitres, sliding saws, single/double bevels but looking online (Screwfix) there are a lot of options at every price-point, and a wide range of price-points to consider (£100-£1000+)
For light home use you can get basic models for even under £100 and this would probably be fine but I do think the sliding feature would be helpful - for as little as £100 I can get https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-tt...le-bevel-sliding-sliding-mitre-saw-240v/881kp or several models by Evolution (I don't know that brand but reviews seem solid).
Moving up to the £200-ish mark the big changes seem to be cutting depth increases quite a bit, and you can get double-bevel options. This one bang on £200 from Erbauer stood out feature-wise: https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...double-bevel-sliding-mitre-saw-220-240v/244fv
I'm not sure how much I should care about double-bevel - does it solve a problem or is it just a time-saver when doing a lot of cuts? But deeper cutting seems like it would be useful.
The 200-250 price-point is very crowded and I don't really think I can justify going beyond that. My builder friend says they tend to buy around the 3-400 level and get a couple of years' use, rather than a year's use at the £200 level but that both do the job... and they use it every day and lug it around job sites which mine definitely won't be. It looked like there was a slight upgrade on the Erbauer above with a mighty 100mm cutting depth (handy for fence posts and sleepers) but it appears to be out of production: https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...double-bevel-sliding-mitre-saw-220-240v/736fv
So with so many options around how on earth do I pick? I'm trying these days to avoid going super cheap and replacing once I realise the limitations, but neither do I want to buy some tool that far exceeds my needs and ability... the guy with a shop lined with top-line Dewalt tools he never uses
I've read around a bit about compound mitres, sliding saws, single/double bevels but looking online (Screwfix) there are a lot of options at every price-point, and a wide range of price-points to consider (£100-£1000+)
For light home use you can get basic models for even under £100 and this would probably be fine but I do think the sliding feature would be helpful - for as little as £100 I can get https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-tt...le-bevel-sliding-sliding-mitre-saw-240v/881kp or several models by Evolution (I don't know that brand but reviews seem solid).
Moving up to the £200-ish mark the big changes seem to be cutting depth increases quite a bit, and you can get double-bevel options. This one bang on £200 from Erbauer stood out feature-wise: https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...double-bevel-sliding-mitre-saw-220-240v/244fv
I'm not sure how much I should care about double-bevel - does it solve a problem or is it just a time-saver when doing a lot of cuts? But deeper cutting seems like it would be useful.
The 200-250 price-point is very crowded and I don't really think I can justify going beyond that. My builder friend says they tend to buy around the 3-400 level and get a couple of years' use, rather than a year's use at the £200 level but that both do the job... and they use it every day and lug it around job sites which mine definitely won't be. It looked like there was a slight upgrade on the Erbauer above with a mighty 100mm cutting depth (handy for fence posts and sleepers) but it appears to be out of production: https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-...double-bevel-sliding-mitre-saw-220-240v/736fv
So with so many options around how on earth do I pick? I'm trying these days to avoid going super cheap and replacing once I realise the limitations, but neither do I want to buy some tool that far exceeds my needs and ability... the guy with a shop lined with top-line Dewalt tools he never uses