Need miter saw recommendations, Hitachi or Festool?

[Hank Moreman]

I've been a carpenter for over 10 years now and have been on a steady course towards the finer end of the spectrum. I started out as a production trim guy and now we do the more complicated details/site built cabinetry. I find myself in a bit of a pickle, all three of my miter saws have gone down in the last couple weeks. I have always used Hitachi's 10" sliding compound saw and have never had a complaint. My business seems to be heading towards just building pieces in the shop and shipping them out. Is now the time to invest in a festool saw or stay with the hitachi? I'm willing to commit to not letting it leave the shop but is it 2 1/2 times the saw? I'm going to have to buy a saw Monday morning and I'm not sure what to do so any suggestions are welcome

[Chris Padilla]

I'm a diehard Festool fan but I am going to replace my trusty 12" DeWalt with a Bosch GCM12SD 12" sliding dual bevel miter saw...one of these days. Search for it on YouTube and check out some videos.

[George Bokros]

I recommend the Hitachi digital dual bevel sliding compound miter saw. It is one awesome saw. I have one and I am a hobbyist only but is top notch for cutting things like crown molding FLAT on the table. It is half the cost of Festool, paid under $600 for mine from CPO.

[Chris Rosenberger]

The main advantages of the Festool miter saw is it's light weight & very good dust collection. These two items are very important when doing onsite work, but not very important when when working in the shop. I use a Dewalt saw in the shop & a Festool onsite.

[peter gagliardi]

I have sampled the Festool, and it is decent, but it is NOT worth that kind of money! I have used the Hitachi, and thought it capable, but not for me. I only buy higher quality tools , and I bought the Bosch 12" dual bevel mentioned above. The Festool is almost crude next to it. It has far more capacity- it is a 12" saw, and less than half the money. It does take a little getting used to, with its various buttons and levers to work all the controls, that is the only real complaint I have so far. For $650.00 it's hard to go wrong.

[Jery Madigan]

Reviews for the Bosch are spotty over at Lumberjocks. I have never used one, but would like to move my saw occasionally - very heavy.

[Rich Riddle]

Of the two choices offered, Festool would prove the best. You might consider purchasing online to save yourself the high taxes. Many tool dealers ship the same day and free.

[Alan Lightstone]

Happy with the Festool Kapex.

[Casey kerner]

I have the Hitachi 12" non digital sliding compound miter and love it! I liked the dual slide option to keep it closer to the wall of I wanted and the dust collection work well but the bag is small. I thought about the kapex but couldn't justify triple the price. The adjustable laser is accurate and I find the ability to move it from left to right of the kerf handy. The included blade has also been ok but not great for finish cuts. If you have any other questions let me know!

[joseph f merz]

i do not own the festool .For the shop you will find that dust collection is a major time-saver in clean-up labor.
there laser works ,meaning less mistakes .As you get older this laser becomes really handy .Next noise -ever heard one ,did you notice it is much quieter ,wow ,at 54 my ears are really noticing those wining saws .
If your making money with your saw then the extra spent on the better tool is small . I have have many people tell me the cut is cleaner and some of those people should know what they are talking about .though this maynot be enough of an issue .Note -you will see a difference when you go from your 10" to the 12" .Not a lot but it is there .I happen to use all 12" saws ,just use excellent blades -140$ range .
You may find some of the features on different saws to be the selling point . Good luck ,try them out the best you can before choosing

[Mark Woodmark]

The Festool although a nice saw seems very overpriced. I have a Festool router. Very nice router, but I dont think it was worth the sky high price I paid for it. I dont know about the other miter saw, but I can tell you which one to stay away from, the Makita LS1216. I bought one last year at this time, it is an absolute piece of junk. Locks dont hold, fences are not parallel, arbor has considerable runout in it, horizontal angle stops are vague and inaccurate, and a couple of the plastic parts have already broken. Makita support could care less and are not very helpful. It has been in the shop for about 4 weeks now being repaired (it is waiting for Makita to send a part). If you want, I will sell it to you when I get it back.....If I ever get it back,

In the mean time I purchased a DeWalt 12 slider. Smooth as silk and accurate right out of the box. Stops are accurate, definate, and tight. Also people rave about the Bosch sliders. Say they slide smooth and are accurate, Also Bosch tilt controls are up front so you dont have to reach around the back of the saw

[Dan Bowman]

I recently upgraded from a Hitachi slider to a used Kapex. I simply couldn't keep the Hitachi dialed in - the fence kept slipping for some reason. The Festool is dead on every time, all the time. Curiously, it seems slightly underpowered so I have to be patient, but I'm happy with the change. When 89.9 degrees isn't good enough, I think Festool is better.

[Matt Meiser]

I upgraded from a well-rated Makita 12" slider to the Kapex last year. Some points

The smaller blade has less runout. That would be true comparing any good 12" and 10" saws.
The Kapex is easier to precisely set compared to the Makita.
The angle finder that comes with the Kapex is really cool. You can buy it separate.
The laser on the Kapex is way more useful. I never could get the Makita laser just right and the lines are finer on the Kapex and on both sides of the blade.
The Kapex uses an uniquely-sized blade. There are good 3rd party blades out there though. I'm running an Oshlun on mine right now.
The Kapex is compact. I gained considerable space in my shop due to the fact it requires little space behind the saw and didn't need a big hood to capture the dust.
The Kapex needs a vac, not a dust collector based on comments from those who've tried. It doesn't need a Festool vac and there's a Ridgid hose that fits too. A short dedicated hose gives better results. I have half a Festool hose I bought of another Festool user who has the other half for his.
The Kapex is very carry-able compared to the Makita.
I have mine on a Dewalt stand--mounted very easily.
I made some nice wings that mount easily to the saw and are supported by the Dewalt. Best miter stop system I've ever had and easiest to make.

But the big thing...
I installed the crown in my kitchen with the Makita. The weather was turning so I had the saw set up in the garage. I had to use the leaf blower to clean up despite hooking a vac up. There was sawdust everywhere behind the saw.

I bought the Kapex before I installed the rest of the trim. Even colder so I was again set up in the garage. Same vac. Took me 30s to clean up the mess under the saw when I was done.

[Andy Pratt]

In my reading of reviews and my experience the makita saws are the only ones other than festool where the laser is reliable across all depths of cut/thickness of stock. Some saws design the laser as part of the saw, some put it on as an add-on. All the "add-on" varieties (most brands) are pretty inferior and not reliable for trim/cabinet work (these saws give lasers their bad name). I find the makita laser to be dead on (1/64th or better, one side of cut) and useful enough to be a dealbreaker consideration for any say without it, and would recommend a makita as a comparable solution to the kapex.

Of course the kapex has more features but I have heard enough gripes about it to make me opt for the makita over it. I am picky about tools but don't want to pay 2.5x the going price and be unhappy with a bunch of little annoyances, I would rather pay 1x the going rate for some similiar annoyances. I own festool tools but only buy them when they are the "nearly perfect" tool in class. In the chop saw category festool still has some work to do and I will wait for some of the kapex issues to be resolved before considering it, I feel like there are better options out there right now, given the high price of the kapex vs its competition.

[jim gossage]

I recently bought a kapex and was also considering the bosch glider. I went with the kapex because it has the smallest footprint and that was a critical concern for me. I agree with almost all of the points raised by Matt Meiser. The saw was very accurate out of the box but not perfect. Bevel was perfect by miter was very slightly off, perhaps 0.1 degree, but enough that picture frame miters did not quite close. Dust collection is very good. Surprisingly, the table surface was not flat - off by 1/32 inch. So far it doesn't seem to be a problem, but only time will tell. My biggest gripe is the price. It probably is the best overall saw out there, but it is at best 20% better than the other top saws, like bosch. It really irks me that Festool charges twice as much for a mildly better product. I think they are a little on the greedy side. Also, the blades are a total rip off at about $180. The stock blade is just ok. I am delighted to hear that others make a blade that fits the saw.