Harbor Freight Miter Saw

[Andrew Kertesz]

Is there anybody that has and uses the HF miter saw? I know you have to be careful with HF tools but am looking for opinions from actual users of this saw. Thanks...

[Ted Reischl]

I am not a fan of HF tools. I have purchased them when I am doing something that I know I will never need the tool again. Then I got smart about that. If I need a specialty tool, I go ahead and buy a good one. At the end of the project I can then decide if I want to keep it or sell it. Either way I get to use a good tool.

Quality endures, low price is forgotten very quickly.

[cody michael]

I have bought a few things from HF that were great values (I have there delta clone lathe) I haven't looked at there miter saws, but I have looked at sliding miters saws and they had way to much slop for me, I have a miter saw I bought from home depot about 10 years ago that was a very cheap one like 60$ that my dad still uses, works good. I would go look at it and see how much slop there is. also you should think about what you want to do with it...

[Phil Barrett]

Piling on... I would first look at used miter saws. Lots of them come up on CL. While the prices are all over the place, they do seem to average the typical used tool pricing of 50% of new. The good thing about used tools, you can inspect closely and reject those that have excessive slop.

[John Schweikert]

Hitachi makes good lower priced miter saws at less than $140 from Amazon. I think better money spent that way then a HF saw.

[Rick Potter]

I bought an abrasive chop saw for metal from them several years back. I turned it on to run in the brushes, and it sounded like they had used gravel for bearings. Took it back and bought a Makita.

From what I understand, it's hit and miss. One saw may be lousy, and the next OK. I would only consider them for construction use, where accuracy is not so important.

[steven c newman]

Seems like anytime one mentions "Harbor Freight" there seemsto be a bunch "pile on" and decry the price, saying one should go out and buy "Brand X" or something like that.

Have had a Harbor Freight 5 speed drill press for almost 4 years now. Just used it about five minutes ago, too. Benchtop model, $70. About ALL i NEED for MY shop.

A Windsor #33 hand plane @$10 or so, hungry size #3 scrub plane. No issues with it at all.

Angle grinders, and that multi tool thing.....VERY good deals.

Have yet to look at the mitresaws, as I have a 1950s Sears Craftsman 22" long Mitre box. IF you do go there ( Place a paper bag over your head, so these others can't see you) ask to plug one in, try it out, test for slop. Then open the box they give you, and do it all again.

Seen too many jump on a H-F discussion that NEVER even went to that store.........

[Garth Almgren]

I think it's just a good idea to not have very high expectations for HF tools, that way if they do fail you're not disappointed, and if they don't fail you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I've got several tools from HF that I have been very happy with. An angle grinder, floor jack, a blowtorch, various small hand tools, some air tools, and all of them have done what I needed them to do. It's the best place to get Accu-link belts - they sell a 5' package for the same price as others charge for 4'. They also had some Goodyear rubber air hoses that were excellent quality.

It's true that sometimes you get some products that were just pure junk right out of the box, but thankfully they have a fairly generous return policy (It helps to live near one of their brick & mortar stores).

[Jim Matthews]

My mentor makes fine furniture for a growing list of satisfied customers.

His shop is increasingly populated by Harbor freight tools.
I can't fault the results he gets.

It is important to note that he has replaced nearly every cutter on those tools,
as the stock blades and router bits were uneven in finish quality.

Nothing wrong with the motors, switches or arbors on any of them.

Can't argue with the price, either.
Considering most of the "name brand" tools are likely coming out
of the same factories, I can't justify paying more for prettier boxes.

[Bill Space]

[QUOTE= I know you have to be careful with HF tools but am looking for opinions from actual users of this saw.Thanks...[/QUOTE]

Hi,

My son in law has a 10" HF miter saw that belongs to his father and both of them have been happy with it. I used it with him when we put a new kitchen in their house and it was satisfactory. Cut the angles on the crown molding just fine. Not a high quality tool by any means but seems to follow the 80/20 rule... 80% of the performance for 20% of the cost. Maybe even a bit better than 80%?

I was impressed enough to buy one for myself, as it is not something I will use every day and I feel The bang for the buck is pretty high.

Now I will confess that I have a number of Grizzly tools and am happy with them. I do not have any high end tools. Just so you know where I am coming from.

If you have not gotten used to using a higher quality saw I bet you will be happy with the HF miter saw, unless you are unlucky enough to get one that burns up just after the short warranty runs out!

A Kia is not a Mercedes but both will get you to the supermarket just fine...

Bill

[David Delo]

I have the HF 12" slider that I bought 3 or 4 years ago. Put a good Freud blade on it along with a zero clearance insert and it works fine. Took a little tweaking out of the box but it's dead nuts accurate. Don't use it that much but sometimes it's the only tool that will do the job. I'm in a basement shop and have pretty good dust collection for everything else but I just don't have the room to dedicate a good DC set-up for the mitre saw, so I just take it outside when needed. But everyone's needs are different. If I needed a mitre saw for continuous everyday use that my livelihood depended on sure I'd buy a bigger name saw. Good luck with your decision.

[Pinwu Xu]

From what I understand, it's hit and miss. One saw may be lousy, and the next OK. I would only consider them for construction use, where accuracy is not so important.

For construction/framing, building a deck, should be a yes
For trim or anything more accuracy is needed, I'll look used first

[Charles Li]

For tools manufactured in China I'm not convinced name brand one's made in China are always better (or even different). If the features fit your needs you have 90 days to try it out - http://www.harborfreight.com/custome...-exchange.html . I've never returned a used item there so can't vouch for how easy that is but that's their policy. Used tools have their risks too. I've been burned (though mostly my fault) before and now just more patient and cautious about it. New has the advantage of returns and warranty. I'm a newbie on a budget and do both.

Regarding miter saws, definitely consider your needs. I got a used 10" and question if it was worth it for me. It was great for a 2x4 project but only did a two of those. It can't cut a 2x6 which I didn't realize until well... I tried to lol. Anything small I just do on my crosscut sled. I guess a slider would be cool but those take up a lot of space. At least it was cheap!

[john davey]

Do a Google search on harbor freight Gems. There are several forums (probably this one as well) that maintain lists of the things that are actually a deal there. Not sure if this is on it or not. My gut usually says stay away from things with motors at HF but YMMV. there are many deals there for the homeowner/handyman. I just do not believe anything electric in there will stand up to daily abuse/work. I do own the 1x30 belt sander form there after many Google searches on knife making. I knew what I was getting into, what would break (it did) and what I could expect out of it. I am getting that and at the price I am happy. So to me it is all about how often and what your expectations are. I guess this could and should be said for any tool....

[Phil Barrett]

I too shy away from HF motors. My last HF compressor (last in a line of serial returns) shot 12" sparks out of the motor coils. That's when I decided to look elsewhere. Anecdote? Yes. But also a pretty extreme failure.

Also, I agree that name brands don't mean that much but a good company will be very active in the QA process and will make good on their promises. Look at Grizzly vs Delta. Griz makes it right, Delta aspires to HF level quality. I'm sure Delta has better profitability than Griz but I won't be buying Delta products any time soon.