Has anyone tried the new Delta 36-412 miter saw

[nick62]

Has anyone tried the new Delta 36-412 compound miter saw yet?
What did you think of it?

Will it really accept crown molding that is 7 3/8" wide in a nested postion?
Does it have a detent at 90 degrees?

[Ben Thayer]

I bought my saw from a local lumberyard for $389.

I haven't done any crown moulding with it yet so I'll can't answer that part of your inquiry.

What I can tell you is this is one awesome saw :D :

The front bevel lock is so much easier than reaching around the back of the 12' Dewalts that I had been using (especially when I already have a piece of wood on the table).

The flip up crown stops also help keep long sections of wide (8"+) stock square to the fence.

The miter locks with a 1/4 turn of the locking knob which encourages me to use it all the time.

It has 0, 33.9, and 45 degree bevel stops (not detents).

Two minor things in the minus column:

I haven't weighed the the saw, but it feels 10 lbs heavier than the Dewalt I'm used to. I suppose that's a good thing/bad thing :?

The bevel indicator has a small cutout"window" that fills up sawdust. I'll probably make a new one from flat spring steel when I finish my current project.


Fine Homebuilding has a review of CMS in the current issue, I bought my saw before read the review, they ranked Bosch, Delta, Dewalt as the top three.

[Rich]

Did they review the Milwaukee in that bunch? I think the Milwaukee gets missed out by all these reviews because they don't have a 12" yet. I personally shy away from the 12" saws because of the blade deflection I've seen in hardwoods. The Milwaukee has all the power I need and for large crown I cut it on the flat - it's much easier to keep consistent placement.
It used to be the only CMS/SCMS to buy was the Hitachi. Haven't seen much on them lately.

[nick62]

Ben is sounds like you really like the new Delta. I should have mine in a few days, but it looks great. They don't have them yet in any retail stores here in Southern Florida yet.
I was interested in your comment Ben that you tried crown, against the crown stops and that 8" + will fit. Is that correct? That was a big concern to me.

Does it come with hold down clamps and fences?

Do you think it is worth it to buy the table that goes with it?

[nick62]

Ben are you able to point me to the link for the review on the Delta 36-412. ?

Thanks
Ray

[Rich]

I was just looking for the review at www.taunton.com and of course they want you to buy their magazine so they only give a table of contents for the current issue.

[nick62]

Here is a response that I got directly from Delta, concerning what is the max you can put in the crown stops on this new saw. I'm not too sure how they get those figures??

"As far as the largest size crown you may cut, it is limited by the distance from the face of the stop to the fence. That dimension is 4 3/4". By trig tables, that gets you to 7 3/4". If that dimension is critical to you, take a piece of crown molding to the store and try it out as all crown as manufacturing variances. " Delta

[Ben Thayer]

I may have misspoke, I'm away from the saw for a few days but I'll check back with the max width inside the stops.

No clamps are included. The fences have large, spring loaded release paddles that allow each fence to slide =/- 5". The fences themselves have a good size flat that easily accomdate my large quick-clamps.

Buying the saw was an agonizing process, it can be a p i a sorting through bogus reviews, scrambled spec sheets , and finding a non-internet dealer who actually has one in stock.*

Let me explain what is overriding factor (for me) when deciding between tools of similar reputation/ capabilities/ quality: A feature is only a feature if it is easily acessed. If I need the dexterity of a dentist to adjust something, it better only need adjusting once or it goes down the road. If I have to remove or re-adjust a guard or fence to acess stated capacity you lost the sale.

Sidenote to tool dealers: When you say to me, "If you want one we can order it for you" I hear, " You might as well save yourself another trip, just order it on the 'net and have it delivered to your door"

I hope this helps

[nick62]

Thanks for the info Ben. Lowe's is suppose to be ordering it for me?? I have not had good luck with them so far for service. Then I will have to find out where to order hold down clamps. Do you think I should get 2?

I hope whoever at Delta, that wrote that response knows what they are talking about.

[Ben Thayer]

You hopefully have your saw by now....

My mistake, max between the crown stops is 4 3/4" by my tape. :oops:

There aren't any provisions (holes in the deck) for traditional hold downs. You can clamp a piece of 1x3 across the back of the fences that you can slip your stock under to hold it down. A better solution, IMHO is a good stand that supports the stock so it lays flat on the table.

In the past, I worked for others we would build work supports on site out of scrap. Now, I find myself working alone on generally small jobs, so I've been looking at miter stand/carts. The Delta looks nice with it's larger wheels that ought to make going up and down stairs (alone) a little easier but there are a lot of choices from $100 -300. I need to complete another job before I can seriously shop for a stand though.

[nick62]

Much to my disappointment, this saw advertises that it will take up to 7 3/4" crown, in a nested postion , against there new crown stops, but it will not.
I have 7 3/8" crown, and it will NOT sit properly on the base and against the fence has they advertise. It comes up a little bit shy.