Please help me to choose between Dewalt DWS780 and Bosch GCM 12 GDL mitre saw

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by Alan Fox, Nov 30, 2021.

  1. Alan Fox

    Alan Fox New Member

    Hello,

    I am struggling to choose between the Dewalt DWS780 and Bosch GCM 12 GDL mitre saw. I would really appreciate your opinion and suggestion regarding these two mitre saws. I am looking for a versatile saw that can be used in both the workshop and the jobsites. Please let me know your experiences and recommendation!
     
  2. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    Are they for you and are you going to be using them in a trade environment/capacity, or once in a blue moon?
     
  3. Mr Rusty

    Mr Rusty Screwfix Select

    I see that bosch is 32kg! are you sure you need the capacity? I have a GCM8 that is under 20kg and even that's not that convenient to lug about.
     
  4. Alan Fox

    Alan Fox New Member

    For now the saw is going to be used in the job sites. Weight is not an issue. I just want something that can be versatile and long lasting, along with providing more accurate cuts.
     
  5. DaveF

    DaveF Active Member

    I have not owned a Bosch.
    I can tell you though that DeWalt tend to be very worksite oriented. They are tanks. Very sturdy dependable machines that are accurate out of the box ( unlike Makita ), Not as refined as a Festool. In my humble opinion they are perfect for First Fix whereas I would buy a Festool for Second Fix. Makita are fine but very large and usually need setting up. They are also not quite as accurate as a DeWalt even when setup ( not as repeatable ). In general Bosch are underrated. I have not owned a Bosch mitre saw but I would suspect they are very good indeed. Often Bosch are on a par with DeWalt but people seem to prefer yellow! Bosch can usually be found at better prices.
     
  6. Kitfit

    Kitfit Member

    Never used that Bosch but i've owned the 780 for years.
    It's as accurate and sturdy .
    Bloody heavy though.
     
  7. woodbutcherbower

    woodbutcherbower Screwfix Select

    As above in every respect. As also previously mentioned by DaveF, they’re built like battleships, practically indestructible and super-reliable. If anything ever fails (not that it’s ever happened to me) every part - down to the tiniest screw - is available overnight from a variety of suppliers. The saw’s also fully adjustable for those times when it’s been bashed about and knocked slightly out of square. It’s capable of doing everything from crosscutting railway sleepers through to delicately dissecting superfine mouldings with the 96-tooth Freud blade.

    Downsides - bone-crunchingly heavy, you really need the DE7023 stand to get the best out of it especially if you’re cutting 4.8m or 5.4m stock, plus the dust extraction is absolutely hopeless, even when hooked up to a proper Festool extractor running at maximum speed with a 36mm hose.

    Other than that - a total workhorse. I love mine.
     
  8. Kitfit

    Kitfit Member

    Indeed.
    The stand is a must
    I bought mine along with the saw.
     
  9. kitfit1

    kitfit1 Screwfix Select

    The thing about choosing a mitre saw is partly use, and to a much larger extent what is available when your thinking of buying. In my entire working life, so far, i have ever only owned 3 mitre saws. The current one for the last 6 years or so, the previous one for about 15 years and the first up until the second :D
    They all shared things in common, that is they were bought because the market i work in changed. That is, I needed a bigger saw each time. My current saw, a 305mm Makita was needed when i bought it because at the time, cornices were getting bigger in kitchens. They have now dropped to nearly non existant.
    One thing though that i have learnt over the years, bigger is always better when it comes to chop saws. If when i first started fitting kitchens a 305mm saw was even made, i would have bought it. And also as a lover of latest tech i would if looking for a chop saw now, i would buy an Axial glide over a slide any day.
    All of the major 3 make Axial glides, Bosh, DeWalt and Makita................look at the Axial glides rather than any slide saw. There is another thing as well which was mentioned by @woodbutcherbower, they are are all really bad for extraction. I'm sort of guessing here, but to me the Axial glides look as if they have much better dust extraction.
     
  10. woodbutcherbower

    woodbutcherbower Screwfix Select

    Pretty much the same story to tell, @kitfit1. My saw also got bigger once I started cutting lumps of 8" x 4" green oak alarmingly regularly. I only haul the big fella onto jobs when I absolutely have to these days because of the weight - I bought a little 190mm Makita LS0714 for 2nd fix, pelmets, cornices, cutting plinths to length etc. - it's a really beautiful, super-accurate, well-engineered little saw which weighs next to nothing. Ridiculous crosscut capacity for its size, too. Thanks to DeWalt's genius decision to make the saw clamps from their stand available separately, I fitted a pair of those so it also sits nicely on the DE7023 stand. The only saw I've ever tried which had above-average extraction was the Kapex - and even that wasn't brilliant TBH.

    BTW - completed 60 x 10mm passes in the walnut top with one edge of the Roto-tip before it started becoming hard work and setting the timber on fire :):):) I'd honestly never have believed it.
     
  11. kitfit1

    kitfit1 Screwfix Select

    Glad you are finding the same that i have with the Roto-Tip @woodbutcherbower.
    I have mentioned these many a time on the forum over the years but i'm shure many people think, yeah, yeah, yeah and then carry on using £8 twin fluted blades. Not only are they a waste of money, they are a waste of resources in a world that should be looking to save resources.
     

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