|
4) Reliability: has worked for 25-50 hours of cutting without fail. Overall, it gets 4 stars rather than 5 from me only because of the very minor offset issue. 2) Visibility of laser line: very good. I suspect it would be fine in reasonably bright sunlight, but have not tested this. There is no physical reason it couldn't point directly to the middle of the actual kerf, but this doesn't particularly bother me since it is completely reproducible over many successive cuts. What I have to say is mostly redundant with other reviews, but there is strength in numbers so I'm writing anyway:1) Installation: dead simple on my DeWalt 713 10" saw.
All that's involved is removing the bolt, inserting the laser between bolt head and blade, then retightening. I have used this only in my basement under strong fluorescent lighting, where it is more than adequate and has a width less than a mechanical pencil line. The bottom line is that, if you can accurately mark a piece of stock, you can accurately cut it with this guide. Whether this is due to distortion of the case at installation (as suggested by others) or something else, I cannot say. The saw's original arbor bolt is plenty long and there is more than adequate clearance from the blade guard. 3) Accuracy and reproducibility: very good.
A nice, simple product that works reproducibly well. As noted by some reviewers, the laser line as installed shines roughly a kerf to the left of where the blade actually cuts.
Just bought a new laser guided miter saw. Simple to install (although none of the supplied screws would fit my saw-fortunately the existing screw worked) it simply does the job. After two uses the laser burned out (bummer). Enter the Erwin Laser guide.
Now, I just line up the line with the laser, and its on the money every time. Its great. It's only fair to help others as they had helped me. Overall, its worth the $20. ( Bosch, Dewalt, etc). As far as performance goes.
It saves me the trouble of having to bring the blade down to the wood, and having to always cut my piece just a hair bigger to play it safe. But, it did fit fine. You get this nice little zip up case that it comes in, along with 3 different threaded bolts. Now that the laser is in the miter saw, the case really has no purpose. I'm not sure if anyone else had this problem. I got lucky, and the bolt from my craftsman was long enough.
***NEGATIVE THOUGHTS:I'm not sure if its my saw (which Im sure it is) but as the laser turns on when I start the saw, and I bring the saw down to cut, the laser moves about a mm to the left as I come down. To start out, this was very simple to install. Having to deal with bringing the blade down almost all of the way every time because of the slight misalignment of the laser isn't that big of a deal. Ive used it for the first day now; I cut several pieces of wood and its perfect. Not only does it help make perfect cuts, it saves a little extra time too. If your a perfectionist like me, you will definitely want this laser. So, I really have to start the saw, bring the blade down almost all of the way, then line up my cut. I don't want to have to send something back that sucks, who does.
I have a craftsman, and craftsman was not on the list. I never leave feedback on anything I buy, even though its a must for me before I purchase. The bolts are there just in case your original bolt on your miter ends up being too short after you install the laser. I don't know what, but it is one of those things where one day you'll need it for something random. I wish I could find a use for that zip up case it came with, its a decent little case that would be useful for something. Other than that, no other complaints.
I was a little worried at first because on the package it came in, they state which brands it will work for. I'm not sure about other miter's, but mine is mounted on the left of the blade, so when I align the laser perfectly on the cut line, the blade cuts just to the right. Some people don't care about compensating for the width of the blade, but a lot do and its worth it. Id rather it do that than cut RIGHT on the line.
I have a radial arm saw and let's just say that one has to be diligent about checking alignment. Highly recommended if you have a radial arm saw. This laser guide makes this extremely quick, accurate and easy.
I owned two miter saws with lasers, A 10" slide hitachi and a makita and both suffered from this. I read some bad reviews where the reviewer complains that the laser is offset, but Irwin is upfront with that. This laser performs exactly as advertised, and for the price you can't beat it. Plus the laser is on the side of the blade, common sense tells you, you can not bend the laser around to the front blade. Other add on lasers or built in lasers that sit behind the blade constantly need to be adjusted, every time you move the saw or even from the vibration of constant use. The stair case was existing and the skirt board was not square to the stringers, this little $20 laser let me set my scribe angle and saved me a ton of test cuts. The real benefit of this laser is setting angles, since you can not adjust it, it is always dead on.
The real benefit of this laser is that it does not need to be and can not be adjusted. Sure you could dial them in to cut dead on but most finish carpenters prefer to walk a piece in. Light does not bend. I recently used it cross cutting pre-finished stair treads.
|
May be eligible for FREE Shipping offer
