Sidewinder

BrianFox

My trusty Bosch cs20 finally gave out today. With all the tool companies merging now I'm skeptical to grab a new one. Need to grab a new sidewinder and the jury is out on this one.
Would like your thoughts on this please....


*yes,I did a search on this

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Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
- Benjamin Franklin

essrmo

i find plenty of good used sidewinders at the flea market.
i look for the old craftsman units that aren't all beat to like the 77s out there.
usually about $20 for a decent one.

Inner10

I made that mistake onece, bearing or something was shot and it wouldn't cut a straight line to save its life.

I used the Dewalt, Milwaukee, and Hilti sidewinders and I liked the Millwaukee a little better. I ended up going with the Milwaukee Worm drive instead of adding to my collection of 3 sidewinders that I barely use anyways, but after ripping alot of boards through it there are a few things I hate: the long nose on the front is well.. too long, the wobbly guard gets caught everytime I go to shave a bit off or do a small angle cut and drives me bonkers. I do like the smoother action of the wormdrive, the left side blade (except for the chips in the face every-so-often), and the longer reach.

I think most of the big name companies its hard to go wrong with when it comes to a sidewinder.

BrianFox

Bought the $99 makita. All my other makita tools work well and always last long.

__________________
Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
- Benjamin Franklin

CookeCarpentry

You waste no time in deciding....under 2 hours.

Tom R

Seems like I've tried just about all of them through the years, - - I like Makita the best. Smooth, well-balanced, and has the best sight-window . . .

Tom Struble

i like the dewalt nice design and fairly light plus i prefer a brake as i use it on a siding cutting table also

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Tom

BrianFox

had to brother.
other saw crapped out mid cut.
where were you when i needed you?

__________________
Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
- Benjamin Franklin

CookeCarpentry

You can't use my stuff....I don't share well.

BrianFox

While packing up the jobsite today just kept hitting reload on the topic page waiting for a glimmer of hope....

__________________
Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
- Benjamin Franklin

CookeCarpentry

Unfortunately, I am not internet connected on the jobsite - I have a regular old cell phone - so 90s, I know...

BrianFox

actually yer better off.
im constantly wasting time on the site checking things out here.
always some drama to mentally attach to.

__________________
Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
- Benjamin Franklin

CookeCarpentry

That's kind of been my mentality - I already have enough to distract me

loneframer

You'll be happy with that saw, if it's anything like the older ones. It is a great ripping saw. We have one on site that only gets pulled out for rips.

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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Tom Struble

they seem to have a trigger switch problem

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Tom

Tinstaafl

Yeah, a couple of months ago mine developed that. It ran, but wouldn't shut off.

I'll tell you, that really torqued me. The saw's only 20 years old!

Ordered in a new switch, brushes and cord. That ought to do me until I'm ready to hang it up.

Tom Struble

my buddy pulled the trigger micro switch apart and cleaned the contacts that seemed to fix it

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Tom

Tinstaafl

Yes, cleaning the contacts often works for something like that--for a while. But honestly, I'd advise him to get a switch anyway, even if he doesn't put it in right away.

Over the course of 25+ years of electronics service work, that was the only sure way I found of not having the problem return at ever shorter intervals.

BrianFox

Good to know. Anything Makita I own has held up the test of time with no problems. My hypoid is 5 years old now and works like I bought it yesterday. So now Makita collection consists of: 10" sliding miter saw, impact driver and drill combo (not the black and white one) hypoid saw and now finally the sidewinder.

__________________
Happiness is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
- Benjamin Franklin

loneframer

We used the hypoids when they first came out. Very nice saws, but we seemed to have a knack for shearing off the arbor spindle. The saws had so much torque that if you bound the blade up really hard it was done. I know, the obvious answer is to not bind the blade.

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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