Milwaukee - 6955-20 12-in. Sliding Compound-Miter Saw

posted by: elss
1/17/2013

I bought this saw specifically for the digtal readout and the Milwaukee name to use for trimming houses.After about 3 weeks use my employee tightened the lock knob too much and broke the small lock block. Although still under warranty I live in a small Northern Ontario community so ordered lock block to fix myself. It took 10 weeks to arrive (parts apparently came from Mississipi and I get stuff from China in 2 days),had to remove digital potentiameter to replace, when replaced the readout didnt work. after much back and forth with company sent saw to dealer, they couldnt fix which took another 10 weeks, sent saw to Milwaukee in Toronto, fixed and sent up but took another 10 weeks, and now slide is sticking badly. The gears are all small and plastic - when the digital readout screws up again will use saw without it just as use my Dewalt now that I had to buy while waiting for repairs.- Will never buy Milwaukee esp saws again.

posted by: michlk
2/23/2011

wow, i so do not like this saw. depth stop has play, be careful doing dadoes. the lights are horrible, i mean they work but not great. my angle finder doesn't. sometimes it is 3-4 degrees out from what the manual indicator reads, move it around and back again then it is 2 or 1 and then sometimes perfect. don't know how it works, maybe not so great in the cold. anyway, for finishing i don't trust the auto lcd angle. at all. the lock for the slide mechanism is so close to the mount that good luck if you got gloves or big hands. the blade guard is clear plastic that you can't see through well because of refraction/warping/distortion, and because there are no slits you have to lift the blade cover to sight down the line. you have to do this EVERYTIME you want an accurate cut if your pencil mark is on the back edge of stock because they have limited the slide travel so the saw doesn't take up as much room as other sliders, but as the stock gets thicker this means the blade gets further from that back edge. i would take a saw that uses more room any day for the ability to cut with more accuracy and efficiency. doing this is a huge waste of your time. i want a hold down too. the right side fence doesn't slide. i have found out this is because of a patent issue. you can't turn off the lcd display. it is ALWAYS on if it is plugged in. so don't leave plugged in over night, or your lcd will probably have early burnout. no vacuum attachment. do i need to go on. i also have the `12 inch ridgid and a 10 in makita. sure they arent perfect either, but for the money are way better value. yeah the ridgid takes up room and is heavy, but i get way better accuracy. makes so much difference to have that blades travel all the way back to thicker stocks for the pre cut alignment. i do a lot of finishing, but maybe this saw would be great for framing, but i certainly wouldn't get it again. i just don't see what all the great reviews are all about. they really must have been using crap saws before trying this one. it has potential, but ain't there yet. does collect dust better, but who cares i mean if you really want to collect dust use a vacuum with your saws. oh wait a minute, this saw doesn't have one. so i guess over all, it's dust collection sucks. yes, i'm bitter.

posted by: WestVancouver
10/11/2010

Great saw! That being said, I agree with al the previous reviewers that the issues that should be addressed are: 1. Fix the right fence so it slides like the left fence. 2. No vac attachment? What's up? 3. No hold-down clamps (but there's a spot for aftermarket Dewalt / Bosch ones), and no crown stops (and no place for them) mean that you have to fiddle around with outrigger jigs when cutting large complicated crowns. 4. The design of the rollers on the accessory bench was done by an 8-year old - come on Milwaukee engineers - you can do a lot better than that. 5. An aftermarket blade (I use the Forrest Chopmaster) makes all the difference and bumped my rating up to five stars. 6. Why not put in a digital readout for the bevel guide at the back - the front one is perfect and two might give unsurpassed accuracy! I think the industrial designers and engineers could make the next version of this saw just about perfect because they came really close with this one - and a retrofit kit for existing owners would smooth out some of these imperfections.

posted by: urbancarpenter
4/18/2010

I just bought the Milwaukee 12”one of these and the Dewalt 718. Milwaukee ~I@ 67lbs it’s little too heavy to move on daily bases or from job to job. ~Cut angles are digital read out are great. ~Light ? Why bother it sucks. For $700+ why couldn’t they add a led like Dewalt. ~3/major strikes for me is the size, weight and light. ~Overall if you more stationary the we are it’s excellent. Super smooth, excellent duct collection and the bigger bag goes a long way. I might just keep it in my garage which we are taking on a few custom wood projects. Bought a refurb @ $449 at cpo Dewalt 718 ~Same cut and angle as the Milwaukee. ~Much better fence system. ~super compact. ~It came with trim clamp ~Dust collections is a mess. They really need to step it up! ~Led (dws7085) hardwire accessory is excellent, even better then laser. ~@ 52lbs it’s great to move around like we do. Bought a refurb @ $550 at cpo. Good Luck!

posted by: Mycroft
12/28/2009

A leap ahead in adjustability with the "to the degree" adjustment. However torque from starting and stopping causes saw to jump or lunge. It also has a small amount of sideways flex when light sideways pressure is applied to head. All that said, its the best saw I've used. Mine came with a stand which is also excellent.

posted by: Gelvis
12/6/2009

I haven't used it very long but so far I am very impressed. It is heavy. Once set, it doesn't move. The Milwaukee stand was included when I purchased it and it is also heavy. The stand works fairly well but when tightened the rollers deflect out of level with the saw. Plastic trim pieces of the stand are loose and prone to falling out. When rolling the saw and stand on uneven ground it is very top heavy and prone to tip over. So only combine them for smooth rolling indoors. Bottom line the saw has no flaws the stand is worth what I paid for it. As far as the fence goes, it is difficult if not impossible to compound mitre with the extensions attached. Probably just as well as I have never worked with a Dewalt that didn't have at least one saw kerf in the fence.

posted by: Judacator
11/28/2009

Excellent saw I am glad Milwakee came out with this dust eating wood choping saw it has all the things you need and then some, when millwakee added lights to its saw that eluminate the work area is excellent and the digital degree is perfect for those exact cuts. It also is a heavy say but if you have a lorge stand or a table to put it on it will work great, also the electronicaly controlled motor makes very nice cuts and this saw also comes with a high quality carbide blade from millwakee.

posted by: 14right
11/28/2009

This is my third sliding compound-miter saw and of all the tools I have purchased in the last few years I must say this on is the best. My other saws are a 10-inch Makita and a 10-inch Delta both of which I was happy with but I suddenly needed a bigger saw. After buying the Milwaukee I find the only time one of the others comes out is when we need an additional saw. I use this saw for rough carpentry as well and fine finish work. The saw is extremely accurate and makes repeatable cuts with great accuracy and I find the tenths of degree readout both accurate and helpful. As previously stated the head deflection is almost nonexistent and much better than my other saws. As for the right fence not sliding I find that not to be much of an issue however I would have liked them to include a hold down clamp and a vacuum adapter for dust removal which are the only negatives I have found.. The movement of the saw is smooth and easy and every thing shows a lot of attention to detail. The included blade cuts smooth and I am no used to the soft start motor. As for the price I paid less than $500 and got a Rigid saw stand free, which is great since usually I can wheel the saw from place to place rather than lugging the very heavy saw around.

posted by: Scott4M
11/6/2009

I haven't used it long but so far I am very impressed compared to others I have used. Easy adjustments. No deflection of the head even at full extension. Very good capacity. Also everything moves smoothly and locks positively. Plenty of power for any type of cut. I think I will be happy with this for years to come. As others have noted the right fence doesn't slide but it is the same type of extrusion and mounting as the left and it looks like it could easily be converted to sliding but it will still need to be removed for certain bevels cuts.