Looking thru the catalog (www.northerntool.com) and saw a 10″ sliding miter saw w/laser for $129 w/ free shipping. Looks interesting! My thoughts are for that amount and considering the saw will only be used a dozen days a year, a buyer can’t go wrong. The concern is that the motor is only 10.8 amps. Comparatively, all other saws are 15 A.
I used a Northern sawsall that a friend of mine had purchased for $39 and it felt rugged, had a quick blade insert/release and the shape of the tool was more streamlined than the typical sawsall design. If he gets a year out of the tool he is ahead of the game.
My question is, “what effects will a 10.8 amp motor have on the saws ability to cut”? and “has anyone any experience with this company and its tools?
Replies
They started here (MN), and as far as their tools are concerned, I would say they are just a notch or so above Harbor Freight.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
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Use a thin kerf blade, and cut slowly. If the motor slows down, ease off. But for a miter saw, you're really not making extended cuts, so it will probably do just fine.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I don't know about that. Might be OK for chopping studs, but when it omes to work demanding accuracy, which is what it supposedly designed for, one also has to question how acccurate it can cut today and a year from now, and how hard it is to adjust if it goes off. Now my DW had soft arbor bearing that added some wobble after 4-5 years. I wouod expect a saw like this to have bushings instead of bearings and softer or cheaper metal than pro saws in the drive train, as well as windings that could overheat under steady use, not that a handy man or diy is likely to keep it hurning that much.Another concern is that gaurds on the erxpensive saws have come a long ways in the thirty years I have known them They used to be clunkyoperating, and hard to see through or around, so they got disabled. I would expect a cheaper saw to be a return tothose earlier days of chop saws.Not saying it is junk, but the over-riding advice in that part of the marketplace is always, "Let the buyer beware" and "You generally get what you pay for"
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
"You generally get what you pay for"
Agreed. But sometimes the harbort freight tools can be cost effective.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
all other things being equal, amperage is more a measure of a tool's efficiency than its power... A saw that needs 15A to do the same work as a saw using 10.5A, is less efficient and wasting energy.
Problem is, "all other things being equal" is nearly impossible to achieve, depending on the blade used, bushings/bearings, motor efficiency, etc. And some manufacturers rate their saws at 15A (even if in fact they use less amperage) because they know the customer will think "oh, well 15A must mean it's more powerful than 10A", when in fact that's not necessarily true...
And then the saw mfg is not spending 50 -100 bucks per saw on advertising.
Ozlander
I don't know if I agree with that or not.Here's where I'm coming from - I recall reading an article years ago when they were all rating their tools in HP. Remmeber how Sears would call some of theirs a 2HP when it had less power than a competing 1HP???
There was no standard for power delivered. The article used a lot of words that I don't recall to make a good case for amps being the closest accurate standard that could be used for power tools using wound armatures.
most manufacturers seem to have agreed by now, because they have all switched to that standard in rating the power of the tool.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
try this..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
interesting article - thanks...
so did that help or are you confused as ever???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I openned it quixk this AM while dressing to leave, so have not read it yet. I saved it for later
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You're right about HP also not being an accurate way to judge a tool's "power". My point is only that an amp rating can be misleading, too...I've seen the Makita 5740NB (rated at 10.5A) absolutely embarrass a Porter-Cable 347 (rated at 15A) in a stall test. (Unfortunately, this was just AFTER I had purchased a 347 of my own... :-(The way it was explained to me, the amp rating is (or should be, notwithstanding creative marketing departments) a measure of the amps drawn when the saw is under X load. X is supposed to be standard across manufacturers. SO, two saws, one rated at 15a and one rated at 10, can theoretically do the same amount of work, but the one rated at 10a is doing it more efficiently, losing less energy on heat, friction, imperfectly-balanced motor shafts, etc., and theoretically extending the life of the tool.
Edited 11/6/2006 2:12 pm by torn