Tools, Sharpening and Power Machinery - Miter Saw advice

I am going to buy a compound miter saw soon, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. The catch is that I really am not going to use it all that much. We're talking maybe 20 cuts a month or something. I don't want to spend any more than $150 on this thing. I know that dewalt, makita and others will last much longer, but I am simply not interested in that. All I want is a quality cut, and a machine that will last a couple of years at least. I'd love to hear some suggestions.

:) I love my Delta 10" compound miter saw. It built a house last year and is built well enough (aluminum base) to be very accurate but light enough to take to job sites. I do occasional moulding work, have done crown moulding and use it for doing dimensional lumber end cuts instead of the skillsaw (it gives a true 90 deg. cut). It will cut a 4 by 4" , for 2 by 12", I cut 1 side and turn it over to finish. I paid $99 brand new @ local builders store. My friends makita weighs a ton carrying it around with its cast iron base.

I'm no pro, but I'm very happy with the 10" Hitachi C10FCB compound miter I picked up a couple of years ago. It's relatively light weight, seems accurate and easy to use. I believe I paid about $150 for it, I see Amazon now has it for $155.

Check at your local Home Depot for the Ryobi saw. They're in your price range and should work fine for the amount of use you describe.

There will probably be a few posts describing Ryobi as junk but my own experience is that they're very good for the casual DIY'er.

Whatever saw you buy, spend the time to get it set up correctly. In many cases, poorly fitting miters are caused by a bad saw setup.

I second ryobi

I see lots of ryobi's on jobsites so they are not just for the DIY crowd

Very true, mango man. I have several Ryobi tools in my shop and they've never given me any problems. Quite frankly, they're inexpensive enough that I can just replace one rather than go thru the hassle of getting it fixed.

While I'm in the confessional mode, I'll also admit to having several Craftsman tools (including a 20 yr old table saw). Some of them are 30 yrs old and still going strong. - :D

Delta MS250. The hardware store i work at sells them for $88 and they're worth atleast double that. I use mine constantly and have never had a problem with it. Another good thing, i rarely see customers ever return them. If you're doing moulding work, i'd buy a finer tooth blade though.

If you're doing molding work, you don't just need a finer tooth, - you should try a negative hook blade. ( the teeth are set slightly back, so no rip out). I've used various neg. hook blades on my Elu 8 1/4 for years, cuts like a knife thru' butter :) I'm currently using a Freud 60 carbide tooth neg. hook. I love it