Bosch 5412L 12-Inch Dual Bevel Slide Miter Saw with Laser Tracking
by Bosch
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List Price: Our Price: $589.99 You Save: $818.01 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Bosch 5412L 12-Inch Dual Bevel Slide Miter Saw with Laser Tracking
Customer Review: Powerful high quality saw; read the manual & set it up properly
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a powerful, versatile, well-designed saw. It's expensive and you will not get the most from it unless you read the manual before you use it and follow the set-up instructions. If you've never used a sliding compund miter saw you definitely need to read the instruction.
The major advantage vs. similar saws from Makita, Hitachi etc. is that the lever for releasing the bevel is up front on the same handle as the release for the miter angle. The levers and controls feel very solid and they're straightforward to use. (Ridgid makes a 12" saw with similar controls.) The Bosch comes with an arbor laser to the keft side of the blade that some people will like and some won't. It puts a thin red line just to the left of a .4 mm pencil line. To save on battery power, it doesn't come on until the saw is running and you don't see it on the board until you've pulled the saw down almost to where it starts to cut. If you don't like it, you can easily take it off.
The handle can be set to any of four positions including two that will make lefthanders happy. The blade slides easily on parallel bars and it's nicely spring loaded so it's not too hard to pull it down and not too easy. It feels well balanced to me, and I'm short, 140 pounds and eligible for Social Security. There's no side-to-side deflection even when it's fully extended. The fences have removable sliding top sections that help if you're cutting crown molding. (If you slide the top sections all the way in toward the blade, you can probably set a combination of bevel and miter that would bring the saw blade into contact with the fence, so leave the siding sections positioned away from the center line.)
It comes with a pretty good 60-tooth ATB crosscut Bosch blade that's OK for framing, but you probably should buy a good 80-tooth or 96-tooth blade for finish work or fine carpentry. Remember you need a blade with a 1" arbor. Amazon sells an 80-tooth Forrest Chopmaster that works very well. The saw also comes with an absolutely useless dust collection bag. Dust collection from a miter saw is difficult anyway, but the bag Bosch supplies is made of a coarsely woven burlap-like material. It's so porous that the little sawdust it does collect blows through the fabric. Removing the bag and connecting a vacuum to the port on the back helps a little, but even then at least half the sawdust ends up on the ground.
A 12" saw is a step up from a 10" in terms of the height it can cut, but that blade is *big*. Despite the guard, the back 2/3rds of the running blade is exposed as you pull it forward on the sliders, pull it down and push it ack to start the cut, so you really have to be aware of where your arm is - not just your fingers. The saw has two well-placed handles that help you pick it up properly, but it's heavy and big. Moving it is awkward. I leave my saw in my workshop on a rolling cart. If you're planning to haul it around to jobsites, consider getting a collapsible rolling miter saw stand - maybe a Delta 36-136. That way it's less likely to be knocked out of adjustment when it's being transported. (Most of the handful of negative reviews on Amazon are from contractors who may have thought they could just toss it in the back of a pickup or who may not have bothered to read the manual and set up the saw carefully.)
A side note: I bought a "factory reconditioned" version of this saw from CPO Tools, which is an Amazon partner. It arrived in perfect condition and I need only one adjustment to set it up. The arbor laser did not work and I emailed Bosch, which replaced it promptly without any questions. Separately, I had superb customer service from CPO Tools in connection with a return unrelated to this saw, so you can buy through them with confidence.
Customer Review: Dangerous hold-down clamp
Summary: 2 Stars
The saw is great but I ended up in the ER with 4 stitches to my finger, and a $1500 hospital bill, after getting it lacerated by the hold-down clamp. The exposed 90-degree edges on the hold-down clamp can give you a nasty laceration in normal use. I had gotten my hand pinched by this thing and I should have been suspicious. I was using the clamp on the left side position (I'm right-handed) and when it engages, the pressure you are applying suddenly reduces as the clamp engages, this caused my hand to slip off the handle and into the path of the mechanism of the clamp. All Bosch would have to do is round the edges of the metal bar assembly or put some kind of guard around it. I'm super careful around all my power tools and especially saws, but it didn't occur to me that the hold-down clamp would be the source of a serious injury. I could still work but my finger was sore for two weeks, and a hospital bill that cost more than two saws.Customer Review: Do not buy under any circumstance!!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
I have almost the exact same story as the previous review. I have been holding off on the review since I keep getting promises that are none other than lies. I have called Bosch with my complaints about the saw since I usually prefer to take it up with thee source of the problem. They keep saying it just a simple adjustment its the repair shops fault. I have brought it to two different repair shops and a total of seven times. I have owned the saw for a year and a half now. I cannot get it to accurately and it does what is called doglegging. Its like having a car that is way out of wheel alignment. You cant fix it. Bosch makes up stories because they dont know what to say when I tell them they should buy it back from me. The repair shop both have laughed about this saw. They say its one of the worst designs they have seen. They like the business but dont like working on it. Not only is it not user maintainable, but the shop has a hard time working on it. The problem I am talking about "doglegging" is not fixed by adjustment. Its fixed by engineering it correctly before its manufactured. Dont but this saw. Customer Review: great product
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband used to have a miter saw and when we had some renovations done to our house, the saw was stolen by the workers working on our house. We were looking for miter saws and comparison shopping and this one we found to be the best for the money. My husband loves it. It is a little bit better than the one he had but even with some of the extra features, he ended up spending about the same amount as when he originally bought his old saw many years ago. Great buy for the money. Thanks!Customer Review: Real nice saw!
Summary: 5 Stars
I gave this saw to my husband as a gift.He loved it! Cuts so smooth, and with such ease.Love the laser also.Also he likes the bigger 12 inch blade.Can't say enough about this saw.REALLY NICE!