Orange Rules

I am still trying to figure out which sliding compound miter saw is best.

Looks like 12″ is the way to go. They cut bigger stuff, which is meaningful if you’re hoping the miter saw will routinely allow you to avoid setting up your table saw.

A recent review puts Makita on top. Bosch came in second because they don’t cut accurately. Geez. That’s a deal-breaker. For me, a lot of the fun of a miter saw is making super-accurate cuts. Ridgid also did very well. The big problem with the Ridgid saw is that it tends to come open when you carry it. Do I intend to carry it? NO. The Makita saw looks like a great item, but it has a limited range of movement, which is a bummer. And my existing Ridgid tools are great, and they have that insane lifetime warranty. And the Ridgid is cheaper by far than Makita and Bosch. Let’s face it. If I get a saw, it will be a Ridgid.

Here’s some news for Bosch fans. A guy on Ebay has been listing the Bosch 5412L for $489 plus shipping. That’s over a hundred dollars lower than just about anyone. He lists the saws one at a time, and they get snapped up in a hurry, so if you search, you may not see them. The key to catching him is to search for his username, which is “mybumperpointswest.”

I don’t want a Bosch, but if you do, you will thank me for that information.

Here is the hard part of the deal. Would I be able to force myself to sell my precious 10″ Ridgid miter saw, which is in mint condition? I doubt I could get more than $75 for it. And as with all my pretty, shiny tools, I feel like it’s my baby. But clutter is bad.

Can’t I…can’t I just keep it for a while and see what happens? Wouldn’t that be okay? It wouldn’t take up much room. Honest, it wouldn’t.

I don’t think I can stand it.

Right now I have my miter saw set up on the Workmate. But if I wanted to be a real man, I would create a permanent station on the west wall of the garage, and I’d also mount my router there. I keep meaning to try to turn my old computer desk into a router table. If I could do that, maybe I could use half for the router and half for the miter saw. I don’t know if it’s true enough for a router table. It’s a thick MDF (I think) desk with a melamine top.

Here’s another strategy I might try: forget buying a new saw and go have pizza.

It has worked well for me in the past.

Question for the tool people: would I be insane to try to replace a sidewalk about 30″ wide and thirty feet long? I’m pretty sure I would have no problem creating the form. This would be to replace an old broken sidewalk which subsided and apparently snapped a waste pipe. I’m hoping that if I put in a better sidewalk with rebar or mesh it won’t crack or subside. Not sure how to prepare the dirt. Do I need some sort of giant vibrating machine to pack it down? The old sidewalk was apparently laid down with no preparation at all, over soft dirt. And no reinforcement.

I figure I’m looking at a little over 2 yards of concrete, so Sakrete is out of the question. Getting rid of the old sidewalk would not be fun. I’d have to find a way to break it in 2-foot-long chunks and cart them away on a handtruck.

Again, the pizza strategy looks viable.