We recently posted about the new Porter Cable folding miter saw.
At the time, we had to use our imaginations to visualize what the saw might look like when fully folded and in its vertical dock.
Advertisement
Well, new images are out, and this is what it looks like when folded up and docked for storage.
While the saw has somewhat of a dash of “is this a gimmick?” flavor to it, with the laser guide not really helping, it must have taken some very clever design work and engineering co come up with this storage solution.
Putting a miter saw away for temporary or long-term storage isn’t easy. Even smaller ones take up quite a bit of space.
The more I see of the new Porter Cable folding miter saw, the more I find myself thinking it to be a saw I’d have considered buying.
My first compound miter saw was a Craftsman model, and it served me well for a few years. If this model was available back then, when I first bought the Craftsman, my purchase decision might have been different.
Advertisement
The current price is $179. It was on sale yesterday, and judging by how many units Lowes’ inventory check says is in stock locally, I’m guessing it’s going to be on the sales floor and discounted during the holiday season. I was at my local Lowes the other day, and didn’t see any saws on display, despite the report of 16 units available for purchase.
Buy Now(via Lowes)
Hilton
Now if only this was available in 220V, I’d ship one across the Atlantic tomorrow. Here the sliding compound mitre saws cost about $500-$1200
keith hudsom
just get a transformer i have brought back with me from the states lots of tools the price is right
Cr8on
It’s been in stock and on display for a few weeks at my local Lowe’s and has been on sale for $150 though no currently, there is also a (matching?) miter saw stand available but I can’t find it on the website.
JMG
While I find their fold up concept interesting, I am not impressed enough to want one in its current form. I also think they are still running behind the curve by targeting new developments on the corded platform. Years ago I sat in on one of their focus groups for a tool that they were developing, and I made a comment about how it would be a great item if it were cordless and that I thought it was great that they were willing to invest in new designs. The PC reps frowned a bit at the comment and pretty much ignored the cordless issue for the rest of their presentation, and another niche tool came and went. Barely a blip on the tool radar.
As a truly portable tool, this one would look more attractive without the tail attached to it.
Stuart
Assumption: My opinion is that this saw is aimed at DIYers primarily, and maybe value-minded pros as the secondary target.
How many Porter Cable 20V Max users are out there? Can the 20V Max battery pack even satisfyingly power a 10″ miter saw?
I think that when it comes down dollars and cents, Porter Cable is betting they can sell more corded saws than cordless ones.
I also think that the saw might be more appealing to DIYers in corded format, vs. cordless, based on cost and less hassle since there aren’t batteries or chargers to deal with.
When I bought my Craftsman miter saw years ago (it’s now in the hands of Habitat for Humanity), I would never have considered a cordless unit. I paid maybe $135, on sale, and the saw came with a multi-use trapezoidal-style work stand.
Back then, I had one brand of cordless power tools, and probably wouldn’t have been able to justify the expense for another.
JMG
While I have been at that point of being able to (or not) afford higher value tools, I have also pursued cordless tools from the first time I saw one, regardless of expense or target market. I believe it was either a Makita 7.2 volt drill or a Milwaukee screwdriver at that time. The Makita was sold at a DIY home center. The batteries were horrible, but I still preferred a cordless solution. I bought the first Makita 6 1/2″ cordless miter that I ran into (18v NiCad), and then the Bosch 24v ten inch miter saw as soon as it showed up. The NiCad batteries did not last, but again, I still preferred not having to deal with the cord when on job sites that always had suspect power anyways. The Bosch has been since proven to be able to run on a Makita 18v LXT battery (somewhat), and someday when I get the time I will probably test mine in that fashion as the Bosch batteries are long since dead and gone. The Bosch miter saw was sub $200 when it was originally introduced as a kit.
My brother is one of those semi-pro DIY types, and he always chases the cheap alternative to a higher value item, and would buy the PC brand or Kobalt over the other major brands targeted at a higher tier workforce. He also chooses cordless over the cord whenever possible.
My opinion is just that the corded “portable” tool market is a shrinking one, as the battery tech improves, and that companies who focus innovation and R&D funding on that shrinking area, are not maximizing their future bottom line. I do not have access to the sales information though, and it is just my opinion, biased by many decades of being annoyed by cords and having had to carry as much as five hundred feet of extension to any given installation.
fred
We sort of tried to let the tools fit the job. We won a big contract to supply and install the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and trim in an apartment tower with over 600 units. We set up a pair of Unisaws plus several corded mitersaws and jobsite saws at different levels in the towers. On smaller sites and residential work – 100% cordless might well be better.
I agree with you that cordless is the expanding market and that corded (or hose-connected) tools are becoming a shrinking share of the market. But lots of tools seem to be developed with a “get in – make your profit – then get out” philosophy rather than “let’s develop something that will be come our flagship for the next 10-15 years”. Gone are the days when Porter Cable just kept tweaking and selling tools like their 500 series (locomotive style) belt sanders.
max
I definitely like the idea of this. I have a miter saw that gets used rarely, but I really like it when I do use it.
I would in no way consider getting a cordless version, but I will likely buy this corded one. It has a much smaller footprint than my current one.
For something that I use very infrequently, but gets a lot of use when I do us eit, I would not want to rely on batteries.
Tom
This is tempting, but I wonder how much work it would be to square it up every time you unfolded it.
Doresoom
This. Squaring it up is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the design.
Fish_Stick
Looking at the design though it might not be bad. It just looks like you tilt to 45 and then keep going until it’s flat. Maybe there is a pin you have to pull to go past 45. So if it locks in like that it shouldn’t (lots resting on that though) have alignment issues since you’d just be cutting a 0-5 degree cut.
Nathan
if I didn’t use a mitre saw stand and used a table instead this might make more sense – but with the bits on the base for the stand bolted on all the time – that doesn’t fit in this fold over scenario. Or rather it doesn’t look like it would – certainly wouldn’t stand upright.
I would like to see how they deal with squareness –
fred
I’m still dubious about how practical it is – but once it starts selling the comments will come in. Anyway its kind of cute. Maybe this is part of SBD’s attempt to position PC as the folks who try something different for the DIY and homeowner market – with enough appeal that it might attract some pros with special needs. This might be a bit like Ryobi in the TTI lineup – where they offer some items that neither Milwaukee nor Ridgid market.
mattd
I have found that I only do small projects with a miter saw, and I only really cut 2x material or smaller and have since sold my 12″ miter saw and just have a 7-1/4″ 18v sliding miter saw. It is lighter and stores easier than any big saw. (it can even be hung on the wall). Had this been out b4 i went the cordless rout I may have grabbed it instead as it is cheaper, and storage was a major reason I dumped the big saw.
SheLovesMyNutsAndBolt
The corded market isn’t shrinking at all. Never will. Real power requires a cord. Everybody knows that. A/C power is and always will be the standard to compare cordless to. Nowadays all you read about is cordless stuff because that’s the latest rat race and they’re all trying to one up each other. Corded tools set the bar a long time ago as far as power consistency. Cordless tools are what they make their biggest profits from being that they are able to mark up the tools and batteries. Can’t do that with corded. And again this is why you see cordless tools being the most popular topic for just about every tool site on the internet. Corded tools are boring, but that’s because they don’t need the latest and greatest tech hype. Which seems to be the selling point of cordless. But it hasn’t done much of anything for the tools except for the battery life which comes with a steep price. Just because it’s not a higher value saw doesn’t mean that it is junk because it’s not as expensive as a cordless.
Brad
Since it’s not clearly stated in any of the literature, the base width is 7″. Saw one on display at Lowes yesterday and was curious.
Stuart
Thank you!
Blythe
On sale for $119, today only
Drew McDaniel
Anybody have any experience with this? It is on sale today only (1/15/2018) at Lowes for $99. My use case would be occasion use (homeowner) mainly to cut down larger boards. Currently using a handheld saw and clamping the wood on a Rockwell jawhorse. For$99 this seems to be a lot more stable. Plus I have a $50 gift card that is burning a hole in my pocket. LOL
Oops I put my email address here
Bought it, love it. Long time carpenter. Biggest problem with chop saws is always transporting them, they are awkward and a bit delicate and they dont fit anywhere well. Cant fit in cab, dont want it in the bed in bad weather, cant case it. Every saw guard ends up busted sooner or later or worse, it gets left in the shop because of no room in the truck. This can fit behind a seat and stay there til needed. The laser is a gimmick, but it opens up easily and squares easily. As for cordless, the next time i wish i had a cordless chop saw would be the first time. Once on site, it stays near the stock, plugged in! Just bought the PC stand for $79. In all respects its a normal 10″ saw–except it folds up.