Archive for 'Power Tools'

A home run
Dead on right out of the box and still gong. The laser is awesome, not a gimmic.

I searched for long time debating which one to get and this is the one!

It does everything it is supposed to and is right on the money. Easy to set up and adjust.

Buy this one.

Beautiful, affordable, light
Smooth and very well built. Proud to own it. Light enough to move around easily. Wish they would include the right side fence with the package, added cost is worth it.

HItachi C10FSH 10-inch Miter Saw with Laser
After a lot of research when it came to purchasing a miter saw I came up with two conclusions. 1) The Hitachi I am reviewing by far was the best bang for your buck at 420 dollars and free shipping (arrived in 2 days), (same saw at Lowes is 580) and 2) I figured there was a high risk of receiving damaged goods after reading hundreds of reviews of various items similar in size from Amazon. After I was done putting the saw together and making the necessary adjustments I thought I lucked out and got a mint saw with no damage. When I hooked the saw up and went for the first rip I noticed the plastic housing to the safety switch was cracked and the black button which goes into the housing to release the safety was missing. I went back to the box and noticed the black safety release button was at the bottom of the box along with one piece of the green plastic housing. Also worth mentioning that the box it came in is the same box you would see in Lowes. There was nothing else for added protection. I figured with something of this size I would get a box inside a box. Back to the set up. Keep in mind there is a small clear plastic pin in the plastic housing which is exposed and seemed to work properly. The black safety release button presses against the clear plastic pin which releases the safety. At this point I was presented with 2 options. 1) Send this 45 plus pound saw back and take the risk of getting a more damaged saw in return, or 2) make good with what I had which would include some super glue and McGiver like adjustments. I went with option two, and although it's far from perfect appearance, the safety release now functions appropriately.

Now for the the review of the functionality of the saw. The laser was right on, both 45 degree cuts using the left and right bevel along with 45 degree miter cuts were perfect out of the box. I put up window trim in my house along with baseboard trim and the angled cuts were dead on. The stocked blade cut through window trim and baseboard like butter leaving no cut marks what so ever. I will be installing a new deck this summer but I can not comment on larger cuts with different wood as I have not done any jobs of that nature yet. Overall the functionality of this saw is amazing and I strongly recommend this saw to anyone whether it be a starter or experienced carpenter. This saw can do it all.

If you don't mind taking a risk of getting damaged goods, you may make out all right. If you don't want to the risk, you can always go to Lowes and pay [...] more. Either way if you get an undamaged saw, you will not be disappointed. I hope this review helps. Good luck to all.

This saw is ridiculously awesome
I have this saw and an Hitachi C12FDH. Both saws are awesome. Had the C12 first, but then realized I needed something to cut wider boards. Flipping the boards over on the C12 didn't do it for me. Bought this saw to make a platform for my shed with planks. This saw is hands down awesome. It slides like butter and the vertical handle, while a little awkward for pure chop saw cuts, makes the sliding motion even smoother. The included blade is not bad. But you will want a better blade for more precision cuts. That's a wash with other saws anyway since they all seem to come with not so great blades that you're better off replacing.

I was tempted to buy a cheaper saw, thinking that I might not use this often. I didn't feel comfortable with those, but that's not to say others wouldn't mind them. I do, however, know that this saw was definitely worth the money for me. I also used it to build a bookshelf (about 11 inch wide boards). Happy to say the bookshelf is even, sturdy, and perfectly level because of the precision of this instrument (and I mean instrument, not just tool). I've built other things with it, but I'm sure you get the picture. If you have the cash, buy it. You will NOT regret it.

By the way, I kept the C12 because the C10, being a 10 inch saw, has difficulty with 4 X 4 posts. If you need something for those posts, you may be able to use this saw if you raise it on the tabletop with a piece of wood. But I didn't try that so I can't deduct stars for that. I think that's a minor trade-off for this saw anyway. Still 5 stars.

Perfect so far.
I researched compound miter saws for one to use in building furniture in my home shop and had pretty much narrowed it down to this Hitachi and a Bosch with similar features. I checked with my son and some of his co-workers at a nationally known custom mill shop in Memphis and they said the Hitachi is a top of the line slider. It was also a little less expensive than the Bosch. This saw seems a little heavy to be wagging around to job sites but since I will be permanently mounting it on a bench in my shop the weight is actually a plus to me. It's easy to set up and the stops and the laser are easy to adjust.
Fed Ex got it hear ahead of schedule and in perfect condition.

Still to test
We purchased this as a precaution against power cuts in bad weather for two reasons. Firstly my husband uses a non invasive ventilator to sleep with and secondly because we have a salt water fish tank which needs constant power. It is still in the box right now as shortly after delivery I had surgery so I can not lift anything heavy and it is too heavy for my husband to attach the wheels on his own as he is disabled. I have no doubt after reading previous reviews that it will do everything we need it to and more. Will add to this review once we have tried it.

Arrived as advertised, except for one small thing
After a nasty ice storm blew through Southwest Oklahoma in early February and caused us to be out of power for a few days, I decided it was time to have a generator handy, since it's safe to say either we or friends would use it. I did some research online and decided on this model as being adequate to power our necessities (other than central heater) in case of a lengthy outage.

The generator arrived intact; mine didn't suffer any of the damage or defects others have reported (broken air filter housing, bad fuel line attachment to the gas tank). I pulled it out the box, attached the wheels and handle with the included tools and added just a hair under a quart of 10-30w oil, a gallon of gasoline. After reviewing that everything was where it should be (choke closed, fuel valve open, switch in the on position), I gave the cord one sharp pull and it fired immediately. I let it warm for a short time, opened the choke, and it settled into a very steady, stable thrum. It is definitely loud, so bear that in mind if you're in a residential neighborhood (like I am), but with the generator outside on my patio and me inside about 10' away, the noise was easily ignored. The oversized muffler definitely dampens the sound admirably. A/C power was provided to all of the outlets and seemed quite steady, the generator's pitch never varied with the load and lights and such attached never flickered, but I wasn't running it anywhere near even 25% load at this point.

The one small thing that was wrong was the engine switch. When I flicked it to the off position to turn off the unit, it kept running quite happily. I shut the fuel valve and it died after a minute or so. I checked the switch and saw that one of the wires had popped off during shipping, or was never attached during assembly. They're they usual spade connections, so it took me 10 seconds to put it back on after I checked the schematic to make sure I was putting it on the right terminal (there are 2 unused ones on that switch.) Once I did that, the kill switch functioned properly- the engine will not start with it in the off position and will shut off if it's operating and you turn the switch to the off position.

One of the reviews mentioned changing the oil after the first 5 hours, then at 10 hours, then again at 20 hours, and then follow the maintenance schedule in the manual. This is VERY SOUND advice and I recommend the same procedure.

The unit is very easy to handle after adding the wheels and handle. As others have mentioned, you'll definitely be wanting a funnel with a long neck, or better, a flexible tube, for filling the oil.

I am extremely satisfied with this generator, and while I hope I don't have to use it in the same situation we just got through, I'll rest easier knowing we have it. Best of all, it's more than portable enough to transport to another location if a friend loses power and we don't need it.

Good for the money!
I finally got this item.It came with the oil warning light damaged but apart from that everything else looked ok.Assembly took 15minutes.I added oil and gas and it powered right up.The noise level is definitely more than 65db but i can manage.I let it warm for about 5mins and powered up a few items.I later switched on my 1.5hp Ac with no problem.I had researched and read a lot of reviews before finally buying this generator.I am very happy with my gamble so far.I will update if anything comes up.I recommend.

good deal, great value
Great product, started on the first pull, starts every time. very good geal on the price and shipping. If you live in the country, you should have one. Can't say enough about the generator.

very unpleased
I purchased this product 12/09 for mu husband to go hunting. It arrived with in a week. He put it together & filled it with gas it starting leaking where the hose attaches to the gas tank. Upon further inspection he notice that it was not welded correctly to the gas tank. Also, the cover to the filter was busted up. We took it back to the location where we bought it & reordered a replacement. That one showed up with in a week also. When he started putting that one together he noticed that the air filter cover was busted up, again. We thought no big deal we will get another cover. He put gas into the tank and pull after pull he could not get it to start. We were very disapointed with this product! We took the replacement back to the store and bought a better quality generator, a champion - it's great.