Hitachi C12LCH 15 Amp 12-Inch Compound Miter saw with Laser and Miter Bevel Digital Display
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend The tool gauntlet has been thrown, and sawmongers — us included -- couldn’t be happier. When we saw the specs on this beauty, we couldn’t wait to give it a run. First off, expect to make adjustments out of the box to the fence as well as the tilt LCD reading, but adjustments are simple and then you’re ready to go. We absolutely love the LCD readout! It computes your miter and bevel angles for you, without your… Product details and pricing info |
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13 Customer Reviews Posted
- After more than two years review
- I have had this saw for over two years and it has worked out well. Really, no problems and out of the box it worked well enough, but I save my precise cuts for the table saw/cross cut sled. One thing that has to be said for this saw or almost any saw is the stock blade is inferior and you will not realize the value of the saw without a better blade. Of course dishing out +300 for a saw then having to add another $75 or so for a quality blade hurts! I am using a Freud Diablo blade and what a difference. Clean clean cuts, but a great blade may make any saw great.
For me the digital read out is an okay feature, but I move the darn thing to the mechanical stops 90% of the time. More useful in the bevel than miter. Once in awhile I have used to dial in very precise angles (like 7.5%). The laser can be very useful, but you have to check it and adjust it. Cut a shallow kerf in a 2x4, then lower the blade into that kerf and clamp down the wood. Now raise the blade and adjust the laser to fall in that kerf. Sounds easy! Since the left/right adjustment is hard to get to and you can't see really it, you would think that somewhere in the manual they might do you a favor and tell you the size Allen wrench you need. How about metric vs. English at least?
One word of advice. If you are thinking about a 10" sliding compound miter, but are hesitating about spending the extra 2 to 3 hundred $, I say bite the bullet and do it. Makita has a nice one and I have seen it for 500ish. You will find yourself wanting that extra bit of versatility and cross cut capacity (this saw is about 8 1/4" cross cut, 5 3/4 at 45 miter).
I have a few tools that I love like family and others that do the job. This one is not something I fall asleep dreaming about or ever find myself looking at in a fond dreamy way, but it is a workhorse. Still, it is pricey because of the gizmos. If you need more capacity, get a sliding saw. If you are using it for rough cuts and want to save some money, get one without all the bells and whistles (laser, digital) and save the money. If you want something in between, I think this is a safe bet. - 2008-10-25, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Lovely Miter Saw
- The Lasers and Digital readout are brilliant.
Need to buy a good blade though - 2007-03-09, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- This is a great saw.
- This is my first saw with a laser. In concept it is a great idea, but in practice it is a bit gimmicky. There is nothing like watching the saw blade cut your pencil mark in half.
The digital readouts are nice, a definite improvement over a scale.
My unit does not swivel easily. It is binding for some reason, and I havn't had a chance to fix it.
I bought the saw with Hitachi's mitre box stand, which is a great companion to the saw. Well engineered and sturdy.
The saw has an annoying kick when it starts. A soft start feature should have been standard fare.
My unit did not come damaged. As for adjusting things, everything I buy gets adjusted anyways. The guys putting the machinery togther are not fine craftsmen, and if you want to be a fine craftsman you need to know how to fine tune your own machinery. - 2007-01-06, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- laser adjustment
- I just got a this 12" saw. The laser line did not agree with cut line. According to the manual and tech support from Hitachi there is not adjustment. After studying the set-up I realized that a small wedge of wood could be slid between the light and the housing. This changed the angle enough to get perfect blade alignment. Perhaps hot glue will be necessary to keep it in place.
- 2006-12-19, 1 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Good saw.
- I do quite a bit of cabinetry and use this saw extensively. I bought the C12LCH to replace the DeWalt 708 which was had a major quality issue. I am very pleased with the saws accuracy. I would extremely recommend buying a top quality blade. The blade that came with it is unsuitable for cabinetry but would be fine for rough work. The blade had quite a bit of deflection. When I put my forrest blade in the saw, deflection was not an issue. Love the laser, used to think of them as a gimicky thing, but it's not, it saves work and is actually more accurate then drawing a line and matching up with the tooth of the blade. Here's why. When you measure a board, make a mark and then use a square to draw a line accross the board, there is more potential for error. First, if your square isn't perfectly square, the line will be off to some degree. Secondly, when you make a mark, and then line up the sqaure, the line you draw may be off even slightly from the mark you made. These two things can compound the error, whereas with the laser, you make your mark and line it up with the laser and that's it. Two fewer steps to where error can occur.
On with the rest of the review. The fence system is easy to square up to the blade and the detents were true. Love the lcd readout aswell. The negatives are as follows: As was stated, you loose the laser line when cutting the wood, and it would have been nice to have two sides for the laser. There are a couple of other things i found annoying as well. The surface is somewhat slippery, and the motor creates a big vibration upon startup, making it difficult to keep the wood from sliding. Maybe this is general to all of these saws and i may just not have noticed it with the 708 because of no laser. Lastly, the plastic middle pieces on the saw bed are annoying, they are too large. It is difficult to cut smaller pieces of wood, because there is less steel to butt the wood up against, and you can't rely on the plastic inserts for a flat rliable surface. Other then this, I am very satisfied with the saw. One last note, due to all the complaints about shipping, i had mine next day delivered. It came in good condition - 2006-03-24, 3 of 3 people found this review helpful, Rated:
