DeWalt DWS715 12-Inch Compound Miter SawHobbyist

The DWS715 is a 12-inch single-bevel compound that owners rate highly for power and out-of-box accuracy, and it's a common step up from a 10-inch saw. It chops wide dimensional lumber with ease. It doesn't slide, so crosscut width tops out around a 2x8, and the stock blade is worth replacing.

• A hands-on test scored it top marks for precision, arriving square and drifting only about a tenth of a degree over a full test
• Owners say it cuts 4x4s and even aluminum stock effortlessly, among the most powerful in its class
• Dust capture is good for a miter saw when a vac is on the port
• The XPS shadow-line worklight is an easy, well-liked bolt-on upgrade

• Some owners get slightly arced or out-of-square crosscuts even after checking with a square, usually traced to the stock blade or arbor runout
• The factory blade is widely called junk, and swapping it is the recurring fix for accuracy
• The miter detents are solid but there are no positive bevel stops between 0 and 45, so odd bevel angles are set by hand
• It's non-sliding, so crosscut is limited to about a 2x8, and there's no factory cutline indicator

It takes any 12-inch blade in 5/8 or 1-inch arbor, and a Freud or Diablo finish blade is the usual first move. DeWalt's DWS7085 LED, DW7187 laser, or DWS7058 XPS shadow-line all fit it, and the DWX723 and DWX725B stands work. A shop vac on the 1.5-inch port helps dust.