(Original post in Build of myOX) In looking at various mitre saws to cut both the aluminum extrusions and, more frequently for now, other materials, namely wood, what are your thoughts on this the Evolution Rage3 Multi-Purpose Sliding Mitre Saw ? CanadianTire has it now on special for 280$cnd, while HomeDepot.com (US) has it for 300$us along with the double bevel version for an extra 100$us. Here's a YouTube of it as well as the Evolution YouTube. An 'unbiased' video review. They've been around, at least in Europe, for a few years now ... The part that is catching my inexperienced eye, the better one of the two I have, is that the RPM is 2500, versus the 4000 to 5000 RPM of the 'regular' mitre saws. The latter being always highlighted as being much too high to cut aluminum or anything other than wood or requiring blades with a high tooth count, for non-ferrous material, etc. which, for the most part, seem to cost double if not more then an Evolution blade. Tricks to use with regular mitre saws include flipping the blade (gives negative angle to teeth cutting edge) and to some how reduce the RPM (extra cost). The Rage3 has a 2000 watt soft start 15 amp motor, 1 inch arbor and cut capacity of 300mm x 80mm to boot. Seems plenty for me ... "Utilising patented professional RAGE® technology; easily cuts Steel, Aluminium, Wood (even wood with nails) and Plastic, using just one blade ! Features a hi-torque gearbox, which reduces motor stresses, improving performance and durability." "Advanced performance; out performs normal saws. When cutting Steel, it leaves an instantly workable finish, producing no heat, no burr and virtually no sparks - unlike alternative methods." "... include a robust outer casing which enhances durability on even the most demanding metallic applications" Since it can cut through steel rebar, cutting aluminum profiles should be a walk in the park (they don't specify maximum thickness for aluminum cuts). Blades seem to last quite a while, over 700 cuts through steel (can't find the link ... maybe it was in PDF of manual). It seems relatively easy to adjust for precision (squared) cuts. Regular maintenance, as with any tool, being key. The changing blades seems real easy as well, compared to some saws I had to use to date. The one catch might be the part about having to use their blades, designed for this mitre saw. They have their multipurpose blade - a TCT to "cut : mild steel, aluminium, wood with nails, plastics and much more"; a diamond version to "cut : brick, concrete, ceramics, limestone, marble, natural stone, porcelain, slate tiles and much more"; and a third just to cut wood. The multi purpose blade can be found on Amazon.ca for about 40$cnd (Amazon.com has it for 34.50$us) They are still around after at least 4 years in Europe (England mostly from the links found to date), so getting blades should be safe ... It certainly seems to be a good choice for a guy like me : little room to spare, occasional need to cut various materials, budget minded. What about precision ? Squareness is the most critical, especially for projects like ours. Being able to repeat precise length as well. I might go for it (special is on just for a couple of weeks and they might go fast if they are as good as they claim). I can always return the unopened box ... even opened if there is a problem and little use. Would like to hear your thoughts ...
Well, I'm now own an Evolution Rage 3. I'll have to take it out of the box, check if it is square, adjust as needed and possible before cutting anything ... Beyond having to recut the factory cut 1500 mm lengths of V-slot do an exact length, I already have a growing list of other uses for this Rage3 multi-purpose miter saw : a few bars of iron/steel to cut to rework part of the backyard fence, some aluminum downspout to re work, a few lengths of Incra t-track to fit myOX, ... and even get to cut some of the exra travertine tiles (need to buy diamond blade). It will also come in handy to cut wood without having to setup the old Shop Smith. Stay tune ...
Pity I only just saw this post - The Rage hasn't got great reviews: design means any non-90deg cut, the clamps get in the way; the markings are way out - don't believe them, measure and mark yourself; Uses a hard-to-source-for 1" arbor (most/all consumer saws are 5/8"); Unbelievable that a company would have a saw made so cheaply; In all fairness the thing cuts great, that is is cuts through material fine. The problem is if you want anything near square or angled close....forget it; It really deserves zero stars; poorly and cheaply built; cutting blades are not cheep; It doesnt look like they back up their warranties, and they absolutly do not return phone calls; brittle, does not take much to damage it; Flimsy cutting surface / deck, makes saw move side to side during cuts so not so good for precision cuts; For my money, the Hitachi sliding miter is a great trade-off of price/performance. I have a Makita that I am reasonably happy with, too, but the Hitachi is a better machine with better dust collection.
Odd, I could hardly find as negative reviews as the comments you made/quoted. The negative reviews I did find on Evolution miter saws where mostly for the home/DIY version : the Fury. It is green instead of orange. But yes, the Rage3 does have some design flaws and some interesting aspects. The motor sticks out the right side quite a bit. This makes using the top mount clamp on that side impossible, the motor will get in the way. They do warn to try the movement before running the saw. They do include a clamp to mount from the front. It clears all cuts with no issues. Both clamps can be mounted on either side. So that's easy situation to fix/avoid. The markings on the table seem good so far. The sight, like most saws, is a piece of clear pastic which can move. Screw to loosen and realign, like with most saws.
Googled "Evolution Rage3 review", took the first link, got all those from that. There were a lot more, I got bored after reading the first 20. Judging by your post, you weren't so much looking for an opinion as validation of something you have already bought. Sorry I can't help you there. I paid a little extra and got a great unit from a long-term reputable manufacturer with great customer service and reviews. The Rage is made in china and sold through 'DIY' stores in the UK to people that want a tool for one job at a rock-bottom price, from a company that wants maximum return for the $50 they paid for it. There are 5000 or more being flogged on Alibaba. You get what you pay for. Looking at the obvious flaws evident in the Rage just from reading the spec, let alone the reviews, would have been enough to have me spend $100 more and get the Hitachi 10" (not the 8" - too light, only for very occasional use).
Don't forget Google lists results depending on your history of visited sites and such, especially if you use Chrome or are logged with a Google account... I've shown this at work many times. Several people doing the same exact search at virtually the same time, each on their own machines (mostly laptops), and at least a few had different results, different orders of same results. After the one 'ad' link from Amazon, the first result I get with your search string is straight off Evolution's web site - no reviews (!!) The second is off Amazon.com with a 3.5 stars based on 65 reviews which lists a 2012 review followed by two 2009 reviews, etc as the "most useful reviews". Rather dated stuff, but all positive ... Sorting by most recent first, top 10 are 5 stars except for 1 of each 4, 3 and 1 star... So not too bad ... Note, none mention 'precision'. It's mostly cuts like butter, cuts steel great, etc. By the way, the guy making the '1 star' review, sounding like the one you found, has made only 6 reviews (different tools and blades), giving either '1 star' or '5 stars' ... nothing between. Yes, loads of mention the laser is hard to see in day light, the machine is light weight, the top clamp can't be used to the right, etc. But it does the job and most of those have easy work arounds. Precision markings is not high on the list of 'plus'. I didn't get bored reading the reviews, looking for a trend. My doubts were on its ability to do precision cuts. My needs were for a good all purpose sliding bevel miter saw instead of using the table saw, abrasion saws, etc. Will it do precision cuts good enough for our build requirements ? Probably not, especially not by someone like me. I don't expect in doing a massive amount of cutting, everything is done around the house. If only I had heard of this saw a few years back ... It would of saved me a lot of trouble and, mostly, walking back and forth to the garage for the table saw - I didn't want to drag the old ShopSmith out, heavy and not made to roll on uneven surfaces, and a circular saw is far from precise in my hands. Indeed, I was not looking for opinions but for feedback from people who actually used one preferably recently, even (or should I say, especially) if they ended up returning it. I read a whole lot more than 20 reviews before leaning to this saw... Lots of contractors are happy with it. Spoke to a couple here in town (while in the store mind you ... I was walking back and forth from saw to saw, opening boxes to read the manuals, etc.) I had not bought the Rage3 until a day or so after initial post. I kept it a week in its box, waiting for feedback, receipt in hand. Don't forget Alibaba often lists products that are real cheap copies, even of China made products. In the R/C world, one can find 120$ copies of the "made in America" Traxxas Brushless E-Maxx sold for 600$ on eBay and more at R/C stores. You just have to buy whole carton and figure out customs. Resale the extra ones to easily (?) break even, even if you keep a couple spares for yourself / gifts. An all too quick search on Alibaba's web site does list the Evolution Rage3 saw, but not their price (need to request quote). Although a list price of 300$us is shown. It shows a US based source : J&R Welding Supply Co. The picture is that of the Rage3 I have. All others are for generic looking sliding miter saws, some as low as 30$ if bought by the boat load. If you still have the link for a Chinese source, I would appreciate it. I like to be informed. Have you looked at the labels of the 'name brands' of just about anything lately ? Not much is truly made in the US or our side of Asia... To make them attractive to us, some are resorting to 'design in USA', 'assembled in USA', etc. Better still, some of the Asian products are actually more American/European than American/European goods by being made right in our backyards rather than rebranding goods imported with 'name brands' familiar to us. I doubt many other 'manufacturers' of such products live on only a few % of markups anyways. They all make plenty to pay their bills ... and shareholders. How else can they make specials at 50% off, as seen on Amazon, outlet stores, etc. and still stick around ? Quick Google search for "hitachi 10 sliding miter saw reviews" gives, as second link on my machine, only a 2.5 stars average review from Amazon.com, with only 9 reviews. That's on a 950$ model selling for "only" 520$ : http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-C10FSHPS-10-Inch-Sliding-Compound/dp/B008SK7QP6. The older version, C10FSH does have 4.5 stars (149 reviews)... So it has not improved over time : http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-C10FSH-10-Inch-Sliding-Compound/dp/B00007J8CH/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top ... which has a slightly slower rpm (3800) than most other miter saws. This is the sort of thing that gets me to try something like the 4.5 stars (65 reviews) 300$ cnd Rage3 which is out since ... at least 2009. Second hand reviews don't interest me. I'll keep the Rage3 ... it works for me, my other needs (not precision cuts of extrusion) and, just as important, my budget. Maybe a 50$ would of done as good a job. But I didn't want to spend 500+$ and be disappointed. Some have indicated having to rebuild theirs for optimum performance and precision, no mater the brand. That's not for me, thank you.
