Milwaukee 6955-20 12-Inch Sliding Dual Bevel Miter Saw with Digital Miter Angle Fine Adjust

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Product Details

Shipping Weight: 77.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
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ASIN: B001BBTZY4
Item model number: 6955-20

Price : $757.94

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
The Milwaukee 6955-20 12-Inch Sliding Dual Bevel Miter Saw (with Digital Miter Angle - Fine Adjust) features a miter angle fine adjust with detent override which makes it simple to dial-in precise miter angles. This allows the user to quickly adjust for a non-square environment. The fine adjust allows for single hand operation; (1) hand on material, (1) hand making fine adjustment. The miter angle fine adjust features a self zeroing system and it works on the ENTIRE miter angle range. Also features dual integral jobsite lights that fully illuminate the work piece and cut line from either side of the blade. This makes it easier for the user to see the blade enter the material. It also eliminates the hassle of buying and setting up independent lighting. These lights are especially beneficial on pre-finished millwork. The Milwaukee 6955-20 12-Inch Sliding Dual Bevel Miter Saw also features an electronic soft start that allows the carpenter to sneak up on the cut line without damaging material. The blade takes less than two seconds to get up to full speed, but that makes all the difference in ensuring a smooth start. The Milwaukee 6955-20 12-Inch Sliding Dual Bevel Miter Saw has a motor that features constant power technology which provides constant speed under load. The RPM (3,250) of the blade is the same at both no load and during loaded cutting. This ensures a quick, clean cut even in hardwood materials. The Milwaukee 6955-20 12-Inch Sliding Dual Bevel Miter Saw contains an integral dust channel that captures up to 75% of the dust and debris cut by capturing dust near the cut on both sides of the blade and directing it to the back of the saw. This maximizes airflow and allows waste to flow through the back elbow and into waste container. The result in the Best Dust Collection in the Industry! This saw has an oversized single lever bevel adjustment with (9) positive bevel stops which allows the saw to easily bevel left and right 0 degrees 48 degrees.

Technical Details

Miter angle fine adjust with detent override makes it simple to dial-in precise miter angles
Miter angle digital readout provides repeatable accuracy to 0.1 degree
Dual integral job-site lights fully illuminate the work piece and cut line from either side of the blade
15-amp, 3.3 max hp direct-drive motor provides increased power for high-performance cutting in hard lumber
Integral dust channel captures 75 percent of all dust and debris

Milwaukee 6955-20 12-Inch Sliding Dual Bevel Miter Saw with Digital Miter Angle Fine Adjust

Customer Reviews

I am a rough and trim carpenter and I got this saw about 5 months ago. I have used many different 12" sliders from the new Makita, new Bosch, new DeWalt. This is the best one I have used.
Let me start by saying this saw DOES HAVE A 0 DEGREE BEVEL POSITION STOP Do not get discouraged by all of the other comments on here that say it doesn't, because apparently they don't know how the saw's bevel adjustment handle works. It has 2 positions. You can pull it all the way up, allowing you to move it to any degree you wish, OR if you pull it halfway up, it will click into your various detents INLCUDING 0 degrees!
I will start with the weaknesses, which aren't much:
First, as mentioned by one of the other reviewers, the right side of the fence does not slide. This is due to the fact that when the saw is beveled to the right, the motor housing gets in the way and hits the fence. You can remove the upper part of the fence on that side, but then you are left with just about a 1 inch auxillary fence, so when you use a right bevel you will always have to support the workpiece on the left side and have the right side being the cut-off end. Kind of discouraging, but you will just have to make your cuts accordingly.
Another weakness (but small) is again already mentioned, no clamp is included for the workpiece. I have never used one before because I have always been set up with a stand that provides plenty of support, but for those of you who use one often, it is something to check into. I'm not sure if they even make one for it... ? Neither of these weaknesses were enough for me to lower the rating to 4 stars, though.
Now the good stuff, the strengths:
Dust collection. I do not know why one reviewer put this down as a weakness. Maybe he was expecting a miter saw to collect all of the dust? I do not know of any tool that will do this without the use of some sort of shop vac. I will agree with D. Trelford that it collects about 50% of the dust. Compared to any other miter saw out there, it does excellent!
Deflection. With larger crosscuts requiring you to extend the saw all the way out, a steady hand with an even amount of force throughout the cut will provide no deflection. Of course with any 12" slider you might expect a very minute bit of deflection when fully extended, but this saw is very sturdy. When browsing saws next time you're at Home Depot or where ever it is you go, fully extend this saw, try forcing side play on it, and compare it to the others. It does a great job and takes quite a bit of force to move it side to side. If you get this saw and down the road sometime you witness any wandering cuts, I would be willing to bet it's due only to a dull blade and not any play in the rail slides. It is that sturdy. A poor example of side to side play I have witnessed is in the new Bosch slider. I could skew my cuts a good 1/16" when cutting some 12" trim, and that was with a brand new $140 CMT blade.
Digital angle readout with micro adjust. This works very well. You can be in "free" mode and swing any angle you want, or you can engage in "micro adjust" mode. It is easy to switch between the two and there are even dircetions printed on the saw right next to the locking knob. Once you do it once or twice it is a breeze. As with almost any saw, when you tighten down on that odd angle, that force of the screw turning clockwise and tightening against the table might cause it to move off of your mark a fraction of a degree. This almost never happens with this saw, and even if it does it's MAYBE a 1/10 of a degree. And if it happens, so what because you've got a digital readout so you know exactly where you're at. It's easy to adjust, and if you're zero'd in on 44.7 degrees and you have to change it for a back-cut on a cope or something, you can dial back in exactly where you had it at 44.7. I found it to be very useful and it didn't get in the way or seem "gimmicky" to me at all.
All around sturdy. As I mentioned it performs well when sliding, it is also very sturdy when adjusting the bevel. You do not have to hold the weight of the saw up like most saws when you unlock the bevel. The table also swings very smoothly yet feels robust at the same time.
Lighter than expeceted. Don't get me wrong it still has some weight behind it, just doesn't feel so much like a ton as compared to some other 12" sliders out there.
Lights. I was just using my saw on a remodel and I had the saw set up in a room with unfinished lighting. I was cutting trim that was very dark (hard to see the pencil mark) and on a dreary day with little sunlight, those lights helped out a lot. Unlike one of those lasers. Now that's a gimmick to me. What if you are using a Freud thin kerfed blade or a Forrest Chopmaster with a full 1/8" kerf? Does the laser only ride on one side of the blade so it doesn't matter what size kerf you have anyway? No because what if you want to cut the other side of the line, then you're just suppose to guess how thick the blade is? Then there's some lasers that shine on both sides of the blade. Easily adjustable? Plus when you slide your piece and your pencil mark hits the laser you can barely see it! And for those of you who don't have the best eyesite to begin with... well it's just something to consider. Screw the laser, I'd rather trust my eyeball seeing the blade hit my pencil mark.
Adjustable Dado cutting ability. Not that you would use this often but it is a neat feature and I'm suprised there aren't more saws out there that offer it. I think some Hitachi's and Makita's offer this too. On this one there is a little steel plate that swings to interfere with an adjustable screw to adjust the depth of cut. Not a deal breaker or anything, but it did come in handy when I had to whip together a mini door jamb for an attic crawl space.
Of course all of the other things such as cutting capacity with bevels and miters, large fence, constant power. All in all, awesome saw. If you're like me, you like to thoroughly check into a tool (especially the more expensive ones such as these) as much as possible before making a decision. Hopefully my two cents have helped. I think this is a great saw for the price and I have had no complaints. All of the 12" sliders are around the same price with exceptions of Rigid, Masterforce, etc. One miter saw I have not used is the Festool Kapex. I wish I could help out with that one, but I haven't used it so I don't know how it compares. But at $1,300 I don't know that I'll ever come across someone that has one. But even that saw seems to have too many gadgets and moving parts.

This is my third miter saw and I'm pleased to report that the manufactures are finally getting it right. This saw has a lot going for it like a 5 1/4" tall fence so cutting wide crown moulding in position is no problem. It has a 13 1/4" cutting capacity for 3/4" material. It is solid and well balanced, which is a prerequisite for any kind of accurate work. I like the work lights. (there are two of them, one on each side of the blade) While they aren't much help in daylight they sure come in handy as the sun sinks slowly in the west. I was also pleasantly surprised at how useful the digital readout was. I have found numerous times when I needed to tweak my cut by just a degree or two and the readout allowed me to do just that with consistency. The readout is also lit from behind by a soft green glow so it's easy to see in dim light. In fact I found myself wishing this saw had a digital readout for the bevel angles too! Speaking of bevels, the single wide lever in back for adjusting bevel angles is a thing of beauty and works like a charm. My saw is now permanently positioned on a dedicated "miter saw" table where I use it for woodworking in my shop, as opposed to rough carpentry work. I'm so glad Milwaukee didn't put one of those stupid laser gimicks on this unit, they aren't accurate and nobody uses them after the first week. This saw has many fine points and only a couple things that I could find fault in. First is that I was expecting the dust collection to be better than what it is. Milwaukee says it collects around 75% but in reality it is closer to 50%. Still it's better than all the other saws out there. Second is that there's no supplied miter clamp or hold down. I don't always use one but when I do it's nice to have. It should have been included. And third isn't really a concern with this particular saw but with all 12" sliding miter saws. You need to use a very smooth/straight arm motion in order not to flex the guiding rods or blade when making sliding cuts in order not to have a rough edge. It seems to be more pronounced with the larger 12" blade. This is no concern when using smaller 10" blades or when making a chopping cut with this saw. All in all this is one fine machine and other than my minor gripes with dust pick up and the non existing hold down, I'd have to say that it is worthy of a home in your shop.