Bosch Glide Miter Saw Review – GCM12SD

OK, it is finally time to write the Bosch Glide Saw review.  I have had this saw for about two months and had plenty of time to play with it.  I have been dreading writing this up.  Not because I don’t like this saw, but because I love this saw and want to talk about everything on this saw.  So I knew it would be a long review and I hate writing.  I would rather be building something or playing with some new power tool.  However I will try to keep this review short as we did a nice long video that covers the saw, so make sure you have your pillow with you.

I still get excited about tools, who doesn’t, but this was a little different.  I have owned plenty of miter saws, but never a 12″ compound sliding miter saw.  I have used plenty of them on different jobs.  I have used the Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, Craftsman and more.  They are all very nice saws, but I always wanted the Dewalt 12″.  Well not anymore.  The Bosch Glide Saw blows it away.  In fact it blows away all the miter saws on the market today, hand down.  You will pay more for this saw, but worth every penny.

OK so what is the Glide Saw.  If you take a look at the picture below, you can see this saw doesn’t have any traditional rails that the saw goes back and forth on.  Instead it has two arms, one vertical and one horizontal arm that allow this saw to glide smoothly.  You maybe saying who cares.  Well there are a couple of advantages to this system.  First you save about 12″ of workbench space.  Since you do not have the rails in the back of the saw, you don’t need as much room to use this saw.  You also get consistent precision cutting over the life of the tool.  So you know each cut will be just as accurate as the last cut.  You also get one heck of a smooth glide.  Let’s get a little into this saw.

Bosch left nothing back on this saw, well maybe one thing which we will get into shortly.  They included a 3Hp, 15 amp motor to cut through just about anything.  Oh yeah, I all most forgot this is a 12″ saw and can spin at 3,800 rpm’s.   The capacity of the saw is as follows:

• 14″ horizontal capacity
• 6.5″ vertical against the fence
• Bevel Angel 48 degree to the left and right
• Miter Angle Range – 60 degree to right and 52 degree left

A cool feature about this saw is the upfront bevel control.  No more reaching behind the saw to make the adjustments.  Bosch has the bevel controls, which are all metal, on the front of the saw.  You have the lever and range selector for quick and easy access.  The table of the saw can be clamped down or bolted down to your work bench.  Another notable feature is the fence.  You can adjust the fence by using one unlock button on either side.  The fence is a true fence that has a square lock feature to make sure it is always at 90 degrees.  You can also adjust the table length so you can have a max of 40″.

On the front there are adjustable miter detents at 0, 15, 31.6, 22.5, 45 and 60 degree right, so you have all your major stops ready to go.  There is a push button if you want to override any of these settings.  You also have bevel detents at 0, 33.9 and 45 degrees.

I know I keep saying another thing to note, but the list does go on.  The handle is a D-shape handle designed for a lefty or righty which is very cool.  I am a lefty, but over time I have learned to use my tools with my right hand since most are designed for right handers.  As with other saws, there is also a depth adjustment for trench cutting.

Everything that can be adjusted is in red and very easy to see.  The knobs are not cheap and are very accurate.  The saw locks into place for a chop saw or in the down position for transporting.  Now if your use to using a saw with rails, this might seem a little different.  You might not like how easy it is to cut and the glide might seem to smooth.  If that is the case, Bosch implemented a tension adjustment on the arm to make it a little stiffer to make a cut.  So you truly can customize the feel of this saw.

The saw weights 65 lbs. so it is rather heavy if you plan on moving it around a lot.

OK the downside to this saw.  I have to say this does irritate me a little.  Bosch build such an incredible saw.  Everything is perfect about this saw except for some reason they went cheap and didn’t add a laser.  It’s not a huge deal, but we still have to ask why leave that off.  I know you really don’t need a laser, but a laser can save time.  I know it only takes a second or two to drop the blade down by the cut to make sure everything lines up, but over a year of doing that how much time do you kill?  Again I know we are being a little picky, but it’s like having a luxury car without a GPS.  Sure you can still get from point A to B, but it just may take a little longer.  It is the convenience factor.

Bosch Glide Saw Conclusion

If your looking for a miter saw and price is not an object, you have to get this saw.  While it is pricey and a little heavy, it is worth every penny.  This is a saw that not only screams power, but it screams durability and quality.  The saw does come with a 60T blade, dust bag and 1 material clamp.

Below we put a video together of the saw.  Sorry it is a very long video, but there was a lot to cover for this video.  Since the tool is very expensive, we decided to try and cover everything about the Bosch Glidesaw.