A Jobmate Mitre Saw

I picked this up off Kijiji just recently in rather an odd way.

I'd gone looking for just such a thing, and lo and behold there one was. When I looked up the vendor's location, it appeared to be very near to my son's address in Oshawa. So, I emailed my son about it, asking him if he could look into getting it for me. My son got back to me, informing me that the Kijiji ad was his -- he was the vendor. He'd found the item at a yard sale, and was looking to turn it around at a profit. He'd let me have it at his cost.

So, I've got myself a low-end mitre saw. We'll see how this works out.

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'Jobmate' is Canadian Tire's line of economy tools, and in my experience it's remarkably good stuff -- well thought out and well constructed. I have a few Jobmate items in my workshop, and I've been quite favourably impressed by them. Their folding workbench has been serving me well, in spite of its flaws. I'm hoping that this mitre saw proves to be as good as the other Jobmate tools I have. Anyway, let's open up the box and see what we have.

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Here are the box contents.

And here's the saw assembled.

It's a small machine.

• Blade length is 13 3/4" overall; 12 1/4" effective. Pitch is 14 tpi. (I doubt that replacement blades are available. The saw no longer shows up on Canadian Tire's web site.)
• Maximum stock thickness (height) is 4 1/4".
• Maximum stock width at 90°is 4 11/16"; at 45° it's 2 3/4".

It looks to me like those maximums may be a little on the optimistic side.

The saw definitely needs to be attached to a base plank so it can be clamped to a bench top, or gripped by a portable work bench. I have a 1" x 6" off-cut that will do nicely.

The Degrees Scale And Pointer

This is a disappointment.

The pointer is much too far from the scale to be read accurately. One thing I was hoping for from this saw was that it would facilitate cutting odd angles. The pictured arrangement is not too helpful when it comes to setting a cutting angle that's in between one of the detented angles. The only way for me to get what I want here is to fabricate and install a fine-tipped pointer that reaches to the scale; then I'd have an accurately readable degrees scale.

Anyway, I've got myself what may be a neat little rig for cutting common angles on small stock. I'll give it a base plank, make a place for it to reside and give it a quick test.

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Test Outcome -- WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017

It grieves me to report that the saw is an utter piece of trash. I sawed the end off a 5/8" x 3 1/2" piece of softwood at 90° with very poor results. The cutting action from the blade is poor, and the angle detent is off the mark and ambiguous. The saw has absolutely nothing to recommend it.

Way to go, Jobmate. My good opinion of your gear is gone.

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