The mitre saw is almost a must-have tool for any woodworker, DIY enthusiast, builder or tradesmen that works with wood. They are an extremely useful tool for making almost any type of angled (mitre) cut or beveled (compound) cut. Almost all mitre saws can even make compound mitre cuts. Regardless, unless you have a nice table saw with sliding table, or a quality mitre gauge, making accurate compound or miter cuts by hand is extremely difficult for fine woodworking tasks.

Most 'woodies' that create fine furniture in their workshop will probably have already built themselves a proper mitre saw cabinet/stand complete with fence and attachments, however, these cabinets/stands are not often very portable. If you are a tradesman, carpenter, or builder you will most likely be working at different job sites regularly. Having a portable miter saw stand becomes a big advantage and time and frustration-saving tool.

Today we will look at Ozito's portable Mitre Saw Stand.

Ozito is an Australian company and their tools are only available for purchase in Australia. For our U.S. or International readers you may be able to buy similar stands from other manufacturers. DeWalt do make a similar stand, and their are other companies that also may sell similar concept saw stands.

Out of the Box
The Ozito Mitre Saw Stand (product code MSS-001) comes shipped in a box partly assembled. Only a minor amount of assembly is required and you will require a spanner to attach the leg wheels. All other assembly requires no tools. A printed manual is supplied with the product outlining basic adjustment and portability functions, but the saw stand itself is almost a 'no-brainer' to assemble and use.

Features & Finish
The saw stand is steel construction with the main body of the stand presenting a grey powder coated finish. There are only a few features of the MSS-001, simply because it only needs a few features to work well...

Firstly, the MSS-001 features four folding legs. This gives the saw stand its portability. Each leg can be folded up underneath into the main body of the stand. The legs splay out from each corner of the stand body to provide a good amount of forward/back and lateral stability. With a mitre saw mounted to the stand you would have to intentionally provide a fair amount of pulling or lateral force to 'rock' the stand off any leg. We found that during normal use the stand held firm and no rocking was evident providing a safe working platform. It is a good idea to 'nudge' each leg slightly outward after you have unfolded them to ensure they are providing the widest base of support, and hence, maximum stability for the stand. Each leg features a spring-loaded locking pin built into the leg to hold it securely in either the folded or unfolded state. When folded up, the four legs are wholly contained within the body of the stand, so no further space under the body is consumed during transportation. So, with the extension wings in their default retracted position, the dimensions of the saw body for transportation are roughly 1300mm(L) x 260mm(W) x 170mm(H). In imperial these dimensions roughly equate to 51" x 10" x 7".

The extension wings slide within the square tubes on the saw body. They are held in place and locked down via four screw knobs on the underside of the square tubes. Each extension wing holds an adjustable height roller support. The height is adjustable to compensate for a wide variety of mitre saws. Incidentally, the MSS-001 will accommodate the majority of miter saws on the market. I tested both my Bosch 3912 (GCM12) and the Ryobi EMS1830SCL (Ridgid MS1250LZ equivalent) and they both will fit fine. The roller supports should be set pretty much level with your miter saw table. A hairline lower is better than a hairline higher, as your wood may bump into it if it is too high, and it may affect accuracy. It takes a second to adjust them to your saw, but you may need to re-adjust or check them periodically, or if you remove the roller supports for transportation. You simply unscrew the clamp nut (which features quite a large plastic knob) adjust the roller height up or down, then tighten the clamp nut again to secure in place. The clamp nut seemed to hold well, even with heavy boards resting on it. The extension wings are called that because they can extend out from the body. Depending on your board size, you may need to extend or retract them to provide adequate support based on the board length. They can be extended up to 400mm (15") from the stand body. This is adequate for most purposes but additional support may be needed if you are cutting lumber of lengths greater than four or five metres. If your mitre saw features an onboard clamp then you should have no problem holding the offcut or keeper piece down while you support the other piece with your hand, hence eliminating this possible limitation. I found the roller supports needed a little lube applied to take away the bit of 'squeak' they exhibited now and then, but they do roll smoothly with or without lube.

Securing your saw to the stand
As mentioned above the MSS-001 will suit just about all mitre saws on the market. All mitre saws should come with pre-drilled holes in their base to secure the saw down to a surface. As long as those holes are not more than 460mm apart from front to back (46cm or 18") you will be able to fit your saw to the stand. My Ryobi 12" sliding saw has one of the largest saw bases I have seen, and it fits with a few centimetres to spare. Two saw mounting brackets are supplied with the stand. These look similar to aluminium T-track , but have inbuilt clamps underneath that clamp to the two square metal tubes of the stand body. Using the coach screws, washers and nuts provided, you can secure your saw to the mounting brackets quite easily. If your saw base is quite thick, you may have to buy longer coach screws, but I'd imagine the ones supplied would fit over 90% of saws on the market today. Once your saw is secured to the mounting brackets you can place these over the metal frame of the stand body. Each bracket has a winding mechanism and two clamps underneath. Once the brackets are mounted onto the stand frame, wind up the clamps until they grab onto the square tube frame, and hence securing the brackets and your mitre saw to the saw stand. After that is complete adjust the roller supports to the correct height and you are pretty much ready to start sawing.

Wheels
Included with the stand are two support wheels that attach to the legs on one end of the stand. Admittedly, the fit of these wheels was not terribly great. It was a task getting them on, and I almost stripped the threads on the wheel bolt trying to tighten them up and get them aligned. Be careful here because if you fully strip the threads you will need a whole new wheel as the bolt is welded to the wheel. I did manage to get them on ok, and they work as they should, providing easy movement of the stand around the workshop. I am keeping my stand fairly static in the shop so I wont personally get much use out of them, but they are a welcome addition nonetheless.

The saw stand in use
Well, a saw stand like this really only performs a few basic functions. These are...

(1) To get your saw off the ground and bring it up to a reasonable working height - Without the saw mounted the height of the stand (with legs extended of course) is roughly 860mm (34"). With my Bosch saw mounted on the brackets and secured to the stand, the saw table height is 1000mm (39") from the ground. This is a very comfortable height to use the saw at (for me at least). I have to reach down slightly, but I am 190cm (6'2") tall. However, it beats working the saw from the ground, particularly when I need to take it to a jobsite or family/friend's house to do some work.

(2) To be able to take the stand to a jobsite or easily move it around the shop - The ability to fold up the saw stand to quite a compact size that will fit in most cars, or be able to roll it around the shop are handy features if they are indeed what you are looking for in a saw stand.

(3) To provide support for long lengths of wood - The extension arms and roller supports offer a simple but effective method of supporting timber. Backed up with an inbuilt miter saw clamp, there should be few problems with offcuts tipping/falling/unbalancing after being cut with proper user support. In addition, the supports also keep the timber at the right level with the saw table, reducing chances of wood tipping while being cut and affecting accuracy.

We found no signs of slipping of the saw on the stand during heavy use. The mounting bracket clamps seem to hold quite well. There is the slightest hint of rock forward and back on the stand when the saw is applied, however, I had to apply deliberate awkward pressure for this to show up in testing, and it did not affect any cutting accuracy with the saw. With a slide compound saw attached the stand holds steady, as long as you don't try to push to saw rapidly through the cut and 'slam' the saw into its travel stop at the the end. Legs move easily when extending or retracting and the extension arms slide in and out fairly easily. I decided to added a little silicone spray lubricant for easier slide on the extension arms, but be sure to use one that will not affect the plastic casing on the ends. You should not apply this silicone lubricant to the actual rollers however as it could transfer to your wood and affect any finish you want to apply later.

The Ozito MSS-001 Mitre Saw Stand retails for AUD$159. At this price, which is less than half what other similar stands that perform exactly the same task and have similar features sell for, it offers good value for money. In the end, it performs the task it was designed for adequately. If there was one thing I would change in the design it would be to re-work the wheels so that they are attached via standard loose bolts rather than the welded bolt, or make the fit of the wheels a little more easier. Apart from this, I think I will be getting some very good use out of the Ozito Mitre Saw Stand for many years to come.

The Ozito Mitre Saw stand is available in Australia through Bunnings Warehouse.