Design of Bosch 5312 Miter Saw
Crown molding can really make a room. It adds a crisp finish that makes even a plain white paint job look stately and elegant. For a quick pick-me-up without the hassle of painting, wash down the walls and add crown – bam! Instant remodeling. But there’s a downside, one that strikes fear into the heart of anyone who struggled all the way through high school geometry without ever figuring out how to use a protractor. It’s coping corners.
There are a few solutions for perfect crown molding corners. If your corners are dead-on right angles, just throw a pre-made corner post in there and cut the crown to length. If you’re working with urethane, buy some corner pieces. If you’ve got crooked corners, though, or you just don’t like the look of corner pieces, you’re going to have to cope with your crown, and that involves some complicated calculations. Wouldn’t it be great if your miter saw did all that stuff for you? You could save so much time and frustration – and wasted crown – if it just came with a bunch of preset stops at those tricky little angles that boggle the mind. Well, the Bosch 5312 12″ Dual Bevel Slide Compound Miter Saw might be what you’re looking for.
Crown Molding Everywhere
The Bosch 5312 is one of the very few compound miter saws out there that has preset for crown. It means that you can use this saw to add crown and baseboard just about anything with right angles with almost no thinking whatsoever. In addition, with the ability to set bevels on either side, doing symmetrical work is a breeze. These features make trim work hassle-free:
- Performs like a dream
- Controls front and center for quick, easy adjustments
- Tall fences for bigger or multiple pieces
- All the presets you’ll probably ever need
- Smooth slide and large workspace
- User-friendly design extras
If you’ve got a straight-forward job cutting thousands of dowels or something like that, this machine is really overkill. But if you’re looking at trim, the Bosch 5312 will practically do the job for you.
Bosch’s Powerful Motor in 5312
First of all, the Bosch 5312 has a 15-amp motor, which is usual for a 12″ saw, but the difference between this saw and others is that this one generates a whopping 3,800 RPM. That’s a whole lot for a 12″ saw, maybe even the most available in any model. Your cuts will be cleaner and smoother, and you’ll be safer: it’s a win-win.
Compound Miter Saw with Easiest User Interface
In a dual compound miter saw, there are a lot of settings to think about. You’re working in three planes and having to monitor the length of the piece, side-to-side miter, and bevel tilt. Fortunately, the designers at Bosch worked to give this saw one of the easiest user interfaces possible. A solid squeeze-release lever swivels the saw smoothly around the miter gauge. The miter marker is an easy-to-read red metal arrow on the left of the swivel, rather than a difficult-to-see window in the swivel arm, and it’s adjustable in case your gauge ever gets out of whack.
With another red arrow on a stainless steel field, the bevel gauge is equally easy to see. Adjust the bevel with a turning knob and a separate lever lock that engages without bumping your bevel out of place. Additionally, the extensions on either side slide out on dual rails with a quick flick of a lever, also positioned squarely in the front, and the included clamp works on either side of the table. So even in a cramped workspace, you can make all the adjustments you need to make without ever having to reach around. More about controls in the video below.
Tall sliding fences for quicker setup and more capacity
For slim 2″ crown, any old dual compound miter saw will do. But if you’re going for maximum impact with the least effort, you might be working with 8″ crown with elaborate, highly-textured designs. That can take up a lot of space under the saw. But the Bosch 5312 has 4 1/2″ fences. Although it doesn’t have quite the 8″ nested crown capacity as the Makita LS1612L, it’s a better saw overall. You can still cut up to 6″ crown nested, up to 12″ flat. In addition, the fences glide right out of the way for when you need to cut a steep bevel.
10 miter detents, 5 bevel stops, crown presets
There’s a miter range from 52 left to 60 right, and positive stops from left to right are at 45, 31.6 (crown), 22.5, 15, 0, 15, 22.5, 31.6 (crown), 45, and 60 degrees. That’s 10 preset miter detents that require nothing more than a squeeze-slide-release of the swivel handle. The bevel stops are at 0, 33.9 (crown), and 45 degrees on both the left and right sides. At a miter of 31.6 and a bevel of 33.9, your trimming will be fast and furious, and you don’t have to waste material fixing imprecise adjustments.
5312 Features Dual Rails and Long Wide Table
The Bosch 5312 uses widely-spaced dual rails to completely eliminate wobble on sliding cuts. The saw slides to cut pieces up to 12″ wide. But this saw particularly shines when you look at the table. Not only is the base over two feet wide by itself, but the saw also has dual rail sliding extensions with square, steel-plated surfaces that your pieces will glide over. All told, you can get 40″ of length right across the table.
Extra Features in 5312
As if all that weren’t enough, the Bosch 5312 is also a cinch to use. It needs little assembly out of the box, and you can haul it around with very convenient side handles. The 60-tooth stock blade is pretty good, and the electric brake is fast and effective. The tick marks on the miter gauge are even printed on an angle so it’s easy to find positions between whole degrees. With the extra thought given to these little design considerations, someone on the Bosch design team ought to get a gold star.
What customers are saying
The Bosch 5312 has earned 5 out of 5 review stars at Amazon and 4.5 out of 5 review stars at other online retailers. The only complaint that owners have about this miter saw is that it’s large and heavy. On the other hand, other customers are pleased with having the large table.
- “The upfront controls make tilting the powerhead a breeze! It’s made trim jobs such as tall baseboard and crown molding go much faster and easier.”
- “It has all the capabilities I need in a saw. The upfront controls and easy to read settings are great, as well as the slots for popular angle cuts.”
- “I like the fact that the blade stops quickly when I let go of the trigger. It makes the work go quickly.”
- “I have always prided myself on being able to cut beautiful joints, even with my old saw. But this saw makes cutting perfect joints so much easier.”
- “I haven’t owned the saw very long, but I’d say that I’ve made at least 40 inside and outside corners without a single backward or upside down cut and with much less aggravation and thought.”
Where to Buy
You can find the Bosch 5312 for as low as $450 refurbished, but if you’re going to buy new then they cost a little more.