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31% OFF
PortaMate PM4400 Miter Saw Stand
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PortaMate PM4400 Miter Saw Stand


List price:$129.99
Our price:$89.99 that is 31% off!
Manufacturer:HTC
Average user rating: Average user rating: 4
User rating: 4Snap buttons need work
[Summary: Right around 3.5 stars. Snap button problems and support only for saws with mounting holes in a rectangle lower the score, but the stand is stable and rugged.]

I got a low-end compound miter saw to add some trim to my house. I certainly didn't want to spend more money on the stand than I did for the saw, so I bought the PM4400. It was a decent buy, but the assembly took over two hours. Half of this time was spent debugging the "snap" buttons. Snap buttons are spring-loaded bumps that fit through various holes in the frame to hold the legs either open or closed. They came pre-installed on my stand's legs, and that was part of the problem.

Two of the four snap buttons would stick halfway through their holes -- not all the way up, and not all the way down. First I tried some WD-40. No help. So I took a leg off and removed its snap button to look it over. This took a flat-bladed screwdriver (as mentioned in the instructions) plus some long-nosed pliers (not mentioned). When I had the spring piece out of the leg I could feel that there was some minor roughness around the edge of the hole the button is supposed to "snap" through. So I got a circular file (again, not mentioned) and ran it around the hole a couple times. After reassembly the button snapped smoothly, as it was supposed to. I repeated the process on the other three legs and now they lock open and closed pretty handily.

When it came to mounting my saw I discovered another difficulty: The PM4400 only supports saws with mounting holes in a rectangle. My saw has the mounting holes in the back closer together than those in the front. The stand's assembly instructions said to mount the saw to a 3/4" plywood base and drill holes in a rectangle in the plywood. Another annoyance, and a bit more time getting set up.

When finally set up this stand works well. You can rest some pretty heavy stock on the support arms without a problem. And I can verify that a falling aluminum ladder didn't even scrape through the orange paint on the legs -- not that that's a recommended test, you understand :-). Stable and rugged is what you want in a saw stand, and that's what's important over the long haul. I just wish I knew that I'd have to pay a bit over two hours labor to get going.

User rating: 5a true bargain
just got this stand free with my bosch 3912 miter saw and am very impressed. i was not going to buy a stand, but i found the saw i wanted with the stand as an extra. after mounting the saw on the stand and making a couple of cuts, i couldn't be more pleased. the whole unit is solid as a rock. it makes moving and storing the saw easy as well. the whole thing hangs on my garage wall! by the way, buy a 3912!!
User rating: 4Snap Buttons, Cheap Paint, and No Handle--Still a Great Buy!
I bought this stand for use with my Bosch 3912. The stand works great, is very stable, and fits my Bosch. Most of the parts are made from fairly thick-gauge aluminum and feel sturdy. There was no wobble (even without the saw to weigh it down). Overall, this stand is a good value (compared to other brand-name models and sears models that are at least double the cost).

Support T's are wide enough to support a variety of materials and saw-positions. The work-height may be a little high for a person under 6ft--just remember it's 36" + the height of your saw table when considering height.

Problems:
As others mentioned that the snap buttons are marginal at best. I have experienced the same problems with sticking and bad fit. They are a bad idea or perhaps a good idea poorly executed. Either way, I find them to be the biggest annoyance with this stand.

The cheesy orange paint is put on thick and chips easily. A bit of it is also in many of the thread and cut-outs which makes some bolts/knobs a tight fit.

The last complain I have is that it doesn't have any kind of handle. When I fold-up the stand to move it around, there's no comfortable place to hold it. While not a deal-breaker, it's a tad on the irritating side (especially if you roll it a long distance).

The instructions are a bit cryptic, but I think the assembly is fairly intuitive. Just be sure to pay attention to which bolts each step specifies (otherwise you'll have to disassemble it and start over from scratch).

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