The more work I can do at my miter saw, the better my life is. Sure, I can make cuts hunched over a lumber pile stacked on the floor, but standing up is better. So what I call a “cut station” is a full-on hub of how I cut. Hence my interest in miter-saw stands. I’ve seen enough of them to know that the ToughBuilt TB-S550 is the best one to come down the pike in a long time.
Length. Among its many attributes, this stand is long enough to support 124-inch-long stock. To support that stretched-out length, the stand comes with four work supports, not just two stuck at either end. What this means is that I can support—on either side of the saw—both smaller pieces and the 16-footers whose very ends I need to be able to clip a miter off of. And this unit does that without my having to do anything to jury-rig the system.
Out of the box. Assembly is easy. My 12-year-old son and I had it unpacked and up and running in less than an hour. While assembling it, I could immediately tell that the 2 1/2-inch square tube frame would give this unit the core strength needed to support the arms when extended—and allow it to collapse into a sensibly transportable cube, both on the jobsite and in the back of my truck.
What was also immediately apparent was that the quick release/ball catch/lever locks on the legs to splay them would require no fussing with; there’d be no issue with dirt getting in them or a slight bend crippling the ball-catch catching. Or un-catching. The legs deployed and collapsed nicely on setup and have not failed since. After several months of use, a couple of the ball-catch retainer clips have released, and I’ve found springs and parts rolling around in the back of my truck. Fortunately, they are easily reassembled if you can find the parts; if not, the legs seem to function fine without them.
The legs themselves are beefy, consisting of 2-inch tube steel with round, plastic bases that set up easily whether on a basement remodel or on a paver patio. There’s no “adjustment” leg either, which I like; if you need to set it up on grass or dirt that is out of level, just hack a hole out and go to town.
Material supports. The stand is equipped with enough supports to make most cuts without reconfiguring them. But more importantly, the supports are round, so that when I’m sliding long stock into the saw fence for positioning and it sags a bit between supports, it doesn’t catch as it reaches the farthest outrigger.
The unit also comes with stops. Obviously, ToughBuilt sees a reason for this feature, but I don’t. And that’s me, not ToughBuilt. The twist lock that secures them doesn’t secure them quite square (it holds them still; I’m not saying it doesn’t work), which bugs me. But, again, it’s me, not the tool.
Limitations. The legs have fold-down holders for materials, and while they definitely work, I found them to be a bit awkward. I’m not sure if there’s an engineering reason—top-heaviness for example, or to allow the legs to fold—but when there’s a stack of lumber resting on the stand, it feels like I’m standing at a cabinet whose toe-kick is not quite deep enough. I’m aware there is a barrier at my shins.
There’s a bit of a barrier at my stomach too, because of the knobs that lock the saw mount to the stand. It’s not a deal-killer, and the knobs work well to lock everything in place, but I like to stand at the saw, not away from it. The knobs seem to stick out a bit too far for comfort, and I’ve also found myself snagging my nail bags on them.
And despite the stand’s generous wingspan, long stock that extends much past the end of the outboard support still sags. A recent project, for which I had to trim to length and square up the ends of lots of cedar 4x4x10s, probably pushed up against the stand’s maximum load capacity. And I’ve found that I have to make sure all the adjustments are tight, even when cutting lighter trim stock.
The ToughBuilt weighs 55 pounds (without a saw), and while it comes with wheels, I usually just fold it up and carry it when I have to move it to another jobsite. On the other hand, if you move around all the time (I don’t), the wheels work great and will never go flat. If you’re a “wheel it in, extend the arms” carpenter, I’m not sure there is a better alternative. It sells online for $176. toughbuilt.com
