Milwaukee M18 FUEL 10-inch Dual Bevel Sliding Compound 2734-21 Review

Our Milwaukee M18 FUEL 10-inch Dual Bevel Sliding Compound 2734-21 Experience

We were impressed by the Milwaukee M18 2734-21's large cutting capacity and the fact that it requires only a single battery to cut with its 10-inch blade. The blade angle adjustments feel well thought out and are quick and easy to use when making cuts. The saw's aluminum construction and integrated carry handles make it easy for us to carry around the workshop, even for such a large and capable tool.

Our Analysis and Test Results

Ease of Use

The Milwaukee M18 FUEL 10-inch Dual Bevel Sliding Compound 2734-21 is perfect for home renovations and projects big or small, whether you're installing baseboards or casing a door. We appreciate how easily visible the cut line is with the shadow cut line indicator and how it helped us make cuts quickly with added confidence. This saw features 11 positive stops at commonly used miter angles (angled cuts across the width of a board) and 9 dual bevel angle positive stops (tilting the blade left or right), allowing us to easily navigate from one angle to the next with a satisfying click. For cuts outside common angles, we like how easily we were able to override the angle locks and select a custom angle.

The blade depth lock on this saw is tooless and is easily adjusted with thumbscrews. Once set, you can easily flip the cutting depth stop into place or out of the way as needed. We found the quick chop lock feature very convenient and efficient for switching between chop and slide cuts.

Weighing in at 40.6 pounds, this saw is no lightweight, but its aluminum construction and carry handles let us move it around conveniently, and its feature set makes a strong case justifying the weight.

All told, this saw's quality-of-life features make it easy for new users to approach and efficient and effective for pros as well.

Dust Collection

The Milwaukee 2734-21 comes with a dust bag, and while it does catch sawdust, it doesn't do a great job of containing it. When cutting with this saw, sawdust flew everywhere, and although it wasn't the worst sawdust collection we've seen, it was definitely below average. There are two adapters of different sizes on the back of this saw that make it compatible with a variety of vacuums, helping further contain sawdust.

Sawdust containment is better when connected to a vacuum, but this saw still struggled to capture and control sawdust. When connected to the vacuum, most of the sawdust ended up behind the saw. We wouldn't recommend using this saw indoors in finished spaces because of poor dust collection, but it's still great for finish carpentry jobs like crown molding or shelving if you cut outdoors or in a garage, where cleanup is easy or unnecessary.

Cut Capacity

The cutting capacity of the Milwaukee is well-suited for making large cuts, like crown molding or trendy, large-profile baseboards. We were able to cut completely through a 4"x4" wooden post and cut a 2"x12" board in half, using the saw's sliding capability. The included clamp allowed us to secure smaller materials and made it easier to cut them without worrying about them shifting.

Depending on what you're cutting, you can even remove the fences from the saw to have more freedom when cutting awkward objects. For a 10-inch saw with a wide range of adjustment and versatility, the Milwaukee offers reasonable cutting capacity that works well for small jobs like installing trim around a window and for big jobs like cutting flooring material to size.

Cutting Power and Speed

The battery-powered Milwaukee has plenty of power for common tasks like cutting finish trim pieces or chopping through 2-by lumber, but larger cuts can bog down the blade speed and even stall the blade if you try to cut too quickly. It's not quite as powerful as many of the corded miter saws we've tested, but the simplicity and portability of this saw's setup are a game-changer.

Using only one battery, we were impressed by this saw's cutting power and speed. We cut through a 2-inch aluminum angle bracket, and it made it all the way through without issues. Although it can cut aluminum, we wouldn't recommend it for that. This saw shines when working with common finish trim materials, flooring, and framing lumber. It's a great fit for DIYers and pros who work with these materials and would appreciate the convenience of a battery-powered miter saw. If you're looking for all-out performance, a corded saw is your best bet.

Precision and Accuracy

Fresh off the production line, this saw was pretty much dialed in and didn't require any adjustments to square it up. We really love all the angle stops this saw has for miter and bevel adjustments, and we were impressed to see how accurate they are in use. The shadow cut line is one of our favorite cut line indicators because it never requires adjustment and just flat out works. Whether you're new to using a miter saw or a seasoned pro, the shadow cut line indicator inspires confidence in your cut and makes accuracy easy.

Our only complaint, as far as precision and accuracy, is that the saw table is slightly imperfect on the left side, but is only unlevel by .006 of an inch. This is a trivial imperfection, but it is something to keep in mind if you're cutting something small that doesn't span across the entire table, as it could cause slight inaccuracies. Milwaukee fully adjusts each saw before it leaves the factory, but if you do happen to receive a saw out of square, or if something happens to knock your saw out of alignment, there are methods of adjustment that allow you to fine-tune the saw back square.