Portamate PM7500 Deluxe Miter Saw Stand Review

Bosch CM8S cutting
PTR Review
  • Build Quality 7.0
  • Features 8.0
  • Ergonomics 6.0
  • Value 7.0

There is a lot of competition in the market for miter saw stands and where PortaMate competes is in the area of features. The four-port outlet and integrated LED lamp are great additions and definitely set this stand apart from others in the category. If these are features that would be helpful to you on the job site then you may definitely lean towards this $259 model over others.

Overall Score 7.0 (out of 10)

Miter saws have been seeing a dramatic resurgence in the past few years, with new products from Bosch, DeWalt, Ridgid and others coming to market—all with design goals ranging from space-savings to weight reduction. One thing that unites all these saws, however, is that all of them need to be productive on the job site. The new Portamate PM7500 Deluxe Miter Saw Stand was designed to be a key component in laying out projects with longer board stock or serial cutting applications like cutting siding, decking, or stair risers. They’ve got a lot of experience, having been making supports, sPotands and power tool accessories for many years. For a miter saw stand to be truly useful, it has to be flexible, portable, and easily separated from the miter saw so that you don’t lose the ability to quickly store the products when the job is done.


Portamate PM7500 Build Quality and Features

The Portamate PM-7500 Miter Saw Stand requires only minor assembly and it only took me about 10 minutes to set up with my miter saw. The 49″ wide stand is made largely of aluminum (with some steel for strength), so it’s pretty light. At 32-inches tall, it’s the perfect height for cutting. When it comes time to put it up, you just take the saw off, fold the legs, and roll it away on its 6-inch wheels. The entire stand is also powder coated to resist rust, and it’s built to handle up to 500 pounds of weight—great in the event you need to cut a rather hefty piece of material…or your cousin Lou decides to sit on it during his lunch break.

Port-a-Mate PM7500 clamp

As part of my initial assembly, I affixed the included machinery mounts of the Portamate PM-7500 to a Bosch CM8S 8-1/2″ compound miter saw. Then, I simply snapped the universal mounts to the aluminum top, and I was up and running.

The Portamate PM7500 has a few stand-out features that are worth mentioning right off the bat—like a 4-outlet power strip that lets you extend your power to several tools in the general vicinity of the stand. The stand also has telescoping arms on each end with easily-released extension locks to give you up to 96″ of cutting width between the two “T” support outriggers. There’s also a pencil box integrated into the front to store small items.

Port-a-Mate PM7500 pencil drawer

Using these “T” supports, you can either move material overtop of them or turn up the included flip stops to provide a rigid stop for repetitive length cuts. There are measurements on the outriggers and, if you use the same saw, you can mark and mount it in such a way as to make those useful in rough production applications.

Port-a-Mate PM7500 cutting3

On the right-side machinery mount, Portamate also included a battery-powered LED light on a flexible gooseneck to illuminate the work area. It’s flexible enough to put where it’s needed, but it can also easily get in the way, so you need to exercise care not to accidentally hit it with the motor or cut into it with the saw blade.

Portamate PM7500 In the Field

There is certainly nothing particularly exciting about miter saw stands—except that it’s nice to have one if you’re planning on doing a lot of cutting. It sure beats slapping up a pair of sawhorses or making cuts off the tailgate of a pickup truck. The Portamate has a lot going for it. It sets up easily, and you can get additional universal tool mounts for around $34 a pair. That means you can quickly set up your stand to be used with several of your critical job site tools.

Port-a-Mate PM7500 outlets

The quad outlet on the back of the stand includes plastic flaps to cover the individual sockets when not in use. The covers feel a bit on the cheap side, and they don’t have any pull tabs, so they were difficult to access with gloved hands. A better solution might have been something with a bit more rigidity and thickness.

Port-a-Mate PM7500 cutting

While I like the idea of an integrated LED light, it often got in the way since the motor assembly is on the right side of the miter saw, and I found myself having to move it around a lot to position it where it was helpful and not a hindrance. This is simply a factor of having it fastened to the tool mount and not somewhere else. I think it’s still a net gain overall, but it would be fun to play with additional ideas for mounting it.

Features & Specifications

  • 4 outlet power center
  • Wheels: 6-inch
  • Storage compartment
  • Tool mount: 20-inch quick release
  • Compatibility: Miter saws, planers, band saws and scroll saws
  • Quick release work support extension locks
  • Maximum work support width: 8 ft. (96-in.)
  • Maximum load: 500 lbs.
  • Includes: Attached LED light, two tool mounts, folding cross supports, “T” supports, hardware

The material “T” supports unlock and extend quite easily, and I found these to be very useful and practical. I love the flip-up stops, and I used them to make repetitive identical cuts on some pressure-treated lumber I used to make a pair of raised garden planters.

One feature I didn’t understand was the low clearance about the wheels of the PM7500. Both the aluminum overhang and the support extensions restricted the angle at which you could roll the stand so that you have to keep it at a fairly low angle in order to not scrape the aluminum on the ground and prevent the stand from rolling. The Portamate PM7500 stand is also a bit heavier than competing products, weighing in at nearly 40 pounds. It lacks a centralized handle, so you pretty much have to lean it up against a wall or store it flat, and carrying it involves grabbing it around the middle or using two hands. A centralized handle placed at the center of gravity would have been a great bonus.

Conclusion

Portamate opted to go with a sleek-looking, medium-weight, two-piece solution for their PM7500 stand. It’s intended to be a more rugged system than some of the more lightweight products on the market. Other miter saw stands may opt for putting the wheels on the bottom of the rear legs, letting you roll around the stand with the saw still attached.

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