For alot of reasons, its time to buy a slider. Of my non sliders the DW double bevel is my favorite. I see similarity between the two, except for the slide and the new detent overide they are virtually the same saw. The new saw is more compact and lighter than the previous version.
Is there any reason why I should not buy this saw?
Gord
Replies
"Is there any reason why I should not buy this saw?"
No reason in the world my friend. I just bought one two weeks ago and put it through its paces. It has already done built ins for two closets, crown for a large bedroom with several valences, and a firplace mantel. It is dead on every cut with no wandering. This model is better than the origional 12" DW slider I believe because of the side by side bars as opposed to the over under It is a wonderful tool.
I have the Freud Dyanite 80 tooth on it right now, but ordered a new Forrest 80 tooth from Amazon for it. I have the old 705, and that is one hell of a saw, and plan on still using it, but this saw really has me smitten. Of course with any tool of this sort, you have to adjust and fine tune it out of the box which took me the better part of an hour, but it's an hour well spent.
I really recommend it.
where are the bevel controls.... front or back of the fence? That is what I like best about the bosch everything up front.
Back, just like all the other DW. I find that it never bothered me especially now given the depth capacity of the 718, I don't use the bevel as often. I suppose I would like it better up front but here again it's something that I'm just used to. I have used the Bosch and it's a good saw, but for compactness, and the whole package, I still think the DW is better.
The bevel controls are two stage, a quarter turn lever on top of the slide just behind the motor and a detent release just behind the fence. You can work them all with the same hand without leaning over the saw.
I looked at the Bosch and all those levers dangling off the front worried me. I load and unload several times a day on occasion, surely I'd be banging them no matter how hard I tried not to. The size of the Bosch is very similar to the old DW708 slider. Folded and ready to pack, the new DW718 measures 19"D X 19"H X 30" long, it also cuts wider material than the Bosch.Gord
Our company has three of these saws and my major complaints would have to be the way the miter lock works. It doesn't hold too well on just 1 or 2 degrees to either side of zero. My other complaint would have to be that it doesn't cut through a 4x4. My favorite saw out there is the Makita 10" DSCMS
Doesn't cut through a 4x4? Are we talking about the same saw, the DW718? I cut 4x6's with it yesterday, and three 4x4"s.
Thanks for the reply. Because this saw is so new I was worried about some design flaw, as they say, don't take a new camera on vacation. I was curious about what appears to be white HMW plastic under the rotating deck of the saw. Any signs of wear (plastic dust?) at the end of the day?Gord
I've been using the saw almost everyday for about 3 months and it's been quite good. I also have an older non-slider 12" Dewalt and the combination works well. The big saw wouldn't be my recommendation for the guy who only has one saw since miter adjustments, dust control, and the overall weight leave a bit to be desired, but that's the nature of this kind of saw.
Now that the newness of the saw has worn off I'll probably go back to using the non-slider for most things and only drag out the slider when wide cuts are on the adjenda.
I've wondered about the new laser for this saw. At $60 has anyone found it to be worthwhile?
Cheers,
Don
Sliders were created so carpenters wouldn't spend too much money on beer.
Thanks Don. I'm starting to feel a bit more confident about the buy.
I find the laser to be a hinderance. I'm usually working with wood mouldings and finished hardwood. The marks I draw are faint because I don't want pencil marks on the finished product. The laser blinds me and can't see my mark. I suppose if I was reading directly from a tape or cutting to an angle line, but I'm pretty good at eyeballing those cuts anyway.Gord
i have the dw706....its ok. dw716 a few more whistles. dont have the dw718... read about it on amazon... a lot of negative reviews. hitachi c10fsb, bosch 12" slider, and makita ls1214f all have five stars. love how the bosch has the bevel adjustments in the front. like the direct drive on the makita... but! if it all came down to it... i would buy the makita.
$100 off amazon right now.
also check out
heavydutytools.net great bunch