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I've got the dewalt & real happy with it.
It's pretty good all around for what you get. As with any DW, pitch the factory blade and put something useful on it. I'm pretty happy with mine, and have use various others. For total package deal, I think it's the winner. For sheer power, the Makita wins hands down.
"The child is grown / The dream is gone / And I have become / Comfortably numb " lyrics by Roger Waters
RW: Ever think about trading up and getting the Bosch table saw to go with that new blue slider of yours? : )
R
I'll give 7/8 of a thumbs up to the DeW. The rack & pinion on fence doesn't operate as smoothly as it once did but I've had the saw since shortly after they came out.
With the $40.00 you're saving get the outfeed extension if you're working solo or aren't set up some other way.....or put it toward a better blade.
Agree that...... saw good, blade bad.
Another vote for the dewalt. I've had one for a couple of years and the fence is always square. I've ripped runs of 2x6 birch and it's never complained.
paul
I'll give a qualified thumbs up, but I might buy the Bosch next time out.
Excellence is its own reward!
Wiley give the Bosch 4k a second gander. The DW rack and pinion acts up after a while. My Bosch has lived a life of misery for a couple of years and hasn't complained. The accuracy is dead nut and it will rip at 25 1/2". Controls work in simplest of terms regardless of the weather. Winter in the mountains can be a bear. The Bosch has been a reliable saw. 2 users of my saw are now Bosch owners.
Another vote for the Bosch. We have 2 that are almost 2 years old and holding up well.
Our flooring guy has 2 also and is REALLY hard on tools and he loves em.
What amazes me about them is they actually got the boss to pry open his wallet and buy not 1, but 2!!!
This is a minor miracle in itself!!Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
Here's been the trouble with my DW (not dear wife, dear wiley) ;)
I've had it for four or five years now and still use it almost daily.
When I had had it for a month, the threads stripped right off on the arbor. Sent it back and they replaced the motor and drive unit.
then I could never quite get it adjusted perfectly again. Maybe my standards too high for it but I had it fine before they replaced the drive.
two years ago, I fired it up in the AM and barely touched blade to wood when the arbor nut exploded, sending five fragments of the nut in different directions, but the blade managed to eject three of them out the exhause port. If a helper had been standing there, his wife would have been left unhappy.
The conclusion I have after speaking with their tech rep ( they did make good on this with a new nut and new blade) is that their engineering dept is slow on the uptake. Tehy are aware that the thread design can cause the arbor nut to constantly tighten when in use, to the point that it occasionally displays symptoms such as I experienced. Whether they have fixed the problem on newer models is anybodies guess.
My problem with DW is that they are aware that they haved some bad metallurgy and bad engineering but they allow the marketing dept to rush things to market before correcting it. Modern Corporate philosophy that says to just accept the risk and let the bean counters calculate for it, buying a few extra nuts here and there. But you guys want to make sure that it isn't your nuts that get slapped by one of their nuts.
edit added - One more thing. I once thought I had a weak or bad motor when I came to my job and fouynd the guys puzzling over the electrical smell coming from the motor. But I discoverd two thuings, They were trying to rip 2x PT lumber with a combo blade and they had it plugged into a hundred foot long #16 cord. This was at a house with questionable wiring to start with. I switched it to a 40' long #10 cord and put in a rip blade and no more overheating smells.
.
Excellence is its own reward!
Edited 6/7/2003 8:02:58 AM ET by piffin
Funny how a table saw won't work on a 100' 16ga. cord!!!
I get kidded a lot for having too many extension cords.
All of mine are 12 ga. except for two 14 ga. 25 footers that I use for drills or screw guns.
My 20 year old Milwaukee sidewinder never gets plugged into cheapo cords and it can still rip thru a stack of plywood at full depth.
All my cords have either the original ends or the HD replacements and all the ground prongs are still in place.
Good cords will prolong the life of hard working tools.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
I have the Dewalt, and would replace it with the bosch. Dewalt has a universally motor that i have replaces once already. Buy the bosch(much quieter also)
david
Some more to consider about the Bosch.
Bosch's torque control and soft start features work really well. Hook a vac to the thing and vertually no saw dust escapes. The saw is definitely quiet. Their think department put in some nice bells and whistles that work and aren't just glamour.
My shop saw is a 5hp Uni, going back and forth from the Uni to the Bosch never seems to be a promblem.
Bosch's customer service is also outstanding.
I've been using my Dewalt for about 5 years now.
Here's my thoughts on it:
It gums up pretty fast so it gets hard to raise and lower without pretty frequent cleaning. But it is easy to clean.
Setting the blade to bevel can twist the carriage out of square if you don't reach around under the saw and move it by grabbing the motor in the middle.
After 5 years of pretty heavy use, the chromed fence is getting a bit rusty and the teflon table is scratched and flaking off in places.
I love the deep infeed area. I dislike the correspondingly short outfeed area.
I love the fence. I love that you can set the fence on the left side of the blade.
I dislike the way the mitre guide falls out of the slot when you pick the saw up from the front. I pick it up out of the stand from the back and have to train all who use it to do the same, so the mitre guide doesn't bounce off the concrete too many times.
I wish it was about 20 pounds lighter.
Dust collection sucks. Leaves a big pile underneath even with the shop vac attached, and throws a lot back in your face if you don't clean if often.
Starts hard and loud like most dewalt stuff.
Bosch sounds worth a look, but all in all I like my dewalt better than anything else I've had a chance to use for jobsite work. As do all my co-workers who like to use it instead of their own saws.
Steve
Is it just mee or do all Default owners LOVE thier tools except for a half a dozen or so minor flaws.Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
It's the bucks curve.
We have a guy at work with a bunch of the yellow crab, one minute he swears by them and the next he swears at them.Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals build the Titanic.
is it me...
or do all the guys with Dewalt envy whine all day about how much they hate them....
then never stop trying to use all my DeWalt stuff when I leave the room.......
On a more serious note.....shut up! Who cares what ya think about someone else's tools? Not U (T) in particular...but all the DeWalt haters out there.
I worked with a guy that kept bitching about "DeFault" every time I'd pull one of my tools outta the van..... I finally told him to shut the F up..I wasn't planning to give him any of them any time soon...he really didn't have to worry.
Same deal though...the bastard kept trying to use my table saw...."since it's already set up".......
He got the standard reply to that POS line....."Unlock your van...I'll teach ya how to set up yours while we're standing here......"
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
Seems default guys are a little testy too!
:)Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
Give this saw a look see also:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004RIPH/toolseeker/102-2575054-6082502
Don
I like a lot of Hitachi's stuff but that saw is not even in the running with the DW or the Bosch, IMO.
Excellence is its own reward!
You got that right. 2 minuets was enough.
Interesting. I've never used either saw, but the DW and Hitachi are side by side at the local Lowes. By appearance, neither saw is appreciable different from the other and I was suggesting by reputation to take a look at it.
Don
well wouldn't you be if your sh!t broke down once a day? :)Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals build the Titanic.
wow...
I was trying to be nice too!
oh well...
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
I'm not a DeWalt lover or a DeWalt hater. The guy asked for honest opinions about a saw I've been using for five years, so I gave him the list of everything I like and don't like about it so he could decide what things would matter to him, and whether he would like the saw or not.
When I buy a tool I like to hear what's good and bad about it. When I bought the DW tablesaw It was the new kid on the block, and it was the best thing I saw at the time. It sounds like the Bosch is pretty good too, maybe even better.
The point I'm trying to make is that there are things I like and don't like about every tool I've got. I try to prioritize the things that matter to me when I go shopping for tools.
To that end I'm gonna start another Mitre Saw thread, hoping to get people's most honest reactions before I drop 5-600 bucks on a new SCMS...
See new thread..."Mitre Saws...again"
Steve
No problemo bro!!
On of the things I respect about you is that you speak your mind!!
No minced words here!
Actually I'll come clean!
I have a Dewalt tool (had to retype three times to get the spelling correct) that I like!!!!
My 2500 rpm "deck" screwdriver has been my tool of choice for driving all types of screws.
My Panasonic 15.6v. multi driver is giving it a run for the money though!!!
Hello brothers it has been 4 days since I last bashed Dewalt.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
I thought of this thread today...
I had the table saw set up outside when the GC I'm subbing for stopped by.
As an extra/favor to the customer....he's remodeling their entry hall closet to spiff up that area as I'm doing the master bed/bath work....
he yells in he's glad to see a table saw set up..as he had two trim boards to rip down and didn't want to screw them up with him freehanding his circular saw...
so I'm between runs on the saw..tell him to have a go at it....
he says he'll wait till I'm done as he'd have to change the fence....
I say No Problem.....and show him how to unlock and reset...
he's now in love. with the saw... that is...
after his two cuts..I'm ready to run some more 1x.....
then comes the big show....
I just unlock and twist the fence loose...
hold a scrap of what I'd just cut....lay it betwen the blade and the fence...
twist the knob till she touches....
and lock it down.
Bam! Same measurement......
and he's even more in love.
nothing beats that rack n pinion fence.
don't hate me....because my saw is beautiful....
he was a bit disappointed when I told him No, it's not an add-on....ya gotta buy the whole saw...comes with...
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
I've got a bunch of DeWalt stuff cause it happenned to be the best I could afford at the time. And, the original DeWalt was in my home town ( Lancaster, PA).
I like the tablesaw, I never have gotten the noise complaint thing, but the rack and pinion has a lot to be desired when it's got to be readjusted. Leave the arms out on a job with a bunch of folks and it's bound to get whacked. Mine also has the fence lock over the off/on switch (I've seen another that has the lock moved over to the right side)...can you guess why they moved it? But, I gotta give them credit for moving it.
When I bought the thing 5 years ago (and I have heavily used/ abused it, and it's still going strong), it was the only major player with a 10" blade. I've not found it to be a real champ at beveling, either. All the ways have to be compleatly clean, and even then, the boards still want to drift away from the fence.
If and when it dies, I'll get a 10" Makita and stick it in a Rousseau table. 30" rippage, to hell with the rack and pinion adjusting, another gimmick, sweet outfeed, and a motor that will be running for my great-grandkids...and the fence is better than superb!
I've been through 4 Deltas. While I tricked out them to the max, they still sucked, and died.
The deal is to get the best tool you can afford at the time...but don't try to fool others into thinking it's the "BEST" tool. Check out your sources of information!
EliphIno!
Edited 6/13/2003 8:06:54 PM ET by bucksnort billy
Yeah, I've burned out two of the cheaper Deltas.
Excellence is its own reward!
Cool!Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
I own a couple of dewalts so it kind of feels like, I have to stay married to them until the kids are grown kind of thing, but you won't find me bragging on them. I have a wandering eye, looking at a Makita double tilt slide saw for the mitre box and the Bosch tablesaw.
I see that Bosch ahs a new double tilt mitre saw out though. Might be worth a peek see..
Excellence is its own reward!
I own just about every brand out there...
Just as I'd not stay married to one....
I'd also not automatically keep one outta the van.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
I own the dewalt saw and have used the bosch and i'll take the dewalt any day.however there both loud and the dust collection on both are poor.But if it ever came to using a dado i'd trust the dewalt over the bosch.in hindsite here we all are chatting about 2, 500$ saws when ive also used the delta model and if you take away all the bells and whistles its a really good saw at half the cost.
I`ve had DeW for several years now, and it is stil going strong... but wach out when working with hard wood- good blade is the key.
How's the noise? Somebody here said that it is a noisy saw. Mine isn't bad at all but I think it is worse with a heavy rip blade like it comes with than the thin kerf Freud I like to use.
Excellence is its own reward!
So, did you get gubmint money for training your brother<G>
I've seen fenders on cars and boats...but tablesaws ? I gotta checkout that training program! LOL
EliphIno!
I do find the saw very noisy, but have yet to meet a (portable) tablesaw that isn't.
I don't find the rack and pinion fence hard to adjust at all, and have had to do it maybe 4 times in 5 years or so. I love that fence.
Now that it's been mentioned, the on-off and the fence lock are on the same side on mine too, and they both operate with the same lever type of motion, so it is easy to get confused between the two. If they have moved the on-off to the other side, that would make a lot of sense.
Steve
That switch and lock lever were the first thing to annoy me. I saw it aas a safety consideration right away. I still find myself occasionallu reaching for the wrong one. Fortunately, I have other blade habits that keep me safe so far..
Excellence is its own reward!
"I do find the saw very noisy, but have yet to meet a (portable) tablesaw that isn't."
all my table saws were pretty useless until me current one. i spent almost a year searching.
in the uk you can't get a decent contractors saw.
my new saw is just about portable i can just lift it into the van.
but it is so quiet ( induction motor) compared to my old whiney brush motor ones.
very happy.
aleks
Edited 6/15/2003 5:02:00 AM ET by kostello
OK,
So fork over the info...you've got my curiosity up.
Steve
don't know if you can get them in the USA.
i'm in the uk .
its made by a german company electra beckum.
its a good saw.
i would class it as half way between a contractors saw and a cabinet saw.
http://www.elektrabeckum.co.uk/uk/produkte/precision_system_circular_saws/010_258_2209_precision_circular_saw_pk_255_2500_wn.htm
is the link to the UK site.
the table top is about 2'6" square and with the extentions you can rip over 2'
best thing is that it is quiet.
and the fence locks square every time.
aleks
Has no one else had trouble with the insert tabs breaking off their DeWalt table saw?
I got one of the early ones and the tabs were actually scored near the base. I broke one off within the first couple days, barley touched it with the changing wrench. I looked at one recently and DeWalt has improved this area and beefed up the tab supports.
I do love it though, the fence is just awesome. By the way guys, if the rack and pinion is getting stiff,
1. clean it, blast out all the dust with an air hose,
2 make sure everything is aligned. Mine gets hard to turn as well, but clean and straight it works like new. Justus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
Insert tabs? I've taken mine apart, and don't recall any insert tabs.
Compressed air does help , but when my goezuppa goezdowna action gets cranky, Top Coatâ„¢ spray helps a bunch.
I abuse the bejezzus out mine every day (going on 5 years), just ran close to 500' of 5/4" white oak through it, with nary a complaint. Very little burning, and these were 12' and 14' 1x10's
Then I ripped passably square 3/4" stock to make 1/4 round.
It's a tough and accurate little saw for the field...
Rip me a new one, baby EliphIno!
The tabs that support the blade insert. {The yellow thing that surronds the blade) Justus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
Don't get me wrong, I know hindsight is 20/20, but if the throat plate is flush with table top seems like there couldn't be any pressure on the insert tabs...what were you really doing to your inserts?<G>
Did DeWalt fix your top? and how if so, how? Or are you just dealing with it, and how?
It would be a pisser to work with a wobbly, or worse, no, throat plate. Even a great fence wouldn't justify that... EliphIno!
I snapped the tab of while changing the blade, I barely touched it ,I swear.
I tapped a hole and made a new support works just fine, but I'm very careful when I work in there because I'd hate to loose another one.
I could have taken it back I've got a Dewalt repair center pretty close, but I had just installed the side and outfeed supports, and they said that I would have to take them off and re-install them on the new unit. I told them NUTS!
it took me about ten minutes to fix the tab. Justus Koshiol
Running Pug Construction
You can have my ??????? DW for nothing if your in the LA area its a piece of crap. My Makita with Roussele (sp?) table and outfeeds is a thing of beauty.