Dewalt saw

[dogs]

I had a Dewalt about 15 yrs ago and it was a great saw. I sold it and bought an Eclipse, love this saw. my brother is going to buy a new saw-cant afford the Eclipse. Is the Dewalt still as good as the older ones? I heard they were bought out and that some people have reported problems with the newer ones. Any info would be appreciated. thanks, dogs

[Forester21]

Some people have had lots of problems with the newer Dewalts. If you do a search on the forum here you will get a lot of threads on the likes and dislikes of the brand

[oily]

Some have had problems some haven't. I have a type II and have had 0 problems and I pound the poor thing. It gets used for everything from fret work to a table saw. You can have my wife before you could take my saw.

[daveW]

Rob, I know where your sleepin' tonight...........gotta :enlarge: the pups sleeping area.

[Bill Wilson]

I have a Type 2 DeWalt and haven't experienced any real problems with it. However, if buying today, the only way I would purchase a new DeWalt would be if I could thoroughly test it first. There have been several issues identified over recent years and most of them are relatively minor.

The most significant defect, IMHO, is that some saws won't cut square, front to back. In other words, if you cut into the edge of a piece of wood, either the top or the bottom of the blade will cut deeper. This is a major problem when cutting thick material and/or delicate patterns where the margin for error is very small. If the top or the bottom of the blade do not cut exactly the same depth, then you risk overcutting and perhaps ruining the piece.

There is no standard adjustment that will address this flaw. Some folks have had some luck in modifying the table mounts, to square the table to the blade, or perhpaps modifying the upper or lower blade arm mounts to correct the error. Neither of these is a sure thing and should not be necessary on a properly built saw. I personally know of one fellow in our scrollsaw club who sent back 2 brand new saws and rejected a third in the store, until he finally found one that would cut true. Several forum members sent letters of complaint to DeWalt management, but I don't believe there was ever any response. DeWalt customer service seems clueless as to the existence of any problem at all, much less have any idea how to fix it.

I've commented several times on this forum that despite how much I like my DeWalt, I would no longer recommend them to anyone looking to buy a new saw. I'm disappointed that DeWalt refuses to acknowledge there is a problem. Many people point to when DeWalt moved manufacture of these saws from North America to the Far East (Type 1 vs Type 2) as the trigger for most of the quality problems. I'm not so sure. I personally know of a Type 1 saw that exhibits the problem I described above and my own Type 2 does not. Bottom line is, buying a new DeWalt saw is a bit of a crap shoot these days. Personally, I would seriously consider an Excalibur. They are a little more money, but they share much of the same DNA as the DeWalt, so they have a lot of the user friendly features that made the DeWalt such a good saw and probably the most popular one on the market for a number of years.

That's my $.02.

[Forester21]

Dewalts have never cut square front to back. Not even my type I

[ubgoofy2003]

Well, dogs, it's your choice, but, read some of the threads that relate to the 788. I have had my 788 for over 3yrs. now & no problems. I would recommend a foot switch though, as the on-off switch will get dirty with dust & quit on you. I find it a lot easier to turn mine on & off with my foot, rather than reaching up to turn off the switch all the time. It's your choice, so, take it slow. Good Luck.

[dogs]

Thank you all!!!

[paul44224]

Sometime in April, Delta is coming out with a new scroll saw. It's model number is 40-695. All-new design. Maybe it will be of better quality!

Paul

[baggetta]

My Dewalt (1 year old and heavily used) just died on me yesterday. Tried blowing out the the switch, checked the fuse and brushes, but no problems there. When I shake the arm it sputters a little, but then goes back to sleep when I attach a blade. Brought it into the shop today and should be ready in about 2 weeks. Hope they can fix it.
Al B.

[dogs]

Well, I guess the Dewalt is out. Ihave heard alot of good things about the EX-30. I think I'll look more into that one. Thanks adain, dogs