My issue with these modern jobsite saws is that nothing is made flat, and at 90°. I bought this saw, and it took me 3 returns just to get a table surface that had deviations less than 3/16". I also had to fully design my own fence due to the deflection, and warping of its design. The miter gauge was horrible, but some shims, and and some UHMW tape, and voila... its now absolutely perfect. My final adaptation (outside of several zero clearance plates) was having to make my own riving knives. The blades these saws have are horrible. So I went to Freud (NOT Diablo). And both Full kerf and thin kerf blades didnt match up well with the stock knife. In the future, I'll likely flatten the table surface (my old blue Ryobi plastic turd had a flat surface, not sure why a $300 Dewalt cant do the same.) All in all, the motor is doing it's job. I can run small dados on it up to ⅝", but it's a bit sketchy. But, its the smallest saw in my pricerange, so ill have to make it work. Hope yours has held up well!
Mine has held up well; used it extensively over the last couple of weekends. It is leaps and bounds beyond my previous saw but in no way would I consider it to be quality enough for cabinet making or similar precision cuts for the reasons you've mentioned. I figure Dewalt called it a jobsite saw as those get moved, yanked, thrown and turned over enough that any expectation of precision went out the back of the contractors van onto the ground along with the saw. I would like to have a downsized Sawstop quality and precision saw but I don't think we'll ever get that from a jobsite saw. I'll give you props on getting a dado blade going on this one though. Like you, I tend to try to make my tools "punch" above its weight class when the need arises. I guess everyone does that from time to time. Thanks for watching!
I've been looking at the DEWALT 8 1/4" blade size, because I think I want a reputable saw at my budget vs a cheaper 10" table saw. I guess the better option is just keep saving for the 5 or 6 hundred dollar 10 inch DEWALT.
@gieco - I try to balance size and quality vs how much I’ll probably use it. A great fence like this makes a 8.25” saw much better than a 10” with a lousy fence. That said, if a 8.25” is too small, it doesn’t matter how good the fence is. So yeah, save up and buy what meets your requirements. Thanks for watching
@@LivingCommonSense Yes, sounds good, I won't use it a lot maybe a couple times a week, just kind of a hobby thing of mine. I like to make household items mostly. The thing of it is, I'm always hearing "get a 10 inch" but I'm curious why that is because I figure the 8.25" will pretty much do everything I'll need.
Funny that I was thinking to myself.. couldn't I cut a 2x6 into 1/4" panels to use as baseboards instead of the crappy ass particle boards.. just ordered this saw (with its stand as its on sale for $170 off.. $399 + tax shipped) and thought.. I know it isnt a full 3" depth cut, but if I cut a little off each end (to clean up the edges) of a 2x6, and then run it down the 5.5" height.. 2.75" on each side, I should be able to make my own 5.5" (or less) baseboard panels from better quality wood than the particle board.. seems unfinished 4" height baseboards run about $3 per linear foot. A 10 foot 2x6 is about 1/3 the price overall I think. Granted spending the time to cut it into strips, clean it up with planer, etc is not free if you value time, but overall I would think I can save a bundle of money over buying cheaper particle or mdf board and then I can cut my own pattern with the router and ensure I can always get more later vs the stuff in our house now that I have no clue what router bit was used to cut it.
b3wulf - Yes about the only benefit the MDF stuff brings to the consumer is consistency. Real wood is otherwise better all the way around. Baseboards need a precision saw. The dewalt is not a furniture saw but its plenty good for baseboards. Thanks for watching!
@@LivingCommonSense Well I tried looking it up but not sure I am getting the right answer. What is a precision saw vs using a table saw? Not sure what you mean.. you can't use a table saw to make/cut baseboards? If not, why not? Seems like you could.. other than some being long and having 45/reverse 45 cuts when needing to connect two together to hide the seam? Also, I seen a few videos about how the SawStop is more a furniture saw.. this is a portable job site saw. I don't quite understand why there is a difference? Other than the longer side tables giving more room to cut.. but you can do that to some degree taking the fence off and using stands/table/etc to give more room. May not be as accurate of course. But I am not sure if there is another reason.. e.g. not enough HP, RPM, size (blade)? I was torn between the 7491 and this one, I really REALLY like the stand on this one, and the 7491 for $250 more the stand was meh and the RPM/amp was 1000rpm lower so read that this is better for hard woods as well. As a DIYer who wont use this that often, I figured the more portable/compact fold up was better to store, but that other than a little less cutting depth, it should work fine for 99% of any sort of wood cutting I would use it for. I guess I will need a new blade for it as the stock one is meh from what I've heard.
To be sure, the dewalt has the most accurate fence of any table saw I've owned as a DIYer. I said it is not for furniture -and I was thinking cabinets when I said that..my bad. Look at how much slop/play is in the miter gauge slots...It also is a small table, not really suited to cutting 4x8 sheets of 3/4" plywood by oneself. It is very difficult to wield bulky materials that heavy...keeping a straight cut with the relatively short distance between the start of the fence/table and the saw blade. A 12' 2x6 is plenty challenging for me. OTH a furniture saw like a saw stop...much larger table, much longer fence and wider/more accurate measuring, less miter slot slop, big 3-4" dust collection ports, 10"+ blade, a motor rated to run all day and 3rd party attachments. All those things help a pro work faster and make money. That's all I meant. I'd probably use a miter saw to cut those angles but as you say, it can be done with a table saw but there is play in the miter gauge in this one. I wouldn't fret too much over RPMs between the two as the larger diameter of the 10" probably makes up in "tooth speed?" for the lower RPM. Either dewalt should make good baseboards and it will punch above it class when we're willing to make accommodations like extra stands, in/out feed tables and make multiple cuts. That does add time to the project but not a big deal to DIY guys like us. To me, baseboards and bookshelves are kind of the bridge between framing quality or building cabinets. I wouldn't hesitate to rip baseboards with the dewalt.
@@LivingCommonSense Ah I gotcha. I do have Kreg stands that are rock solid, with side 2x4 mounts to put in between the stand and whatever table, then lay some plywood as a table top. I usually us a 4x4 sheet on each side of my Kreg's table. I would need some T rail option on the saw or stand though to place the 2x4 holders on that side, but I could also just use the two stands on one side, with 2x4 between for bracing, and line it up in height with table for outfeed. It's doable but I understand what you are saying. I would love to buy the SawStop, but too many unknowns on living situation right now to think of something that big. Actually why I went with the 8.25.. smaller/lighter, better stand (at least it seems so to me vs the 10" stand.. was trying to see if I could mount the 10" on to the stand that comes with the 8.25 model but doesn't look like it sadly even though you can attach the miter saw to that stand apparently) and ability to fold up and out of way with the saw on it. I always cringe a little at having the saw sit sideways for weeks/months though but used to do so with my bosch miter saw years ago and it seemed fine. If I end up buying a home again some day that I can afford to keep (unlikely in this market right now) I'd opt for the bigger table saw if I was going to get in to more wood working stuff, but not sure I would ever go beyond hobby stage. There is only so much you can build/upgrade around a small home. But it would be sweet if that sawstop 10" for I think I saw it for like $1400 could fit on a fold up stand.. so you get the benefits of the great saw while still able to fold it up out of the way when not in use.
The max depth cut at 90 degrees is 2.563 inches but only 1.75" at 45 degrees. With a 15 amp/120v motor, it has plenty of power to cut hardwood at any angle between 45 and 90 degrees. Thanks for watching!
