I was ready to upgrade from my Delta 10" miter to a 12", but was waiting for Dewalt to come out with a laser system. I bought this DW716 about 2 weeks ago and so far I love it. I opted NOT to get the sliding miter, since they are not as accurate as the non-sliding, especially for making furniture. This saw is very powerful and smooth, and the laser works well, though it took a while to get it set up (the instructions are marginal at best, leaving you to twiddle with it for an hour or more to try to get it to line up in every direction).
One thing I HIGHLY recommend is a RIDGID MS-UV miter stand. I found one at Home Depot and it is the best miter saw stand on the market, and very reasonably priced. It folds and unfolds easily, and the wheels make mobility great. It is MUCH better than the Dewalt or the Delta miter saw stands. Why Dewalt doesn't have a folding one with wheels is beyond me, and the Delta one is just too small for a 12" miter. The combination of a stand and a 12" miter needs wheels, as it is very heavy. You can leave the Dewalt 12" miter mounted to the RIDGID, and even set it vertically in the corner out of the way when you don't need it. Anyway, Amazon doesn't sell the Ridgid MS-UV yet, but Home Depot does. DEWALT DW716 15 Amp 12-Inch Double-Bevel Compound Miter Saw
OK so lets make something clear really quick before I talk about the saw. A lot of carpenters ask me what I think the best saw is. Depends on what you do for a living and how you do it. No tool manufacture makes every tool they have in thier line perfect. For example the Dewalt 12" slider is very inaccurate, but this saw is not. The Bosch jigsaws are amazing tools but Bosch's 10" slider is always a pain to stay square and just doesnt hold up for finsih trim work. With that said here is my review on the DW716. I need two saws for being a finish carpenter. A 12" non sliding miter saw for cutting big material and big crown and base in position. All resonably portable 12" sliding saws have blade deflection due to the rail and 12" blade, but i need the capability os a 12" blade. I also have a Hitachi 10" slider that I love if I am doing a huge 8-10" crown, paneling, or lid work or small cuts with base cap or even large casing. I've beat the crap out of the DW716, cut miles of base, crown, deck work etc, in and out of the back of my truck, rained on, etc.. and it does a great job. I recommend for this product to get a thick kerf saw blade with 60+ teeth because of the saw capacity you will use it to cut tall material vertically, and you don't want a thin kerf to wander and deflect when you go down to make a cut. The stock blade is good for cutting things you dont want to cut with your expensive blades like demo material, pretreated wet lumber etc. A CMT or Forrest ChopMaster are great blades to use. The Freud Industrial blades are good as well but dont use the diablos, they dont last and are not in the same catagory as the industrial series. Another thing to mention is how convenient the miter over ride feature is for changing a 45 to a 45.5 etc.. This saw stays accurate and is very accurate. This saw is not the same as the cheaper 715 because the 715 has the motor on the right that gets in the way of big cuts and the 716 motor is placed higher up and has the bigger fence and dual bevels for changing weird base cuts etc. It is very accurate, cuts great and does a great Job for most tasks. It only cross cuts 8" however I flip the material over all the time and it always turns out a perfect 90.. I recommend also to build an auxiliary fence out of hardwood to not rely on the fence. They move a little with pressure because they are so tall but it's not worth discarding the thought to purchase this saw. Dust collection is suprizingly good and the bags fills up quickly. I could care less about dust collection because to me its no reason not to buy a saw. I think dust collection is over rated because u still have to sweep at the end of the day anyway so does it realy matter it all goes on the trash eventually. accuracy is whats important. The saw is very powerful and you can tell when you squeeze the trigger it jumps. No big deal if you're a carpenter, but an inexperienced do-it yourselfer might be intimidated by the power. I'm a finish carpenter and highly recommend in the Dewalt miter saw line as follows-the 708, the older 12" slider not the newer DW718, and this 716. The rest of them have been very disappointing on the job site. Hope this review helps a professional.
I purchased this as a replacement when my original De Walt single bevel 12" mitre saw bit the dust in November, right in the middle of a large deck job. I probably could have repaired the old one but it owed no service, having been with me for over 10 years in remodeling. A carpenter friend on my job last spring purchased the De Walt sliding compound 12" and I had a lot of chances to test drive its capabilities. It was an impressive saw, but it seemed like we really didn't use the sliding feature that much, with the exception of the oak stair treads...it was a great help on that task.
Under the gun to have a mitre saw, I quickly but intensely researched the sliders on the market and read every review I could find (including those at Amazon, thank you very much, fellow woodworkers). What worried me the most about them is, across the board, there seemed to be issues about accuracy due to play in the slider mechanism. Since I do custom work of all types, from framing to quality trim, stairs and built-in cabinets, accuracy in a saw is top on my list. My old De Walt was as accurate at the end of its life as it was when I bought it, with few adjustments needed in between. I looked at most of the popular sliders at the Home Depot and could definitely see how play could be an issue. Add to this their bulkiness and extra weight and you have some serious minuses on the old scoreboard.
So, I decided to stick with the strongarms of the staionary mitre saws, and purchased the double-bevel this time. So far, I have been very pleased. We were building an IPE', or ironwood deck ...one of the heaviest, hardest woods you will come across. With the included 60 tooth blade, the De Walt chewed through the IPE' like it was Spruce. I really think the belt drive on this model is an improvement. I was careful to let the saw get up to RPM (about a second) before starting the cuts, but then it was smooth sailing on even the nitpickiest angle. There is no room for error with IPE'... either it fits or it doesn't. We used the double-bevel feature a lot. It saved time when we had different, slightly off-square cuts to make on both ends of a board...didn't have to turn it end-for-end. When we were finished the deck looked like a piece of furniture, much to the delight of my happy clients.
If I had a con, it would be that the dust collector bag is small and stingy....I am using the one from my old saw. I have bought a better blade for when I do delicate stain-grade finish work, but I have not put it on yet. The 60 tooth works fine for most purposes.
I will try to give an update in 6 months or so. Right now, I'm a happy customer.
UPDATE: May '09 -- OK, so I forgot to do the update. Better late than never. This mitre saw is still going strong, and I use it frequently, though not every day on some jobs. Table still rotates smoothly, and cuts are still accurate and dependable. Still recommend it highly. - Dewalt - Miter Saws - Compound Miter Saw - Woodworking'
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