Smooth, powerful, well balanced cutout tool far exceeds the quality of other similar tools. Rugged construction as are all Dewalt power tools. Cuts 3/4" plywood with ease. Can't wait to try it on cement backer board with a carbide bit(not included). Get the kit with the circle cutter...great for plumbing rough-in. DEWALT DW660SK 5-Amp 30,000 RPM Rotary Cut-Out Tool with 1/8-Inch and 1/4-Inch Collets, Side Handle, and Circle Cutter
I bought the Dewalt Dw660sk cut out tool for a home improvement project that involved cutting a rectangular "hole"in a cement board ceiling to run a ventilation duct, and cutting openings in a kitchen cabinet so that the duct would run through the cabinet, through the ceiling and out through the roof. After removing the packaging material on this product,the first thing I noticed was the huge black plastic case this tool came in. The build quality of the case was very good. It is solid, has steel clasps, and a fair amount of room inside for the tool, handle, circle cutter attachment and various bits. The build quality of the tool itself was excellent. Its body is constructed of sturdy yellow plastic, the seams line up, the fit and finish were perfect. Even the stickers and decals were put on straight.That might sound like a small detail to bring up, but I feel it demonstrates the care that went into assembling this tool. Some tool manufactures, like Porter Cable, seem to haphazardly "slap" on their decals and stickers and it makes you wonder how carefully the tool was assembled. This tool also has a certain heft to it, no doubt because of the big 5.0 amp motor, the biggest currently offered for this type of tool. There was virtually no vibration when turning on the tool and the motor seemed to run very smoothly at 30,000 rpm. These are the positive features of this tool. Now for the bad. The motor is ear splittingly loud. I took a test cut into a soft pine board to see how the tool would react, and immediatley stopped and put on a pair of ear muffs. When holding the tool like a router, vertically, and cutting into a horizontal board, the ventilation slots on this tool, which are located about an inch from the spindle, blow saw dust right in your face. Wearing goggles or a face shield is mandatory! Regular glasses are not enough- you will get something in your eye! What a bad place to put the ventilation slots. Dewalt probably did this because they thought it would blow debris off the workpiece. Instead debris spews everywhere. The slots should be placed on the top of the tool to minimize saw dust or cement board dust from flying everywhere. Speaking of cement board or sheet rock, I would never use this tool inside a finished home. You will fill the room with dust. I started to cut my ceiling with this tool and switched to a sheet rock hand saw because of the dust. For an electrician or contractor cutting electric box openings or trimming sheet rock in an unfinished house this tool might be ok if you can stand the dust and noise. How does it cut? It cut the cement board fairly quickly with the bit I bought for cutting cement board. I used the supplied general purpose bit that came with the kit to cut my cabinet openings and it cut extremely slowly through the 1/2 inch pine of the cabinet. I switched to a jig saw and that worked much faster. Loading a bit in this tool is also awkward. You have push down a button on the the spindle lock and on another button simultaneously on the plastic sleeve above the spindle and then twist the plastic sleeve to tighten the collet. It's almost impossible to tighten the bit tight enough by hand to keep it from spinning in the collet. It's easier to just press down on the spindle lock and use a wrench to tighten the metal nut below the plastic sleeve to tighten a bit. Dewalt should have included a wrench to do this. As far as bit life is concerned, a 1/4" bit should be the minimum diameter you use for cutting anything. The 1/8" supplied bits are so flimsy and flex so much that I broke one of them in 1/2" soft pine. And I didn't apply hard pressure to the work piece. Am I keeping this tool? No. I think it was poorly designed and is not very effective for wood. It works fairly well on cement board if you buy the right bit, but you could use a hand saw and create much less dust and make your cuts just as quickly. Dewalt assembled a nicely finished tool, but the design and limited functionality of this cut out tool do not add anything special to the tool industry. Jig saws, sheet rock hand saws, and hole saws can do what this tool is supposed to do more effectively and with less mess. That is why I gave this tool two stars.
I have owned a roto-zip and the dremmel. They just don't have the power of this DeWalt. The circle cutter option is very handy and really does a nice job. If you are hanging drywall this of course is a must. For recessed lighting it really makes things easy. Put your drywall in place, start somwhere on the inside of the light. Work your way out to the edge, carefully work your way over the outside and then follow the outside of the light all the way around. The can will pop through and you will have a perfect cut. This is a great tool.
As an electrician i use this tool 5-7 times a week and cut everything- 1" thick sold oak cabinates,sheetrock,plywood of all types and thickness,ceramic tile and even use to modify plastic outlet boxes and cover plates- I've used and broke a couple rotozips in my job and this Dewalt has better power and a much better feel than the rotozip in my opinion.The noise level of this tool isn't any different than any other tool in this class and noise levels depend on meterial you are cutting. Granted i don't use the handle or circle cutter that much in my job but when you do need to cut a nice round hole the circle jig is a MUST have. The toolless bit change is also a great time saver since you do break bits fairly often with this type of tool.I highly recomend this tool and with amazons price being about $20 cheaper than Lowes or Home Depot i'm buy one right now so my boss can have his back :) - Dewalt - Power Tools - M_tools'
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