A friend got this six months ago for job-site use. It cut pretty well right from the box. The fence has a rack-and-pinion system that is clever, but not quite perfect. We measured the alignment error and have two fixes. If you want to know about them so you can save some money, read on...
Using a TS Aligner, we checked the alignment of the fence. The fence was near-perfect when we backed up to the mark, (going right) but it skewed by as much as four or five-thousandths when we moved the fence to the left. That's because the connecting rod between the two gears flexes and there is some "slop" or "play" in the gears. This is more noticeable when approaching the mark from the right. Sometimes this is referred to "lash-back or back-lash."
The easy work-around was to always go past the mark (an inch or so to the left) , then roll the knob back slowly right to the mark and try not to overshoot. That works OK, and it is free, but it is a time-wasting nuisance and won't provide the consistent accuracy that good woodworking requires.
SO... we replaced the flimsy metal rod that connects the two rack-gears. Instead of the stock rod, we used hardened O1 tool rod, which doesn't twist or flex as easily. The rod costs $12 bucks. We also adjusted the two gears to remove the slop. (loosen set screw, twist gears forward together, then re-tighten) Now we had fair fence parallelism in both directions. Not bad for a twelve-dollar fix... but there is more.
After using the saw a while, several of us noticed it made burns marks even with reasonable feed-rates and a new blade. One rainy day, we got out the TS aligner again and checked all the critical alignments. Dewalt uses decent bearings, so the runout was not too bad. But there were a number of other small inaccuracies that added up: arbor run-out, slot-parallelism, fence alignment, blade-alignment etc.
It took about an hour of measuring, but the Dial indicator with the TS Aligner helped us get everything literally "dialed-in." Now this thing cuts as smoothly and accurately as our five-thousand dollar cabinet saws.
The secret is to choose a saw with good bearings and a design that allows adjustments.
Dewalt and Bosch contractor saws both qualify.
Use a dial indicator with a TS Aligner to accurately measure and adjust EVERYTHING. It takes an hour, but it is worth the effort MANY times over. If you buy a new saw in the box, you have to assemble it anyway, so that isn't much more work. ... You can get professional precision at a fraction of the cost of a cabinet saw. If you don't have a TS aligner, you can use a dial indicator with a magnetic base and a 1-2-3 block set.
We cut all kinds of mitered molding and trim. We make custom installations and complex speaker cabinets that require EXACT cuts. After we adjusted this with the TS Aligner, the noise-level was lower and blades stay sharp much longer. That's always a good sign!
The beautiful thing about this saw is that we can take it to a site, make measurements on a story-pole and cut exactly to the mark, repeatably and reliably. The saw's design allows you to adjust it, assuming you have the right adjustment tools. Those tools are inexpensive and pay for themselves very quickly. You get your money back fast because you waste less wood, blades last longer and the motor runs cooler when everything on the saw is tuned up.
This is a good saw because you can adjust it and it has accurate bearings. It takes some tweaking, but with a TS Aligner and a cheap dial indicator, you can get many times your money's worth! (About FIVE times in fact!) Highly recommended! DEWALT DW745 10-Inch Compact Job-Site Table Saw with 16-Inch Max Rip Capacity
When I saw this, I immediately thought of how handy it would be on the jobsite. I have a Bosch 4000 that I truly love & believe its the best 10" saw in it class, but its heavy and I don't always need the capacity of that saw. This "little" DeWalt is perfect for ripping 1x stock for trim work & the like. I've even had it up on my scaffold. I've found the fence to be dead on and very easy to adjust. The motor has plenty of power. I think DeWalt hit a home run with this saw...Now if it only came in a cordless version!!
Absolutely fantastic portable saw!! It's about time someone has offered a "portable" saw with small "stationary" power. This saw cuts through tough hardwoods with ease, so with it's compact size it is the perfect saw for small jobs without compromising power. I own the Bosch contractors table saw w/ gravity rise stand, another awesome portable saw, but when doing small jobs it's easier to not have to drag out a bigger saw to complete an easy job. The only draw back is the price and the chincy miter guage that comes with it.If they could cut the cost to $300 they would sell more of them but I paid more and am happy I did. I use it more than I thought I would. Other wise 5 stars easily...
My main complaint about the saw was the piercing, circular saw-type noise. I replaced the blade with a thin kerf Forrest Woodworker II and added a blade stabilizer from Rockler. The improvement in noise reduction and cutting ability was dramatic. I highly recommend this upgrade. The fence is great and dust collection works pretty well with a shop-vac (which drowns out the noise of the saw!).
I don't want to waste my breath here, so I'll just say its a good saw. I used it to rip hardwood flooring and found its smaller size perfect for the job. The reason we picked this one over others was the no monkey biz on the fence. The fence just snaps into place according to manufacture specifications. Its good as done; do it once and so far never again.
Its a little loud but that doesn't surprise me. Overall this is a prime saw. Its smaller size proved to be more functional than I would of imagined. The job went smoothy with this saw.'
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