Power Saws Reviews

First 36-507X I ordered and received has a hairline crack in the side of the table. Maybe the crack would propogate and get bigger, or maybe it would never be a problem, but I paid good money for this saw and was not going to find out either way. After some confusion with Delta/Amazon as to my replacement options, Amazon offered to send a replacement but they could not send just the saw, they had to send the entire package (fence, table extension, etc). I was instructed to replace just the saw part and return the whole lot of it back to them. A good plan (ignoring the gross inefficiency) except when I got the replacement saw, it was a model 36-678 with the extra boxes that made up the X package. Now I don't know enough about the Delta models to know all the differences, but I do know this is the NOT the same saw. It has a different label, different handles, switch, base, etc... Why is this so difficult? I have never had a problem ordering through Amazon, and I think in general they are an excellent company, but in this case I really really wish I had paid the extra couple hundred dollars and ordered through my local dealer instead - I may still do so.

I purchased the saw for home use to replace another brand that I contributed to a Habitat for Humanity garage sale. The saw is very good and the B meyer fence is excellent. After I added some side flashing and a catch box the saw dust is not a problem. My main problem was the support that I didn't receive from Delta. I was to receive a mobile base for the saw and extention table. After 4 months, twelve phone calls, and ten e-mails I still don't have all the parts. I can not get anyone a Delta to return a call and when I do contact them I am told tha tthey will make it right, but to date it ain't right. My suggestion to anyone who wants to take them up on any offer, take cash and buy the accessory yourself.

I've been thinking about purchasing a delta table saw (among other tools) from you for a while. The table saw that I have been looking at is the Delta 36-507X with the Biesmier fence system.

Particularly for this saw, every time I look at it (basically on a weekly basis), the price is different. And there's no rhyme or reason to it. One week it's $869. The next it's $849. Now its $999. Sometimes there's shipping, sometimes there isn't. Sometimes the shipping is $45, this week its $199! Sometimes there's an Amazon discount, sometimes there isn't.

Why have you suddenly started jerking your customers around so much??? And why do you think that this behavior will keep customers coming back on a repeated basis?

You've turned buying consumer goods into something as erratic and stressful as venturing into the stock market. A total price on a table saw that in two months time has varied weekly and by as much as 40%? Give me a break.

I used to come to Amazon because I could get the convenience of a wide variety of items in one location at a competitive price. I'm realizing, and I hope you realize that the competitive price is really the more important factor -- and you are losing my confidence in that.

What is the real price? What is a fair price? Make me an offer and I may go for it. Else, I am just going somewhere else.

I'm pretty fed up. And I'm tired of being jerked around.

Thanks,

Mike

The drill, reciprocating saw, and light all work great. The circular saw is a piece of junk. Even at full chrage, it can't make it's way through a piece of plywood or 2X4 without burning/ struggling through. I have had the set for 2 years now and one of the batteries just failed a couple months ago. I would recommend it especially at $329. I think I paid $400.

All tools I received was good, only reciprocating saw has scratches and some marks from repair. All tool works and i recomend to buy them.

The tools work great. You can't even tell that they have been reconditioned. My kids love playing with the flashlight. It's proven already to be very durable. I love the drill. I have been using it almost everyday since I bought it. I haven't had a chance to use the two saws yet. The delivery time was exceptional. I recieved the tools in 3 days using standard shipping.

I have used the combo kit for about 4 years. The drill has a lot of torque but the chuck gave up it's grip after 3 years of occasional use. I replaced it with the new all metal chuck from pc not available on all of their drills. pc told me it grips better and will last longer. So far I am happy with it after a year. Now to the saw: It cuts okay when the battery is fresh but if anything is binding on the blade such as when the work is not properly supported you will use up the battery in a hurry.Torque drops off quickly as other reviewers have pointed out. This probaly explains why some people can not get more than 30 cut 2x4s on a charge.If everything is set up right you can get over 100 2x4 cuts. Also for some reason plywood eats up the batteries faster than cutting 2x4s. Except for the occasional cut I have not been using it much for these reasons.You would have to have a big pouch full of batteries to get any serious work done with this saw. The batteries and charger have given me fits. I am on my 3rd charger in 4 years and the first two just outlived the one year warranty. PC had nothing interesting to say about it. I have also gone through 3 batteries. Beware that there are various capacity replacements out there and make sure you get the largest available.After using Makita batteries, Bosch batteries, and older Portercable 12 volt batteries I would say I got the shortest life out of the 19.2 volt pc batteries.Now that Lithium Ion technology has arrived I would get a different brand such as Makita , Milwaukee , or the yet to be released Dewalt. You will get much longer run times with this new technology. KS Maryland

This is is nice quality saw that works well, but has one drawback. It eats batteries very quickly. And when the battery even starts to get low it completely looses all torque power. The only way to work with this saw is to have at least 3 batteries available and charged before starting work. But it will cut like a workhorse as long as you feed it batteries.

PURCHASED THE QUAD PACK BUT HAD SOME SPECULATION ABOUT THE SAW DUE TO PROBLEMS FROM THE PAST WITH OTHER BRANDS. AFTER ABOUT A DAYS USE I AM COMPLETELY SOLD ON THIS SAW. HAS ALL THE POWER YOU NEED TO DO WORK THAT IS MADE FOR CORDLESS TOOLS. THIS SAW , IN MY OPINION , IS HANDS DOWN THE BEST I HAVE USED. IT FEELS SO COMFORTABLE WHILE USING I PURCHASED TWO SPARE BATTERIES SO I WONT HAVE TO BOTHER WITH A CORDED SAW. YOU CANT BELIEVE HOW MUCH TIME THIS SAVES YOU IN A PRODUCTION TYPE ENVIRONMENT AND HOW MUCH NEATER THE SHOP LOOKS WITHOUT CORDS EVERYWHERE.

Everything is great except for the extenstion table. The laminated table surface is not even close to flat and the dimensions in the assembly manual for the legs are incorrect. Aside from these gripes the saw is well made. All parts were included in the shipping boxes, the cast iron tops are flat as can be, and the assembly was very smooth. The splitter guard is a pain. Align the motor well before attaching it!

Al boxes were delivered in fine condition and all parts were there.(I always check before starting.) The setup was a bit slow and some of the instructions and or pictures were not as clear as they should be. Not having the holes drilled in the table extension is kind of a pain, since the measurements are taken off of parts that need to be matched with no easy way to hold them and measure. Table mostly flat and within acceptable tolerances. The guard/splitter is a difficult at best and not user friendly. I haven't yet tried to remove it for dado work, but am sure it will be time consuming. I might leave it off and purchased a better after-market type.

Nice cuts, the bessy is very accurate and the entire unit is rock solid.

I wondered how that box was going to fit in my mail box, and as the time approached for the package to arrive, I'd check all doors to see if it got left. No luck. The first shipment got lost and Amazon responded well and re-shipped. No tracking available on these products. Shipper called in advance and boxes arrived as scheduled this time. I found the directions to be perfectly fine. Taking my time, I still spent no more than 8 hrs in the set-up. For a duffer like me, it was a treat learning as I go so that when, inevitably, things go out of line I'll be able to get it back in play. And, as you'll see with other reviews, there is a common issue with the laminated extension table, a slight negative dip. I wonder if the dip isn't by design, since tolerances bringing the middle of the table up over the cast iron deck would be impossible to deal with. Exact is great, but if there's error, let it be in the right direction. By the way, you'll need a bar clamp on hand to install the table. Made my first cuts last night. Dead on. I'll need to make more inventive excuses about my project flaws, now. As for guard/splitter, I'll learn to live with it. My earlier tablesaw (Sears ~1948) was beginning to terrorize even me.

This saw is great. I regulaly cut concrete core steel clad raised floor tiles. The basic Milwaulkee Sawz All used to beat me to death doing this. But the reciprocating counterweight seems to work quite well.

I love this Dewalt DW309 HEAVY DUTY Reciprocating Saw. I Purchased mine 12/1998 and have put it through the mill. If I could only have one electrical tool, this would be it. I do everything with it.

I finally had to give my brother his saw back today. <> I'm going to miss the big beast.

Okay, I'm no pro -- just a very enthusiastic amateur. On the other hand, since I have no idea what the correct way to use the saw is, I may well put it through a harder, albeit shorter and less frequent, workout than the pros do.

A couple comments:

If you need to pull the blade out of the cut before you've gone all the way through the material, be sure to let go of the trigger first, or this puppy will twist your blade into a fair imitation of a question mark.

As far as changing blades goes, I can't imagine anything easier. Just flip up the little lever, give the saw a tiny shake, and the old blade falls harmlessly to the ground. Shove in a new blade, push the lever back down, and it's off to the races again. I'm not really sure why anyone would *want* to touch the old blade -- gloves or no -- before it cools off, but I agree it would definitely be a hazard.

Sure, it vibrates like a Harley with a bad timing sprocket, but for this amateur that's part of the appeal -- i.e., when I fire that thing up I just KNOW I'm doing some really MANLY stuff! {g}

Great saw. Wish I had one of my very own.

Grizzly states before purchase a vastly lower sum than when you attempt to check out. Do not be misled.

My background: professional engineer and contractor.
Reason for purchase: Replacement for Sears 10" contractor saw.
Why Grizzly?: Read reviews on all the majors (Delta, Jet, etc.)
Grizzly had best overall rating - though limited number of
reviews.
Assembly and set-up time for a pro: 2 hours
Initial impressions: not overly impressed

Item arrived in two boxes. Both boxes significantly damaged. Shop Fox fence un-usable due to damage and missing parts. Shipping pallet contaminated with fungus/mushrooms. Shipping weight significantly overstated by more than 10% net.

On initial inspection, very poor casting and machining EXCEPT motor and spindle, which when set-up ran at less than 1/1000th runout. Cast iron wings obviously from different lot as noticeable misalignment to main table. Cheap attachment hardware: ungraded plain steel and not accurately made. Limited adjustments for paralell and perpendicular. You have to provide your own shims. Drive belt is "no-name" quality, metric size, and does not sit flush in motor pulley or spindle pulley. Motor transome not spring or hydraulic dampened, and juts out well past end of table compared to other saw brands. Having to reach over to pull through long work pieces is a safety issue.

The blade table insert. Very annoying. First, not flat. Second, as another reviewer pointed out, deep cast logo catches small and odd shaped pieces. Third, cannot achieve max depth of cut BECAUSE blade washers push insert completely out of table! Recommended: get your own piece of oak or other hardwood (1/4" thick) and make your own zero clearance insert for almost $0. You will need several if you change brands or type of blade due to differences in tooth offset/rake.

To its' credit, the saw does operate very smoothly. It is moderately quiet, but with an odd sound, no the jet engine wind-up/wind-down I'm used to. The dust collection pan is worthless - since the four sides of the frame remain open and any cross breeze counteracts the vacuum, blowing debris 2 to 4 meters away.

The blade height wheel layout is terrible. The freespin handle is so close to the lower part of the fence support rail that 1) cannot be seen unless bending over (a dangerous practice with saw running) and 2) I am constantly hitting my medium sized hand on the sharp edge underneath (too bad I cannot show you a digital photo of resulting cuts to right hand).

Why other reviews think the Shop Fox fence is the last word in fences, I have no idea. The fit and finish are only fair to poor (enamled, not powder-coated finish. Minimal adjustments by four shallow set-screws. Cheesy stick on ruler and easily damaged/misaligned magnifying sight). The main annoyance is that the Shop Fox, unlike every other saw in this price range, is MISSING a BACK CLAMP! If any significant pressure is applied to the fence (as in using the miter guage OR tweaking a piece of plywood too much), the fence becomes mis-aligned. That brings up another problem in the set-up of the fence. That is, tightening the cam lever lock results in the fence shifting as much as 1/16th off from original position. You must gently tap the fence after tightening 3/4's of the way to get to your desired position. Another problem is the back "glide" is actually an upside-down carriage bolt with a piece of teflon stuck on the head. The actuakl contact curface is just 1/8th"!
Again, a plain steel piece - easilt bent/damaged. I already replaced with a grade 8 hex bolt (with mill marks sanded flush) and a Teflon glide from a chair leg) attached to that with JB epoxy).

The table stand is no wider or more stable than other "portable" saws. This is a problem with using the very heavy cast iron wings because it makes the saw less stable. It also means you cannot possible add additional wings without having adjustable outrigger legs. The additional wings are almost a necessity when cutting full sheets of plywood. Let's face it, almost no DIY'er or contractor is going to buy a panel saw for sheet goods, andd at least half my cutting chores are with plywood.

The miter that comes with the unit is a joke. Heavy? Yes. Accurate gauge? Nope - stick on decal, not even cast, let alone engine engraved. Single plastic glide insert. Very rough stroke - which causes control concerns. No provision for add-on clamp.

Customer service is certainly friendly, but actual service is quite slow. I can see that replacement parts and accessories would be a real headache. Remember, this is an import saw, made in R.O.C. and that Grizzly is a marketing company, not a true manufacturer.

Overall, the saw is OK. However, given the damage, length of time to receive, the low quality casting/machining, the crude Shop Fox fence, and shipping costs/hassle; better to go to your local hardware store or tool retailer and get a Delta/Ridgid/Jet

OK - so this is a contractor quality saw and not a cabinet-maker's dream. Still, according to other reviewer's, this is the best they have ever seen. I think not.

I purchased this saw after reading the reviews here. I must say, for the money there is no better saw on the market. This thing is first class! You can see the quality in each piece as you assemble the saw. You can tell that Grizzly spent a great deal of time 'engineering' this product. There is a huge difference between an 'engineered' product and a 'mass-produced' product. Grizzly could easily get away with selling this saw for $1000+. Its that nice. Highly recommended.

I have been happy with this machine. It seems well-built and accurate. It's easy enough to adjust the head for the work. It's been doing good work for me on a bunch of fine, compound miter work. The single hold-down seems to work well, but I wish I had a second so I didn't need to keep moving it L-to-R.

If you are doing any fine work, I'd suggest you replace the blade with something a little stiffer. The factory blade is very thin kerf. I think it'd be fine for framing, but not for the precise woodwork that I am doing with it. When I use the machine for rough carpentry, I'll swap the OEM blade back in.

There is a little wobble in the head. Since this is my first power miter saw, I'm not sure if this is a typical problem or not. But careful usage seems to not cause a problem, that is, push down, not sideways.

As appears with most machines, dust collection seems to be a problem, even with an attached shop-vac.

It checked out square out of the box. Though there is a fence adjustment that doesn't seem to be covered at all in the instruction manual. This is more a curiousity than a problem, as it seems straight-forward should you ever need to re-zero it.

If you are left-handed, I think you will find it a little awkward, as the trigger safety sets so it's under you thumb if you use your right hand. When I tried switch hitting for a cut on the right side of the table, I found it cumbersome.

I've listed all the negatives, but in general, it seems a solid machine and would buy it again. I've had other Hitachi equipment for 17 years and it's worked well, they just don't advertise much, but make good stuff. It came recommended by a friend that evaluates tools for a profession.

I have a friend who is a carpenter by trade. He took me through a tool store pointing out all the tools I should get for the shop I was setting up now that I have my first house. He suggested that I get a sliding miter saw but the price was a little steep. I decided to get a standard compound and since he spoke highly of Hitachi I was drawn to this saw due to it's relatively low price and quality build. Set up was minimal and I did a few practice cuts at different angles and then started working on the molding in my infant son's room. It's not easy to get a good joint but I can't blame the saw since our walls wave all over. My only real complaint is that when you tilt the blade off of vertical the motor cover interferes with the hold down clamp if you have it on the left side. I plan to get the optional wings since cutting the end of a 2x4 is a pain unless someone is holding the other end.

The things that are important on this saw are great,degree/stops are right on , sturdy table, powerful and smooth motor. Ido have a few complaints; 1) No extension wings included... 2)Thin,brittle red plastic throat plate shattered after a few uses (withfactory blade). 3) they used an overly long and slender handle fortable adjustment- seems easy to bump and appears it would snap off ifyou bumped it hard.(Not what you would expect from a saw that isdesigned for transport to the job site). Overall I still think it's agreat saw , and for the price I'm willing to put up with a few minorshort comings.

I do quite a bit of cabinetry and use this saw extensively. I bought the C12LCH to replace the DeWalt 708 which was had a major quality issue. I am very pleased with the saws accuracy. I would extremely recommend buying a top quality blade. The blade that came with it is unsuitable for cabinetry but would be fine for rough work. The blade had quite a bit of deflection. When I put my forrest blade in the saw, deflection was not an issue. Love the laser, used to think of them as a gimicky thing, but it's not, it saves work and is actually more accurate then drawing a line and matching up with the tooth of the blade. Here's why. When you measure a board, make a mark and then use a square to draw a line accross the board, there is more potential for error. First, if your square isn't perfectly square, the line will be off to some degree. Secondly, when you make a mark, and then line up the sqaure, the line you draw may be off even slightly from the mark you made. These two things can compound the error, whereas with the laser, you make your mark and line it up with the laser and that's it. Two fewer steps to where error can occur.
On with the rest of the review. The fence system is easy to square up to the blade and the detents were true. Love the lcd readout aswell. The negatives are as follows: As was stated, you loose the laser line when cutting the wood, and it would have been nice to have two sides for the laser. There are a couple of other things i found annoying as well. The surface is somewhat slippery, and the motor creates a big vibration upon startup, making it difficult to keep the wood from sliding. Maybe this is general to all of these saws and i may just not have noticed it with the 708 because of no laser. Lastly, the plastic middle pieces on the saw bed are annoying, they are too large. It is difficult to cut smaller pieces of wood, because there is less steel to butt the wood up against, and you can't rely on the plastic inserts for a flat rliable surface. Other then this, I am very satisfied with the saw. One last note, due to all the complaints about shipping, i had mine next day delivered. It came in good condition

I ordered this saw as a gift for my husband, He was really happy with the condition it arrived in and also the order was here in less than a week. He is really pleased with the laser on the saw and as of 3 months, he has no problems or complaints. He is a woodworker, and has made many of our own and our childrens furniture in our homes. One question, if some one could reply and let us know, We were to receive a free brad nailer with our purchase, and have not yet gotten it. It has been 12 weeks. Did any one else buy at this same time and also send for the free nailer? we sure would like to know the time line on the free gift. Thank you. Gloria Montgomery. Pennsylvania

I purchased this with the intent to use it in my wood shop and to do the house repairs. I was surprised how easy it was to setup and get going without any adustments. I think the dust collection is a little skimpy and caused some issues in connecting to my dust collection system. The blade needs to be changed to a finer cut (higher tooth count). The saw is powerful and has good capacity.

Grizzly states before purchase a vastly lower sum than when you attempt to check out. Do not be misled.

So far I am very happy with the saw. I will say that I agree with the gentleman who says that the fence leaves a lot to be desired. If I were Grizzly I'd fix that deficiency even if I had to charge a little more for the package. I may purchase a Kreg fence but for now I'll try and live with the one supplied.
I run the saw at the recommended 220v. which I believe make a big difference in performance. I chose this saw because it will take a 1" blade and I plan to use it (95% of the time) for resawing. My resaw efforts so far have been very sucessful.
I see this machine as a very good value.

After carefully evaluating 14" to 20" bandsaws I decided to purchase the Grizzly G0513 17" bandsaw. Prior to purchase I obtained a copy of Lonny Bird's "The Bandsaw Book" which helped me determine the size saw I needed and will serve as a shop reference for the bandsaw. Next I downloaded the Grizzly manual for this saw. This allows the opportunity to understand the saw and set up procedures prior to purchase and to prewire a dedicated 120 or 220 volt circuit and obtain the proper plug prior to delivery. I also bought a mobile base before the saw was delivered. I left the base assemble in two pieces.
The saw was delivered in a skeleton-type wood crate. I used a battery powered trim saw to carefully cut the slats and in five minutes the saw was uncrated. I left it on the pallet to remove the blade and assemble the table. I used three 17" long 2X4's on edge as my wife helped me slide the saw off the pallet and onto the 2X4's. I removed the pallet and assembled the mobile base around the base of the saw, then dropped the 2X4's flat, which slid out from under the base when it was moved. From this point on you need to take your time and not be in a hurry to set up the saw. I felt the manual was written for people with little experience with bandsaws and explains the set up and fine tuning in great detail, plus there are helpful tips in The Bandsaw Book. If you can't find where a part belongs from the description in the assembly dirstions, refer to the schematic drawings in the manual. I encountered no problems during assembly. Be sure to square the blade to the miter slot, then the fence to the miter slot. This way I was able to get it right the first try.
Once fine tuned and the blade properly tensioned, I found the saw to be free of vibration, quiet and very capable. The fit and finish on my saw is excellent and assembly and fine tuning very easy. After using the saw I am very pleased with the results, whether cutting freehand or using the fence. You will need to purchase other blades for resawing and other types of cutting as the included blade is for general purpose cutting. Overall I am very pleased with my purchase.

I purchased one of this Model and it didn't have the quality that most of my Dewalt tools have. It wouldn't cut well as the blade shaft was misaligned and I kept the batteries and sold the saw in a yard sale. I really felt let down on this saw. I called customer service and got absolutely no help on the problem! The Customer Service was Dewalt and not Amazon. Amazon has always been great on any problems!
Live and learn!
BJ

I bought this to replace and old craftsman jig saw. I have quite a few cordless Dewalt tools and like them all. This tool was no exception. I found the cuts smooth and quick. I got it mid way through my woodworking season. I used it to cut out a hole in plywood for a utility sink, make some angle cuts and some scroll work for shelf brackets. I am impressed by how easy it is to use. It is a bit heavy with the battery but nicely balanced. I thought the tool-free blade change was slick and never had problems with the blade popping out. It is a bit expensive and I knocked a star off for that reason.

I'm reviewing the DeWalt European 18v version (ELU) of this jig saw and I must say that it is truly a versatile and very powerful cordless jig saw but the trade-off, in my opinion, is that you can't ask this particular saw to do what -- say a Bosch 1584AVS -- corded jig saw can do. If you can live with certain limitations (a pronounced tendency to veer or wander especially if you try to follow a guide or push it along, an almost annoying plastic cutting guide that vibrates off repeatedly in operation, limited cutting power especially in thick materials like MDF, and some above-average vibration in thinner materials) then this jig saw warrants a much closer look. I'm a firm believer in buying items that fulfill their intended purpose, i.e. don't try to train a cat to bark like a dog, and so the portability, convenience and overall power more than offset this saw's shortcomings. If you a serious jig saw user, then you really should opt for a corded model with more power and better overall performance.