Power Saws Reviews

The dewalt saw is a capable compound miter. The problem is the 8 !/2 inch blade, which is a odd size and does'nt have any fine tooth available at all. The only blade that I could locate is a fast woodcutting, which is unnacceptable in some instances. There are many different blades available in 8 1/4, why they made this saw 8 1/2 is beyond me. Why make a saw with no blades available.

I got the dw712, and it was 350 dollars, not the 500+ shown here, and its the same saw, my box is the same model, and clearly marked as haevy duty. I also found blades, not as readily availible as other sizes, but they are out there, so no complaints there, this is a nice saw, and covers everything that a non-sliding 12 does, except 4x4s, and I dont do many of those anyway, very compact and easy to move from job to job, love it, for the money, cant beat this saw!!!
As for complaints about it throwing dust, its a miter saw, what do you expect???

Contrary to the other review, blades ARE available, but not so readily as say a 7-1/2 or 10 inch. Try Home Depot or Lowes for sure, or probably any other large building materials supplier. Unlikely at a local "mom and pop" hardware. They were listed on Amazon too, but there was some glitch in their supply resulting in an extremely long delay in delivery, so I cancelled. I have three 60 tooth blades and they work great with the saw.

I agree with the other review about the time to positively identify all screws and fasteners. Also the bolt and wing nut that hold up the blade guard stripped out when I tried to align the guard. My fence is almost locked in place unless I make it slide with a rubber mallet. Overall I suppose you get what you pay for. It was a cheap saw.

This review is an update reflecting a couple of months of regular use. I've deducted one star for the throat insert, as detailed below.

NOT IN THE AD: The extras included in the value pack are an extra 36-tooth blade, a tool belt, a 25-ft steel tape, a 9-in level, a builder's square, and a 25-ft extension cord. The base is plastic, but should be durable.

ASSEMBLY: Assembly took over an hour, due mainly to the time required to positively identify the many fasteners.

SETUP: Heel-to-toe blade alignment, miter gauge alignment, and fence alignment were acceptable out of the box. Blade tilt stops and indicator were off, and after adjustment they did not return dependably to the preset stops.

PROs and CONs: This saw cuts well and produces clean, accurate cuts. However, as has been my previous experiences with Delta Shopmaster tools, they are a decent value for the price, but attention to detail is lacking. My main complaint with this tool is the crappy insert that doesn't sit flush with the table, causing boards to sometimes hang up on the exposed lip when ripping with the fence. This not only decreases accuracy, but leads to frustration and potentially dangerous situations when ripping thin material and cross-cutting short workpieces. Another problem is the non-standard miter gauge slots which do not accept after-market accessories such as featherboards and tenon jigs.

I bought this blade with somewhat high expectations. I figured the cut wouldn't be as smooth as the Freud LU85, which is twice the price, but had to be smoother than the stock 40 tooth blade that came with my bosch 4212L, which it was. One small problem - the blade did not make a straight cut. Every cut I made had a scallop at the entry point of the blade into the material. The blade was straight when checked against a straight edge so the edge must oscillate as it spins. A check with the stock blade and a new Dewalt woodworking blade confirmed that the saw cuts perfectly straight. I definitely won't buy another diablo blade. I would give 5 stars to Amazon for their return policy - they took it back with no issue.

I replaced a Freud 80 T ATB blade with this one not long ago. Great performance and clean cuts with minimal splintering or tear out. Check it out.

This machine lacks the power to pull a 5" x 7" x 6' 4/4 piece of alder across my 3 hp table saw. I thought it was a bargain, instead its just...from Delta. Can't imagine this working for anyone. I'm sending this one back and buying a 1hp and waiting for shipping...again.

For anybody who is making many similair items, this is a great help. You can keep feeding in boards and keep you fingers safe.
Good speed range and enough poser for the home hobbist or small manufacture.

I bought this saw as a replacement for my old DeWalt jig saw, and it was a big mistake! the first problem which I did not realize until after I bought the saw is that there is no variable speed control in the trigger, making this saw very hard to control especially when you need to make accurat cuts. The L.E.D. light is a great feature, but I would trade it for a variable speed trigger. As far as the keyless blade change system is concerned, it works well, but does not look like it will hold up over the long run. My next problem is the worst, I owned this saw for about a month until the roller wheel that suports the back of the blade snapped off in the middle of a sink cut out, what a disaster, I am going to return this saw and buy the Dewalt or the bosch, this is what I get for trying to save 60 bucks, a piece of camel dung, thats all this saw is!!!!

I bought this jig saw to upgrade from the one I currently have which is a skil. No comparison. The Hitachi has a light that helps you see your line and the motor blows away the dust as you cut, great feature. It also cuts very smooth, no vibration transferred to your work piece which makes cutting smaller pieces much easier. The handle is ergonomically designed making a very comfortable feel in your hand. It also has plenty of power or if you prefer you can dial your variable speed setting down to lowest and cut slower. It also has 4 different settings for orbiting the blade which you can set at 0 and have no orbiting for smoother more acurate cuts. One more great feature is the quick change blade feature, no wrench needed. You can't beat the price either. I bought mine for 100. Also comes with a factory 5 year warranty.

this chain saw was no where near worth what i payed 4 it it worked and ran well butit realy strugled on just cuting a 26 inch tree down my stihl ms 310 had to finish the job cause the husky died half way throgh so in my mind it was not worth the cost, i payed 400 for my stihl ms 310 with a spar chain and that has been better so the only thing i can sy is to buy stihl heres a link to the site thankshttp://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/

I don't mean to be a spoilsport, but I think that the reviewer has unfairly maligned a good series of saws based one example.

The Husky 372 has a perfectly good reputation amongst thinners and loggers. Sure, it is a tad more chintz than the corresponding Stihl item, but the Husky is generally about $100 cheaper and one gets what one pays for in chainsaws and optics.

The 372 series is perfectly capable of being used as a high production frequent use machine. I personally know several cutters who continue to use Husqvarna items.

I suspect the previous reviewer either had a lemon, or that he/she had a dull saw, which is admittedly is worthless.

I have more than 1500 hours of actual run time operating Stihl 046's in western timber, and I would not hesitate to grab a 372 if the price were right and it were available.

The Makita 2703 is a decent saw for the money. It's $200 less than some of it's competitors, and it's rather light. The blade raises an impressive 3 5/8" above the table with the adjustment knob vastly easier to operate than the old 8 1/4" Makita. It has a good brake, shortening that dangerous wind down time. There is good visibility of the on/off switch through a portal. The saw has no telescoping fence, which is good if you plan on getting the Rousseau table as I did, or just want to keep it simple.
The saw is not without considerable problems, one of the most frustrating being the fence. When I just need to make a quick cut and don't want to set up the Rousseau, I've found that the Makita fence rocks back and forth out of square with the table surface. It also does not clamp parallel to the blade unless you measure front and back every time. The undersized mitre slots limit your aftermarket mitre gauge/featherboard options. The lack of soft start is also unfortunate, as the instant, screaming full power is grating. Also, the cuts are rough. I have yet to check or remedy the runout or blade wobble, and I intend to find a compatible blade stabilizer, but until then cut quality is outperformed by the old 8 1/4".
I'd recommend this saw for general use, but the accuracy required in professional finish carpentry taxes this saw, and all too often I turn to a coworker's saw for the more important cuts. I may change my mind after getting a stabilizer and tuning up the saw, but right now I'd have to say I would not buy it again.

Building Items with the saw works very well as long as streight cuts are made. Ripping wood with this saw doses a super job. But on the other hand I bought a miter saw to do the angle cuts. The miter slot in the saw table is not deep enought to keep miter tool in slot. I would not recomend the stand made by the manufacture unless you are very small. (under 3' tall) The stand that I wood Recemend is in this catalog (RM-36-540u Trojan) this stand is for normal and tall people. (I am 6'3" tall)This Trojan stand is portable and is it's own dolly no lifting to carry this unit.The Trojan stand I give it 5-STARS!

I bought this tool three years ago and using it only occasionally have spent more on repairs than the tool cost in the first place. Don't waste your money like I did.

This Rotary Hammer packs a lot of punch for the money. The 11 amp motor runs smoothly and makes easy work of drilling 1-1/8" holes in concrete. Insert a flat chisel and break through block, brick and concrete with ease. The detachable cord is a nice feature; if it gets damaged you can get a new one and plug it in, instead of having to open up the machine. The tools vibration dampening system works very well and reduces operator fatigue dramatically. After 100 hours of use a service light will come on, and you will have about 8 hours of use left before the tool shuts down, and the tool will need to be serviced by a Milwaukee service center. A rugged metal case rounds out the package on this affordable, durable, made in USA tool.

I bought the driver and saw kit and the hammer drill kit. In the first year I replaced the drill/drivers three times...while under warranty. The saw worked well and the flashlight was the best part of this kit. Now it is a couple years old and the batteries are dead and at $90 each I am not replacing them. I bought Hitachi this time with a five year warranty. I wasted $600 on the Porter Cable junk. I noticed that most stores are carrying this line anymore.

I was considering purchasing this item until I saw the price! I though on most combo packs you're suppose to save a good chunk of money. But looking at the price of the three seperate items the savings is only $20.00. That's a shame because I think this is a great kit, But not for $699.00!

I RETURNED THIS SAW ON 02/20/2006 VIA UPS. THE REASON FOR THE RETURN WAS THAT IT WORKED FINE FOR A FEW HOURS AND THEN THE CHAIN WOULD NOT STAY ON THE DRIVE WHEEL. NOT MANFACTURED WELL, I WOULD APPLY TENSION TO THE CHAIN IT WOULD JUMP OF THE WHEEL. FINALLY THE CHAIN WOULD NOT MOVE AT ALL OR VERY LITTLE. I RETURNED THE SAW TO BUILDERS DEPOT. THEY STATED RETURN NO QUESTIONS ASK IF WITH IN 30 DAYS OF PURCHASE. AS OF 3/3/06 NO REPLY.

I just used this little chain saw to take down a large tree (well, large in my book ...). These chain saws are always 'advertised' and 'meant' to be used only for small trees (maybe 3"-4"), and trimming and pruning. I had a tree with about a 12" diameter trunk that I had to take down after the recent hurricane. I bought this puppy, and the tree was horizontal on the ground within about a half hour. Another 2 hours or so of cutting it into bite-sized pieces and chucking them into the woods, and I was done.

This chain saw went way beyond my expectations. I always figured that an electric chain saw would bog down at the first opportunity. It didn't even come close. I was careful to take smaller chunks out, wedges, to make a large kerf, than maybe I woul dhave if I had had a large gas-powered chain saw. But this wasn't always possible, and it did fine anyway. Also, I did use it to cut directly through all of the main branches, many of which were 6" or 8" in diameter. Same thing - went through like a charm. And this was all with a very old 50-foot extension cord, so the load from that didn't affect it either.

The auto-oiler seemed to work. I filled the reservoir about half way, and it emptied over time, so I did it again, and it used most of it up. But, then again, I was pitting this little chain saw against more than it was designed for, so the oil was probably sorely needed. And this did beat having to manually pump a button for oil, which my last chain saw required.

If I needed to buy this again, I definitely would.