Power Saws Reviews

my largest problem with this jigsaw is that the variable speed is..get this..a dial from 1 to 7 on the rear end of the handle...you cannot safely dial in the variable speed unless you remove a hand and set the speed..i wish i had researced jigsaws a little more thoroughly before purchasing.

I used this jigsaw for about 30 minutes and immediately realized it has a major fault. I returned it (...) and plan to replace it with a Bosch or Milwaukee.

The blade change mechanism is very awkward. You have to pull up on a black knob and twist to release or grip the blade. Unfortunately, as you twist to lock the blade, the blade arm goes out of alignment. The blade arm actually turned clockwise on me as I turned the black knob to lock the blade.

To straighten out the blade arm so that the blade points straight, it appears you would need a 1/4" wrench. However, there is no mention about blade alignment in the poorly written instruction manual. I didn't want to try this and just returned the whole thing for a refund.

The jig saw didn't feel balanced to me, maybe because the handle is too thin.

I too had been looking at reviews posted here. I am a BIG DeWalt fan I was quite disapointed to read about all the problems. I decided to buy one anyway and give it a try. The first thing I was nervous about was the blade installation/change. My first try was a dud, the blade came off as I started to cut. After close examination of the locking mechanism I discovered that I just had stoped tightening the knob too soon. If I turn the knob one half a turn past the handle it will click and the blade will lock securely. I have cut though 4 inch PT lumber like if it was butter. The saw has plenty of power and if I do my part the blade stays true. The only thing missing from this saw is a dust collection tube. I sure am happy I bought this saw.

I thought that this had to be a wonderful blade because of the Freud name. I put it on my trim saw and I thought I put it on backwards it cut so badly. I tried to use it once, then put my old blade back on with the missing teeth; if you're going to cut anything harder that hot butter, don't buy this high-priced coaster!

ouch! cut off my too favorite fingers with this man eater!!!

I ordered this blade so I could get shop saw quality on the job site when cutting finish trim. Both hard woods and soft woods. I GOT IT !!!!! Thanks.

Gary Audet
Brandon, Vermont

The metal strips out that a screw that holds the balde turns into. The blade and tool can then not be used and the tool becomes useless. This occured with below normal home use.

I thought about purchasing this item through ... but found it for less than the ... price listed at the time of this review.
None the less, this product does a pretty good job at cutting and extending to lengths that reach most of the limbs of a reasonably sized tree found in yards of most residences.
There were two things that stood out as far as dealing with this item. The minor of these is that the saw blade that is attached to the working end of this pole seems a bit too flexible. Would have been nice if it was made of sturdier metal. It was good however once you get a start in the cutting of the tree limb! Nice and sharp!
The second, more troublesome aspect, was that the screw-down, that keeps the pole from extending (more than your desired length) would sometimes allow the pole to slip through during the cutting of a limb. Hopefully, with use, this will eventually no longer occur.
Other than that, the foam grip area on the lower portion of the pole makes for a really great grip when in use.
And as far as the pruning blade goes; it was very easy to trim small branches!
While purchasing this item I saw others that had plastic/nylon parts. This one has metal (where the saw and prunining mechanism are attached).
Overall, I would say this is a good product to take care of most of your tree branch cutting needs.

I BOUGHT A DELTA 36-680. PLEASE GO READ THAT REVIEW IT WILL ENLIGHTEN YOU ON DELTA. I FOUND OUT THAT YOU DONT REALLY GET A 36-680 OR A 36-681 LIKE MOSTLY ALL THEIR SAWS 681 IS JUST THE PACKAGE NAME FENCE,WINGS AND LABELS CHANGE BUT THE SAW DOSENT. THE SAW COMES IN A 36-679 BOX . BUT WHAT YOU GET IS REALLY A 36-670 LIKE MINE SAID ON THE SAW AFTER CALLING DELTA I FOUND OUT THEY LEFT THE OLD LABEL ON BY MISTAKE.AT DELTA'S SITE I READ ABOUT THE 36-680 READ THE PRINTER FRIENLY VERSION IT SAIS MY SAW RIP 30,50" I BOUGHT IT FOR THE 50" RIP. GUESS WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO BUY ANOTHER FENCE THAT IS DISCONTINUED OR HARD TO FIND EITHER WAY ITS 4 MONTHS AWAY AND COST $300 OR MORE. THE SAW CAME WITH MISSING PARTS AND A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER FLAWS.HERES JUST A FEW LIKE THE ONE LEFT WING I GOT SITS 1MM ABOVE THE TABLE RIGHT WAS MISSING.THE GUARD IS HORRIBLE AND DOESNT REALLY LOCK.THEIR SERVICE SUCKS AND IF YOU ARE ON THE JOB THE SAW BREAKS PARTS ARE AT LEAST 4-6 MONTHS AWAY.THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER SAWS OUT THERE WITH GOOD SERVICE AND ARE REALLY SELLING NEW SAWS WITH LOTS OF NEW FEATURES.I AM ONLY WRITING THIS TO WARN ANYONE THINKING LIKE I JUST DID AND TRUSTING DELTA'S REVIEWS.READ THE HONEST REVIEW I GAVE THE 36-680 ON THAT PAGE. I CALLED DELTA AND LEARNED ALL THIS TO LATE AND BOUGHT A SAW I HAVE TO RETURN THAT I NEEDED (NOW) ON THE JOB.THANKS TO RON AT AMASONS TOOL CRIB WHO IS HELPING TO MAKE THIS RIGHT. GOOD LUCK PEOPLE. BEWARE OF OLD SAWS WITH NEW LABELS

I've owned this model saw for several years now. I've always found it to be rock solid. The extra weight of the steel wing helps stablize the set-up. Out of the box, it did require a little bit of fine-tuning to insure the blade was square with the fence and the table slots. Nothing I didn't expect from shipping. I used the right side 30" table to insert a router plate and now have a good router table to boot.

I do reccomend that you set this saw up on 240 volts rather than 120 volts. Although there is no differnce in horsepower, the increase in performance is really apparent. With the additional of a mobile stand, this saw is easily moved around the shop floor if necessary. The Unifence is excellent although you can get this same saw with a Bessemier fence. Personal preferences apply.

The only way I can think of to improve upon this saw is to go the extra bucks for a cabinet saw.

I'll start by saying that I didn't buy this blade willingly. I was working on an oak project (4/4) and wound up chipping the teeth on my Freud LU87R010 (also a 10" x 24T ATB thin kerf) when I hit a staple. I needed a replacement right away and this blade was the closest thing I could find locally. I figured it was a Freud, in roughly the same price range, so it had to be 1/2 way decent - at least to get me through until I could order another LU87. Boy, was I wrong!

I brought the blade home and swapped it out, cleaning the arbor face and ensuring that the blade surface was clean. Instead of picking up where I left off, I decided to rip a test piece. When I looked at the cut, I figured there had to be something on the arbor or blade that I missed - the blade was wobbling terribly and left horrible saw marks down the entire face. The saw marks were so bad that I had to remove 1/16"+ on my jointer before I could get rid of them. I removed it, inspected it (didn't see anything obvious), cleaned it again, remounted it and ran another test piece. Same thing. I remounted the chipped LU87 and it produced a very clean edge. Although it takes more effort to push through and the crosscut produces more breakout due to the chipped teeth, it's still better than the Diable D1024x.

Most of my tools, from my 12" miter saw to table saw to router, are outfitted with Freud blades because I've found they produce a superior product with superior results. Anyone that asks, I will confidently tell them to spend the extra money on a Freud product because you get what you pay for. This blade is definately the exception and it is the first time that I have been disappointed in the quality of a Freud product. I really think Freud is doing themselves a diservice by putting their name on this, as I don't think it's adequate for ripping 2x4's - especially when you can spend another $5 and buy the LU87 - a much better product.

This is an awesome blade. I rip a lot of 2 1/2" hardwood and I have ripped thousands of feet of 2 1/2" hardwood before I needed the blade to be sharpened. Because it is a thin kerf ATB blade it will try to follow the grain on thick hardwood if you push the wood through too fast, but overall it is a great blade.

The first shock I got when I opened the package was that the entire base of the saw is a very thin plastic, including the mounting structure. I have looked at a lot of table saws (other brands) in stores and they usually have very sturdy cast iron or aluminum bases. I could break a piece out of the base without even straining at it.
The second was the missing parts: assembly screws for the table insert, blade wrench, handle for the blade height adjustment and a small spring which holds the table insert was bent and useless.
As it is I can't start it up due to the loose table insert so I don't know if it really works without ordering missing parts.
I'm not happy about this!

This is good portable table saw, and the reconditioned one I received was in perfect condition except for a minor scratch or two.

Plusses: It has standard 3/4" slots for its full-size miter gauge, a solid table, and a real throat plate that can be changed to accomodate a dado up to 11/16". It has an excellent splitter/guard. The elevation mechanism is solid and fairly smooth. The extensions to 24-1/2" work smoothly and they're fairly solid. The fence will stay parallel after you you take it out of the box if you do an initial, simple realignment. There's very good storage on the base for all the parts. It mounts on a pair of sawhorses. Setup is easy.

Minuses: The fence isn't as easy to set accurately as the superb rack & pinion-driven fence on the DeWalt Model 744 portable saw, and the base is plastic, like the other saws of this type. The packaging was too flimsy for surface UPS handling -- this thing ships at 74 pounds and it needs a stronger box and more foam -- there were loose parts that could have fallen out of the split corners of the box. Minor complaint -- the manual tells you how to check and adjust most misalignments, but not how to to realign a misaligned pointer for the tilt angle.

Advice: I looked at 5 or 6 portable table saws at stores before I bought the reconditioned Porter Cable from Amazon. No portable table saw is as solid as my big old Delta contractor's saw, but the Porter Cable a lot more solid than the cheaper Sears, Delta and Skil portable table saws sold by home centers, and better designed and somewhat more solid than the Makita. (The DeWalt and Bosch available from Amazon are tops.) If you need a small saw and/or portability, this one is a good value, although I would bet that a reconditioned DeWalt or Bosch would be good values as well.

This is the second Dewalt model I tried. I cannot recommend it. The most important feature of a jigsaw in my opinion is to be able to make a square cut while following a line, curved or straight. This saw cannot do either. The plunger that moves the blade up and down has a very large "play" sideways. You can move it with your finger side to side by more than 1/16th of an inch. That kind of movement translates into a larger movement at the cutting area of the blade. So no matter what kind of cut you are making, curved or straight, the blade wants to wander. Once it moves 1/16th away from your line, you apply force on the saw to move it back. That makes it worse. As you make a curve, the blade deflects more and more as you get into the curve, making the cut not square. You end up with a very rough cut even with finest blades. You have to cut proud of your line and waste time sanding. You can do this test at Home Depot or somewhere you can see different models. Take this saw and push the plunger sideways, then take a Bosch and do the same. You will see that Bosch is rock solid, does not move visibly, whereas Dewalt is lose as if they forgot a bolt or two. I bought a barrel grip Bosch and I am happy..

This saw feels and cuts like the powerful saw that it is. I cut out new bases for my boat seats out of 3/4" plywood with it. I was amazed with the ease it went threw the plywood. Now I know how a pro tool performs.

I nicked this saw barely used on Ebay for $40. Thanks to all of you who gave it bad reviews here, must be the reason it went so cheap - and I got me a great tool. It seems this saw has suffered from the 'real men don't read manuals' syndrome. Sure enough, the saw I got arrived sans manual, which probably got discarded by the previous owner the first thing after opening the saw. So, I printed and thoroughly studied the PDF version off Dewalt website.

I will just go over the problems that seem to be mentioned the most here.
1. Dust removal: works a lot better if you turn it on. My saw arrived with the switch on 'off'.
2. Inability to make a straight cut: Orbital action is for aggressive cutting, and manual specifically cautions to set it to 0 for precise cuts - or for cutting metal. My saw arrived with orbital jacked to 3. Previous owner must have had trouble cutting straight. And this saw is powerful. I shudder at the thought of trying cutting metal on orbital with it.
3. Base plate retention lever working loose. It did come loose during test cuts. Manual says if that happens, tighten the screw holding the lever. Which I did - and the lever never came loose again - ever.
4. Blade retention mechanism. Manual states that in order to secure the blade, one must turn the tab clockwise a couple turns before pushing it down. Having done this, I never had a blade go loose. This is one knock for Dewalt - the claim to support both T and U blades is not entirely correct. You CAN chuck a T blade, but a quick survey of the mechanism assured me that is is really made for U blades and is not likely to hold T's properly. This problem is made worse by the fact that later Dewalt jigsaws are all T-blade users, and the only Dewalt blades I saw in stores were T. So I got me a set of quality Bosch U-blades. Never tried this saw with a T.

So far, I've been using this saw for several months - cutting all sorts of things with it. Not a single problem. No bent/ejected blades. No crooked cuts. No desire to ever get another jigsaw.

I HAVE 7 MILWAUKEE 18V POWER TOOLS. I HAVE GONE THROUGH 12 OR MORE BATTERIES. THEIR BATTERIES SUCK! THE TOOLS WON'T WEAR OUT, BUT THE BATTERIES WILL NOT LAST. IN A NORMAL DAY I WILL USE 5-6 BATTERIES COMPARED TO 2 DEWALTS ON THE SAME TYPE TOOL. I'M SELLING THE MILWAUKEES AND CHANGING TO DEWALT.

Though I did not buy brand new 18v Milwaukee batteries from Amazon (yet) more customers need to be aware their Ni-Cad 18v series has major issues. I bought a multipiece kit, impact wrench, and one extra battery. Not 10 months later, ALL batteried began losing charge in a matter of days to the point the charger would not recharge them they were so dead. No other brand of Ni-Cad's have done this. NOT ONE. And I have 3 other brands, and one generic American Gardner 18v bush trimmer battery.

Milwaukee 18v batteries are complete junk, and not worth a dime.

Look for their 18v lithium series though. Since I have their tools aready, I dont have much choice but to pay (what I'm sure to be) an insanly high price for one.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocoststuff.biz/amazon

I don't know why anyone still uses these things. Everyone owns a vacuum, and if the nozzle doesn't match up perfectly we all know how to use duct tape.

Some people get the bag to work; others have problems. But in the end it's the guys with the vacuum hooked up to it that end up walking away with little or no cleanup!

If you lost it and are looking to replace it, forget it and go buy a new blade with the money you save.

I use the saw with out a bag. I use a piece of 90 abs to direct the sawdust into a rubbish bin or just pile it up where it lands and clean up at the end of the day.

I have a DW708, and it picks up dust so effectively that it gets annoying having to empty the bag so often.

I got mine as a Christmas present a few years ago. It has only a few hours of use. I still have the original blade on it! My armature blew while cutting a pine 2X6.

I was considering getting it fixed, but I think I will go buy a new one. I'll probably just buy a cheap, disposable one since the high end saws appear to be crap too.

I read a couple other reviews, and was really surprised.I have had this saw for over 3 years, and it has been great. We are a small contracting company. There are usually 3-4 people using this saw, and everybody really likes it. I personally like it better than any other circular say I have owned, with the possible exception of a Makita 8-1/4". I have recommended this saw to others, and probably still will. It gets bounced around in our trucks and trailers, usually in it's carrying case, but runs great. It could be that some weekenders don't know how to take care of tools. No personal slams meant, just an observtion.

I have had the saw for at least 4 years and it has been a good saw. I have probably used it for thousands of cuts. I have even used it to saw a 500' line in the dirt to install an invisible fence, which I would not recommend. This dirt line caused the switch to burn up from too much continuous use (probably 4 hours), and I had to replace it. Recently the automatic guard handle plastic piece broke, but I have dropped the saw numerous times and I am sure that helped to its demise.