DeWalt Reviews

I'm a tile contractor, so don't have a whole lot of use for a reciprocating saw. But, on the occasional remodel job it's invaluable. I own seven Dewalt power tools and am dissapointed with this one alone. The quick change blade feature seems to be a great idea, and time saver, but my saw has been in the shop twice because I couldn't get the blade out. Frustrating as can be in the middle of a job. Each time I was told told to clean the blade holding area (? ) frequently, but with out any obvious way to do that with out taking it apart. Occasionally beating on it helps, but... The telescoping foot has only two settings, neither seems to be right and the darn thing falls out. It also tends to rub the side of the blade if your doing anything but cutting easy material in a ideal setting, but...how often do you use reciprocating saw in those conditions. I would have returned it, except I'd had it for 7 months before the problems appeared (only used once during that period). Try some other saw...rent first.

Don't get me wrong. This is a good saw. It does the job. It cuts any thing you want. But compared to a Super sawzall It's quite slow. Compared to an orbital super sawzall It's painfully slow. Plus it vibrates a whole lot more. Why settle for a good tool when you can have the best for about the same price ? I don't get it. Don't take my word for it read the reviews in the trade magazines. This one was rated lower than most other brands, even with the cheaper and lighter Dewalt for cutting speed. It was rated even worse for vibration even though they claim it's counter balanced. I'm sure glad they have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.

For the past seven months, my crew has been building a factory; from the physical building to the process equipment installation. We have used the Dewalt to cut everything from stainless steel skin metal to pipe, angle iron, plywood, and framing lumber. This workhorse has not only done the job, but the Sawzalls stay in their case(unless someone already is using the Dewalt). I recently read the review of a tile contractor, and am somewhat amazed by his comments. An occaisional cleaning with an air hose (or even a shot of WD-40) keeps the blade clamp like new. Our saw is barely recognizable as a Dewalt now, but is still on the job every day. The quick change blade feature is a time (money) saver, and it's got power to spare! Keep up the good work Dewalt.

I purchased this saw because I wanted a precision unit that took little space in my garage. While I like the precision of the rip fence, there are some problems with other aspects. (1)The miter gauge fits loosely in its slot, making it suspect for really accurate work. (2)The miter guage does not have slots for attaching an extension. (3)The stops for the tilt adjustment are very difficult to set. A handwheel driven tilt is needed. (4)The rip fence is not solid and I hesitate to clamp extentions, stops, etc to it.

I bough this unit and it took very little time to make adjustments for set up. I used it for a duplicate project that had given me trouble in the past and the project, this time, came out rather well and wasn't that difficult. There is one minor concern and that is getting the scale for doing angle cuts set correctly. But overall the unit works well. The guide fence can be used on either side of the blade, and can be easily remover and replaced and still be accurate, this is a good thing. The rack and pinion system action is smooth. I was impressed with the overall opperation and ease with which the unit can be moved from one location to the next. I found the switch to be in the right place, right up front where it was easy to get to at all times. This is really a great unit.

Be aware that this product does not come as advertised. Nails measure only 3 3/8" including the head - and that's being generous!

A good product, over 15,000 through a nail gun without a misfeed. They go in easy and hold. All in all, a good full head nail.

This product did a decent job of assisting with the installation of a small number of locks on solid wood doors in my home. The guide is made of plastic and does not really provide a true wiggle-free alignment. Particularly on a 1 3/8 thick door there is probably enough free play to get into trouble if you are not careful aligning the drill.

On the plus side, the hole saws provided are of quite good quality.

Note that this guide will only work properly on doors that are 1 3/8 or 1 3/4" thick. Use in odd size doors will result in a mis-centered latch/side bore. The guide does adjust to appropriately locate the cross bore for backsets of either 2 3/8 or 2 3/4 inches. Conclusion: probably of sufficient durability for a homeowner doing a small number of installations; not going to cut it for a contractor.

In general, I agree with the previous reviewer.

Our home has older (50+ year old) doors, and I have used this to replace worn-out doorknobs (entire mechanism).

As there was an existing face-bore (in the no longer standard, smaller size of 1 1/2"), some jig was needed to correctly drill the current 2 1/8" standard face bore ... you can't stabilize a hole saw without one if the mandrel is in the air.

That said, I also agree about not getting a perfectly centered latch hole in our doors that are a little under 1 3/4" thick. But, it's certainly more than good enough. The error of perhaps 1/16th inch can be corrected in positioning the strike in the door jamb.

The limitation is in the mandrel: the larger threaded adapter for the 2 1/8" saw is ROUND! It is not hex, so you cannot remove it with a wrench (like you can with a normal mandrel), and ended up using another (better grade) mandrel for the 1" latch bore hole saw. I eventually got the adapter off ... when it was all but welded to the 2 1/8" hole saw, from which I doubt I will ever get it separated.

Other than that, I could not have been able to replace the older hardware (as described above), and so give this a slightly better rating. (Purchase was at a local hardware store, at a slightly better price).

The competing Irwin product looks interesting as the router template has the potential to save a lot of time in chiseling the inset for the latch in the door edge.

The only reason you buy this stand is to use it with the D24000 saw. It is nothing special. The adjustable legs are tightened with the screw so you adjust it once and forget it. Dear DeWalt, for $100 stand if not including wheels, at least include some hard plastic shoes on the bottom of the legs so you can slide it if needed.

The saw itself though is great!

This is a great compliment for Dewalts Tile saw. Adjustable legs give you the option to tilt the tile saw pan for better drainage.. Feels a little flimzy at first until you get use to it..

Dewalt Still Makes Great Products!!!!

SDS bits are for chiseling and masonry and require and SDS chuck (bit holder). Regular wood or metal drilling bits use a standard chuck. The description says you can easily select between hammering, chiseling, or drill only mode but the standard drilling chuck is not included with this drill. I confirmed with Dewalt that this model only comes with the SDS chuck, so you will not be able to use wood or metal bits without a separate adapter.

Love this drill. I am just a DIY'er and it does everything I have asked of it. goes through concrete like "butta"

This is not your "everyday" drill. It is heavy and doesn't have a clutch. But, when you need the kind of power that exceeds most corded drills, this is it. Hammerdrills through concrete like butter. The carbide-jawed chuck is a dream. My old 1/2" drill spun large bits all the time. Luckily, DeWalt is starting to use this chuck on its 18V and 14.4V hammerdrills, too. This newer version has two batteries which is good because the batteries don't last any longer than your average NiCd.

I have the entire 24V kit, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I like the AC/DC converter feature, so that when the uncommon dead battery situation happens, you're not left without power. DeWalt: How about a 24V jig saw, plate jointer, miter saw and handheld planer? I'll buy them whenever they come out.

The only downfall is this drill is a bit heavy for everyday use. I have a 12V DeWalt for lighter needs, but I wouldn't trade this drill for anything.

the weak bits...the cutter are excellent, but the bits break easy. I replaced them with some irwins and use the cutter and the quick change ...good but just beware the drill bits

The countersinks cut very clean without a lot of tearout.It handles most screws you would ever use and everything stores in a quality case. The only improvement I would like to see is an allen wrench built into the bottom of the bit holder for adjusting bit depth.

I really haven't been able to use this product, seeing as how I ordered it since it claims to have a 5/8" arbor. You see I have an old Radial Arm saw that has a 5/8" arbor and needed a new blade, so I ordered this one to find out that it has a 1" arbor. I noticed it when I looked at the picture, but didn't put 2 and 2 together. SO FOR ALL OF YOU THAT WANTED THIS BLADE WITH A 1" ARBOR, THAT IS WHAT IT HAS.

I am not a big fan of thin kerf blades for miter saws, especially when used for cutiing hardwoods, so that is why I rated this blade at 4 stars instead of 5. Other than that, it has all the right parts for a good slide miter saw blade, ie. 96 tooth count, 5 degree negative hook, TCG grind, but unless your are cutting a lot of pitchy softwoods, white or yellow pine, don't bother with the teflon coating. My blades typically don't get too much pitch on them except on the trailing edges of the carbide tips where their isn't any teflon anyway.

A couple years ago, I bought the Dewalt rotary sander model that was the prelude to this one. I soon needed two sanders in my woodworking shop, and bought this newer model. I have to say that the earlier model was a far superior one. For one thing, the ergonomics of this newer model is by no means friendly to your grip in comparison to the old. The hook and loop sandpaper replacement function is still as good as the last. The one thing that does tend to happen with both models is that there is a brakepad that occasionally needs to be replaced. Once you do it the first time, it's easy as pie in the future. The Dewalt rotary sander in general is a very user friendly sander. I do have to say though that in addition to the handling not being as great with this newer model, the motor is louder than the old, and the rotation just doesn't feel as smooth. Please DeWalt, reintroduce your old superior sander again. All this newer model is good for now,is using the new carbon brushes on my old one when they run low.

Let me start by saying that I have LOVED all my Dewalt tools. But, this sander sucks! At least the one I received. I have an eight year old DW 421 ROS that has served me well with my only complaints being the rubber sealed switch that has always been tempermental and it being underpowered. I have been shopping for a new ROS for a while now with variable speed and more power being two requirements. The highly rated Porter Cables never quite felt right in my hands and the Bosch sanders seemed to have too much vibration when in use. I was excited to see the ad about the new Dewalt sanders- bigger motor, cool new look, and it is a Dewalt!...I was on the list to receive one of the first ones. It finally came, it looked a little plasticy, but still cool. I plugged it in and turned it on (same lame sealed switch but not worn out like my old one) and the sander came to life- it had a wierd high pitched kazoo-like sound that had me concerned but I was going to see how it sounded in action. The variable speed control was really hard to turn, but I suspect that would get easier as it wears.

I put on a new 150 grit sheet and tested it out. It didn't feel good in my hands, the top was big and odd shaped. The high pitched vibration sound was still there. It sanded as well as my old sander but not better. I decided to do a three way comparison with my old DW421 2.0 amp, my friends Bosch 1295 DVS 2.2 amp, and the new D26453K. The Bosch had both Dewalts beat on build quality and power when sanding but without the CFS it just doesn't sand as well (I think what I'm sensing is consistent pad speed on and off the wood that the CFS provides for the Dewalts) The Bosch had more vibration than my old Dewalt but less than the new one.
The pad on the new Dewalt stalled as easily as my old one and as I previously mentioned I couldn't tell that this sander was more powerful. I could not rotate the variable speed switch with my thumb while operating it- too stiff. And that horrible sound!!
I'm sure I got a less than perfect copy, but I am still disappointed in Dewalt for either poor quality control or if they are all like that, for a sucky new ROS.

Comfortable to use and the variable spped is wonderful to have. Changing pads is a snap and the dust collection works very well.