My first impression of the new offering from DeWALT was not too
positive. If you have one already, please share your observations. My
issues were that it was hard to start sliding and the business end had
more lateral play than the DW708. I'm planning on finding a second
sample to determine if the first sample was typical, but in the meantime
I'd appreciate comments from others who've "kicked the tires".

Dave

David wrote:

My first impression of the new offering from DeWALT was not too
positive. If you have one already, please share your observations. My
issues were that it was hard to start sliding and the business end had
more lateral play than the DW708. I'm planning on finding a second
sample to determine if the first sample was typical, but in the meantime
I'd appreciate comments from others who've "kicked the tires".

Dave
I spent a great deal of time this morning inspecting another 718. It
suffers from the same maladies as the other sample I spoke of earlier.

Now I'm considering a Makita LS1214L or F. Comments from owners would
be appreciated. I haven't found one to look at in person, but I liked
it's smaller cousin, the LS1013L

Dave

David wrote:
Now I'm considering a Makita LS1214L or F. Comments from owners would
be appreciated. I haven't found one to look at in person, but I liked
it's smaller cousin, the LS1013L

I played with one at the woodworking show on sunday. I wasn't real
impressed with the lateral play either. I think the switch to the
side-by-side bars instead of one over the other like the 708 has to
negatively affect this. The rep at the show sounded like they were
more concerned with how much space behind the machine was required, and
how their depth stops worked. I wish everyone would focus on
rigidity/deflection and dust collection.

There's a new home depot down the road from my house that has them both
on display. But neither had a blade in them which made it real hard to
see the play. With the blade in you can pull it down to the throat
plate and have a straight line to compare it to.

I had written off the dewalt infavor of pc, bosch, hitachi, or makita.
But since I can't play with any of them, it's hard to decide. I'm so
pleased with my latest bosch tools though that I'm sort of leaning that
way. The best place I can think of to check out the tools is berlands
house of tools here in chicago. I'm hoping that they have them all on
display. Some have dual lasers sounds, and one has a digital lcd
display. That looks neat, but I'm not sure how useful it really is
since it only goes in half degree increments.

I wasn't impressed with the dewalt laser either. I had a hard time
focusing on it. It almost looks like TV snow to me, only in red
instead of black and white. Setting the blade on the line just seems
so much more accurate to me. The laser line seems fat to me also. I'm
hoping that the other lasers have a finer, easier to see line.

brian

brianlanning wrote:

David wrote:

Now I'm considering a Makita LS1214L or F. Comments from owners would
be appreciated. I haven't found one to look at in person, but I liked
it's smaller cousin, the LS1013L


I played with one at the woodworking show on sunday. I wasn't real
impressed with the lateral play either. I think the switch to the
side-by-side bars instead of one over the other like the 708 has to
negatively affect this. The rep at the show sounded like they were
more concerned with how much space behind the machine was required, and
how their depth stops worked. I wish everyone would focus on
rigidity/deflection and dust collection.

There's a new home depot down the road from my house that has them both
on display. But neither had a blade in them which made it real hard to
see the play. With the blade in you can pull it down to the throat
plate and have a straight line to compare it to.

I had written off the dewalt infavor of pc, bosch, hitachi, or makita.
But since I can't play with any of them, it's hard to decide. I'm so
pleased with my latest bosch tools though that I'm sort of leaning that
way. The best place I can think of to check out the tools is berlands
house of tools here in chicago. I'm hoping that they have them all on
display. Some have dual lasers sounds, and one has a digital lcd
display. That looks neat, but I'm not sure how useful it really is
since it only goes in half degree increments.

I wasn't impressed with the dewalt laser either. I had a hard time
focusing on it. It almost looks like TV snow to me, only in red
instead of black and white. Setting the blade on the line just seems
so much more accurate to me. The laser line seems fat to me also. I'm
hoping that the other lasers have a finer, easier to see line.

brian

Thanks for your input, Brian. I started another thread here earlier
today after looking at a Makita. It was smoother and had less play than
the DeWalt, but it was their 10 incher. Now I'm going to focus on
getting info on the LS1214L.

Dave

brianlanning wrote:

I played with one at the woodworking show on sunday. I wasn't real
impressed with the lateral play either. I think the switch to the
side-by-side bars instead of one over the other like the 708 has to
negatively affect this. The rep at the show sounded like they were
more concerned with how much space behind the machine was required, and
how their depth stops worked. I wish everyone would focus on
rigidity/deflection and dust collection.

Something doesn't make sense. Having the bars side-by-side SHOULD
minimize the lateral play. It should be more rigid against
side-to-side movement. This should be evident enough to any mechanical
engineer that one wonders why it was ever done differently.

I'm not saying you didn't see what you clearly did see, but I think
there must be some other reason for the lateral play.

About a month ago I got interested in getting a SCMS ... some day. But
first I want to hear from some people who are very happy with some
particular model. Second, I need about $500.

Regards,

Mark

redbelly wrote:

brianlanning wrote:


I played with one at the woodworking show on sunday. I wasn't real
impressed with the lateral play either. I think the switch to the
side-by-side bars instead of one over the other like the 708 has to
negatively affect this. The rep at the show sounded like they were
more concerned with how much space behind the machine was required, and
how their depth stops worked. I wish everyone would focus on
rigidity/deflection and dust collection.


Something doesn't make sense. Having the bars side-by-side SHOULD
minimize the lateral play. It should be more rigid against
side-to-side movement. This should be evident enough to any mechanical
engineer that one wonders why it was ever done differently.

I'm not saying you didn't see what you clearly did see, but I think
there must be some other reason for the lateral play.

About a month ago I got interested in getting a SCMS ... some day. But
first I want to hear from some people who are very happy with some
particular model. Second, I need about $500.

Regards,

Mark

The bars don't flex much; it's the motor assy that's hanging off the end
of the bars that moves. You can see the assy move in relation to the
bars when you grab the handle and gently push side to side. What do you
expect from plastic construction?

Dave

David wrote:

The bars don't flex much; it's the motor assy that's hanging off the end
of the bars that moves. You can see the assy move in relation to the
bars when you grab the handle and gently push side to side. What do you
expect from plastic construction?

Dave

Thanks for clarifying.

It seems that the potential quality of this type of saw is better than
what is available (or at least better than most of the saws available).

Mark

I long for the days of polished cast aluminum construction. No one
would pay the price for it I guess.

brian