Dewalt Compact Job
The saws/stands range from 80 lbs with the Ridgid up to 114 lbs for the Makita. Another really nice value is the Ridgid that’s currently selling for $399 including the stand. Lastly, it’s hard to ignore the $499 price tag on the DEWALT which is a great contractor grade saw with great features, a great fence, and a really good stand. Pricing includes the cost of the stand and ranges from a low of $349 for the Hitachi to a high of $1,299 for the SawStop. The lowest price isn’t always the best in our opinion, we’re looking for the best value.
This is one of the most popular portable table saws on the market. In my personal experience, and drawing upon years of not hearing anything notably bad about them, I trust Dewalt’s portable table saws to be dewalt Hand tools reliable. November 23, 2011I also have the older 745 and the rousseau table. I bought it to replace the Bosch 4100 that was just to heavy to be lugging in and out of the van and carrying to the work site.
The fence lock only locks the rack and slides to the table. The fence itself just sits loosely on top of the rack and there is no lock to secure it to the rack, at all. The only thing that prevents sideways motion of the fence relative to the rack and frame is a sloppy slot that fits over a pin on the front and back slides.
On the other hand, the DeWalt can only be stored or transported in its upright position. While it may possible to rest the saw briefly on one of its sides, there is the potential to damage the power cord, plug, or the ends of the telescoping fence rails. To test the saws’ cutting prowess, we made a series of cuts on both the Bosch and the DeWalt with woods that homeowners and DIYers might use on a compact table saw. Both saws were almost equally quick to setup for use, with the DeWalt coming out slightly ahead.
With similar capabilities, solid performance and identical pricing (MSRP of $400), there’s no clear cut winner. Even so, differences between the two saws mean that one may be a better choice for your particular needs. You can store and transport the Bosch upright or on either of its sides. In between our tests, we found that the saw neatly stored away on its side on a workbench shelf.
It uses a 10-inch circular blade instead of the 8.25-inch. That will make a 3 1/8 inch deep cut at 90-degrees and 2 1/4 inch at 45-degrees. A secondary dust port is located under the table saw. This is a larger opening that is designed to handle shop-sized dust extraction hoses.
An idea for next time you do a table saw review – what’s most important to me is REPEATABILITY of adjustments. Same for the fence – I want to know that, wherever I set it, it’s ALWAYS accurate and straight. I’m OK if the saw needs some tuning up out of the box – most saws do – but I really want to know that I can trust the saw to HOLD its adjustments, especially if I’m moving it around a lot. This I find is the weakness of jobsite saws in general – they just don’t STAY accurate for very long as vibration and just moving them around jar things out of position.
Trust me, I wish we could spend more time on every aspect but we spent hundreds of hours as it was. I can tell you that the rack and pinion fences are much better than the standard fences of the past. Our entire group felt strongly that we’d prefer the rack and pinion on all the saws.