DEWALT DW716 15 Amp 12-Inch Double-Bevel Compound Miter Saw

List Price: $399.00 Discount Price: $394.95

Features:

• 12-inch double-bevel sliding compound miter saw with 11 positive miter stops and carrying handle
• 15 amp motor; 3,600 rpm; precise miter system and machines base fence support optimizes cutting accuracy
• Stainless steel detent plate; carbide blade
• Includes saw, blade, blade wrench
• 44 pounds; 1-year warranty

Accessories:
DEWALT Construction Professional Reference (Dewalt Trade Reference Series)	DeWalt DW3128 Series 20 12-Inch 80 Tooth ATB Thin Kerf Crosscutting Miter Saw Blade with 1-Inch Arbor	DEWALT DW723 Miter Saw Stand	StableMate PLUS100 Universal Miter Saw Stand	DeWalt DW3123 Series 20 12-Inch 32 Tooth ATB Thin Kerf General Purpose Miter Saw Blade with 1-Inch Arbor

Customer Reviews:

12" wins [Posted on 2008-03-10]
My husband is very hard to buy for and this was the perfect Valentine's surprise gift. He had a 10" miter saw with only a single bevel and kept saying it was fine, he didn't need a new one. So I surprised him with this before a large molding project and he loves it. Easy to use, precise cuts, a big improvement from his 10".

I'm in love! [Posted on 2008-05-04]
This review won't be technical or helpful, but as a female who really enjoys home improvement projects, I think this is one wicked awesome saw. I've been replacing baseboards and crown moulding and it's perfect. A 10" miter saw wasn't cutting it (no pun intended) on the larger crown, so I bought this one. It's easy to use right out of the box. I might one day sit down and read thru the instruction manual, but I could do everything I needed to without the book. I am inspired to learn how to do more things. All the men in my family and the guys who have been working on other things around my house are very impressed (with the saw and what I've done with it).

The best replacement choice available, but still not the best saw. [Posted on 2008-05-13]
I originally owned a Delta 12" dual bevel compound miter saw with dual laser. Unfortunately, a gear broke in that saw last month. I took it in to have it repaired since it was still under warranty, but... DeWalt now owns Delta, and upon aquiring Delta, DeWalt discontinued this Delta saw, which was easily the best designed saw on the market. The Delta saw sold for $400, had dual bevel, compound miter with a dual laser. The dual laser was awesome because it could be aligned with both sides of the blade for quick cuts not matter which side of the blade you were using. In addition to those features, the Delta saw had nearly one and a half inches more cutting capacity than any other 12 miter on the market. Futhermore, the bevel adjustment on the Delta saw was in front of the saw (above the knob for locking the miter settings). This made bevel adjustments quick and easy, and saved me a LOT of time on crown moulding jobs. The last feature that was on the Delta, was bevel stops for crown angles. Most saws only have bevel stops at 0 and 45 degrees.

Now after saying all that. While my Delta was in the shop, I purchased a Hitachi dual bevel compound miter, and have been very dissapointed. It is an OK saw, but is just not as productive as the Delta. It only has a single laser, bevel adjustments in back, no crown bevel stops, etc. The other annoying thing is that the laser line dissapears when you begin to cut.

Moving on to the DeWalt saw. Since my Delta has been discontinued by DeWalt (THANKS DEWALT!!!), I was given the option of a refund of my purchase price, or a DW716 with a laser attachment. I took the saw, but only after much arguing. Once I reached the right person at DeWalt, I was offered the 716, the laser, and some extra blades for my trouble. As I wrote in the title, the DeWalt is the best alternative but is clearly inferior to the Delta.

Pros:
Smooth operation. The belt drive is quieter and smoother. I like this a little more than the operation of my Delta.
More compact. It is actually a little smaller than the delta, so it takes up a little less space in my crowded van.
Fits on my DeWalt stand better. I own a dewalt stand (great product), but the table of the Delta saw (its fence) never matched up well with the supports on the stand (the saw's fence sat back too far), so very small pieces of moulding would always fall off the back of the supports and irritate me. The dewalt naturally matches up perfectly.
The fence: The dewalt fences are very accurate. The hitachi's fences are slightly off from eachother, and I have not been able to get them to match up perfectly, so I use it for rough cuts, not for finish ones. The Dewalt was set up by the service center for me, and everything is dead on.

Cons:
Laser. I just can not understand why they can not have a dual laser on this saw. Delta had the technology 3 years ago, and you bought them. When are you going to put this feature on your saws. I would gladly pay extra for it. The time savings doing finish carpentry more than justifies the extra cost.
The bevel adjustment. once you have used a saw with a front adjustment for the bevel, you never want to go back to reaching around the back of the saw. It is a waste of time. Again, you bought Delta, and they had the technology, why is it not now on your saws?
Pull pin for bevel. There is an annoying pull pin in back that you must pull in order to flip the bevel from one side of 0 to the other. This is annoying, and was not on my Delta. It is one more non value added step that decreases productivity when doing finish work like Crown moulding that requires constant flipping of the bevel.
No bevel stops for crown angles. There are only bevel stops at 0 and 45 on each side of 0. once you have used a saw that has quick stops at crown bevel angles, it is a waste of time to have to adjust the bevel to the precise angle every cut. The stops would be a HUGE time saver.
Less Cutting capacity. nearly an inch and a half less cutting capacity than my Delta 12" I tried cutting a 3/4" x 11" piece of plywood, and had to flip it after the first cut to finish the cut. My Delta would have done it in one cut. The video shows the ability for the dewalt to cut a 2x10 at 90 degrees if you remove the fence, add something (it looks like a scrap) below the piece you are cutting, and use the back fence. This is a time consuming workaround because of the saw's smaller cutting capacity.
Warranty: This saw only carries a 1 year warranty. My Delta had a full 2 year warranty.

To sumarize, it is a very good saw, and probably the best one currently available on the market, but is still inferior to the Delta saw that I had. If you have never owned the Delta, you will likely be very happy with this saw. I like it for what it is, but will likely never be truly satisfied with it because of all the missing features that I previously enjoyed. The time that will be added to each job will, because of the missing features, add up and eclipse the price of the saw in a month or two. I would be willing to pay hundreds more for a DeWalt saw that had those features. It would be worth the price, unfortunately, DeWalt does not seem interested in producing such a saw.

Finally... DeWalt's customer service did eventually try hard to accomodate me. it started out slow, but I have to admit that they finished strong, and I am now pleased with their effort.

DW716 Miter Saw [Posted on 2008-06-22]
I purchased this saw to install crown moulding in my home. The fact that it allows you to override the detenting capability made it attractive and worth the purchase. When you need dead on precision this is the saw for you. After setting up and tuning it, it cut right on the money. The sliding miter I used previously always detented in the 45 degree mark making it difficult to cut near 45. Yes you can shim it here or there but its still a trial and error method. Also the sliding miter saw I used always had some play from side to side that I reluctantly just had to get used to. This made my purchase of the DW716 all the more easier. I would recommend it for anyone wanting accuracy without sacrificing versatility.

I love this saw [Posted on 2008-06-28]
I am a self employed trim carpenter that is very particular about tools, This saw is the heart of my operation and it does a lot. It is extremely accurate, and was set up perfectly from the minute I opened the box.

I added the laser and that is a real time saver.

Again mine is extremely accurate, I like the crown stops/ settings- they work REALLY well and flip right out the way when you need them to. I will never bed another piece of crown to cut it like on my old dewalt without those stops. This is much better/ Safer

I do not like the blade that came on the saw. I bought the 80 tooth dewalt trim blade and got much better results.

First job I did with this saw I made over ten times what it cost so I think it already paid for itself.

I have since used it to trim more homes out and last job was to build a really fancy open stairway with over the post railings and the saw handled everything ok- fence was big enough to support volutes and pitch block just fine. You just have to cut treads twice- but it was not bad at all to do (just spin them end for end- saw stays the same) and I would not buy the heavy sliding model just to save a small amount of time.

This saw works great on the Dewalt miter saw stand.

The brake stops the blade pretty fast.

I do the kind of work that many others aspire to do but do not have the skill or patience for. I take my time and get things the way they should be. I charge a good but fair price for my work and I expect a tool to perform at a level that allows me do quality work I can feel good about asking someone to pay me for. This tool delivers for me.

I have since bought a 10" dewalt single bevel for regular trim, this is my Crown and large trim saw now.

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