Dewalt 745

[Michael Lynch]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a 745 and took it out of the box last night and have a question on the miter slots. I've read good things about the saw here which is one of the reasons I bought one.

I planned on getting a better miter gauge than the one it came with. I noticed there is a raised hump in the middle of the slots that extends length of the slots. This seems to allow the gauge to "rock" sideways. I expected some lateral, side to side play, but this is a vertical, teeter totter-like motion, different from the lateral motion. I'm not sure how to explain this well so I hope this makes some sense.

Is this a function of the cheap gauge that came with the saw or the design of the slots? Is this something I should worry about?

I have a small, basement shop so space is a big concern. I'm tempted to return it and get a contractor's saw but I don't think I'd be able to get one out of the car, let alone into the house and down the stairs. Do contractor's saws come in managable pieces prior to assembly?

Price is an issue too. I was looking at the EZ system but blew through the budget long before compiling the basics I thought I would need to get started. There are some other tools I'd still like to get so I don't want to spend a small fortune on a table saw.

Thanks for any advice.

Mike

[Mike Circo]

A good tablesaw is the centerpiece of most shops. I'd invest well there before other tools.

I have a contractor's saw in my basement shop. Moved it down a narrow staircase, with a 90 degree turn in the middle, No problem. The motor comes off very easily, the legs are separate (in contractors saws, but not Hybrids), fence rails also are separate for new saws. The move is truly not hard at all.

If a new saw is not in your budget, I would scan the classifieds locally and on the internet and especially Craigs list. With some patience, you can find a good Jet, Delta or Powermatic contractors saw not too expensively. Any of those would be better than the DeWalt you picked up already. Your DeWalt is intended for easy mobility to jobsites. It is intended for moderate use in the "field", not really for fine woodworking.

Remember the two things a table saw must have is a good flat steady tabletop and a GOOD fence. The fence is crucial to a useful saw. Go cheap there and you will regret your purchase.

[Charles Trout]

I have the Grizzly G0444z contractors saw and I am more than happy with it.

It's a bit more expensive than the Dewalt, but it has plenty of power, cuts very accurately and when dissembled I can pick it up by myself, though it is a bit heavy for a single person to carry down some stairs.

[glenn bradley]

Take this in a positive way as intended please . . . The 745 is a small "throw it in the back of your pickup" job site saw. It is a nice version of what it is, but it is what it is. I wouldn't speak poorly of it just because it doesn't accept full size or more available accessories. It is not designed to be a platform for those. Used as intended, I believe it will serve you well.

If you were intending to use this as a contractor, hybrid or cabinet saw substitute, you will be a little disappointed. It is not going to accept many of the add-ons that the larger saws do. That being said, I have seen folks shop-build some pretty tricked out stuff for smaller saws and do quite well. You just can't get a whole lot "off the shelf" for them. If you wanted something besides a job site saw, the DeWalt's price puts you well into a used contractor saw and close to a several new ones.

[Loren Hedahl]

I also have a DeWalt 745 and it also has the raised center section in the miter slots. The slot is a full 3/8 inch deep and a bit more in the center, so there should be no problem with the miter gage rocking. There is a deeper trough on each side of the miter slot to provide a place for sawdust to go. This appears to be intentional. A standard full size miter gage bar fits my DeWalt 745 just fine.

In my case I got rid of my contractors saw and went to the DeWalt. There were three major reasons and one minor.

1) dust control -- I was never able to achieve any reasonable method of dust control with a shop vac. I even made a sheetmetal shroud around the blade, but it wouldn't allow a full 45 degree bevel cut and hook-up to the vac hose was terrible.
2) fence -- It was one of the early Ridgid models that was apparently a rebadged Craftsman. The rip fence would never stay in adjustment. There was always some movement between the head and fence, no matter how tight the bolts were tightened. I finally roughed the joint up and epoxied it together and that seemed to take care of the problem, but it was always suspect.
3) arbor runout -- to get a decent cut I always had to use a dial indicator at each blade change and put some vinyl tape on one side of the arbor flange to make the blade run true.
4) space -- I added large 4 inch casters which made it easy to roll around, but even so it had to be rolled out of my garage shop to use, rain or shine, because of its dust control problem.

The DeWalt has a completely accurate fence, a flat table, a functional dust port that hooks up to a shop vac, precise runout tolerance and stows under the bench. It is a bit noisy, but I wear earplugs when sawing anyway. Dust control is not 100%, but certainly tolerable. My only wish would be for a longer table. The distance from the front of the saw to the blade is pretty short.

With the same Freud rip blade I was using on my Ridgid I can mount it on the DeWalt and get smooth cuts without swirls or burning, never using a dial indicator to shim the arbor and fuss with the fence as I had to do with the contractor saw.

What is behind all this is that the quality bench top saws have had some engineering attention of late, where the contractor saws are of a 1930 to 1940 design that has not evolved. So there is no way I would assume someone else's problems and frustrations by going for a sloppy, old, problematic contractors saw off Craig's list or eBay when well engineered bench tops are available.

[Bill White]

I have the Grizzly G0444z contractors saw and I am more than happy with it.

It's a bit more expensive than the Dewalt, but it has plenty of power, cuts very accurately and when dissembled I can pick it up by myself, though it is a bit heavy for a single person to carry down some stairs.

I have the 0444z as well. It has been all I've needed. Did add dust collection, and a good Freud blade.
Bill

[Michael Lynch]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm now more confused than before. I'm going to try to keep this succinct as I tend to get kind of wordy.

My current plan is to only be working on smallish projects (we have a small house so no 12 ft dining room tables) but even so I realized the Dewalt would be a compromise. I would have preferred the Rigid contractor saw when I bought it but I couldn't move the Rigid's box at all (but it was under a shelf with somewhat limited access to it). I liked the Grizzly GO444 but with a shipping weight of close to 300 lbs I thought there was no way I'd get that into the house, even in pieces. However based on Mike's post it may not be an issue (I too have a narrow staircase with a 90° turn). Plus the Grizzly isn't much more (although I'd still need to buy a quality blade for either one). I'd have to measure to make sure it would fit but I think it would be fine once on a mobile base.

Glenn - No worries. I knew what it was when I bought it and I appreciate the honesty.

There used to be a show on DIY Network and the guy on it built a small table using a similar Dewalt saw which made me think it might work for my limited woodworking.

Loren - Thanks for the info. I had a feeling it was more an issue with the cheap miter gauge.

Thanks again.

Mike

[David Werkheiser]

I also have the 745 and for what it is, I think its a great saw. Its light, takes up little space in van, has a good fence and has a dust chute. I had a Ridgid before that was also very good but weighted 100 lbs. and took up too much space.
If you can return saw, look into the DeWalt 744, Ridgid or Bosch with fold-up stands, all 3 are decent compact saws with good fences.
David Werkheiser

[Matt P]

FYI - i bought a DW745 and had to return the first one because the table was significantly not flat (had a bow in it). The new one i received is better. I've heard that these types of saws can be made accurate, but with jigs, sleds, etc.. which is what i plan to do, given that i live in an apartment and can't have a bigger saw.

[frank shic]

i bought a 745 earlier this year to complement my contractor's saw to run a 1/4" dado stack. i love the rack and pinion fence and the fact that it's so lightweight i can easily take it with me if i ever have to do any projects away from home. it's not designed for cutting full sheets of plywood but then again, contractor's saws would struggle with that without adequate outfeed tables anyways.

i also bought a ridgid portable table saw several months ago to cut solid wood stock and it is very solid. if i didn't have the space, that would probably be my main saw although the portable stand isn't nearly as well-designed as the bosch 4000 for ease of setting up but the fence is way better and less prone to racking.

[Matt P]

What I'd like to know is: how hard is it to adjust the DW745's blade (e.g. so it is parallel to slot, etc). I fear that if I loosen the screws underneath, i'll never get it back to where it was. It just doesn't seem to have any easy adjustment mechanisms.

[Loren Hedahl]

I don't understand why, if you have determined you have a need to make an adjustment, you would want to get back to where it was?

To make this adjustment, you would loosen three of the four screws about half a turn. The fourth, loosen a bit less. The motor/assembly will pivot on the fourth screw when making the adjustment. You just tap and check, tap and check until it is right where you want it, then you can tighten the screws. Then you need to check again to make sure it didn't move as you tightened the screws.

I'm very happy with mine. The accurate and smooth to set fence, the light weight, the dust collection and did I remember to mention about the accurate and smooth running fence?

The miter gage is a bit sub-standard, but I don't use this saw for cross cutting, just ripping, so I would never miss the miter gage if lost. The motor is noisier than I'd like, but I normally use ear plugs when sawing in any case.

[Matt P]

That helps! Thanks Loren,
Matt