This item -- DEWALT DW746 Woodworker 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4 Horsepower Intermediate Saw (No Fence), 115-Volt 1 Phase -- is one of My Wood Working Plan's collection on Wood Working Tools. Brought on this site by My Wood Working Plan, the resource for wood working plan project.

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DEWALT DW746 Woodworker 10-Inch Left Tilt 1-3/4 Horsepower Intermediate Saw (No Fence), 115-Volt 1 Phase

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Publisher: DEWALT

Brand: DeWalt
List Price: $2,004.18
Our Price: $999.99
You Save: $ 1,004.19 ( 50% )
(prices subject to change)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Average Customer Ratings:



DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Tools & Hardware
Brand: DeWalt
EAN: 0028875077460
Feature: Massive cast iron trunnion provides solid arbor support; blade elevation crank has plenty of hand clearance
Label: DEWALT
Manufacturer: DEWALT
Model: DW746
Publisher: DEWALT
Studio: DEWALT


FEATURES:

• Massive cast iron trunnion provides solid arbor support; blade elevation crank has plenty of hand clearance
• Large, easy-access on/off switch eliminates fumbling around when you're ready to start or stop cutting operations
• Powerful and space efficient
• 1-year warranty



ACCESSORIES:

• DEWALT DW7460 Mobile Base
• DEWALT DW7462 Heavy-Duty Table Saw Cast-Iron Extension Wing
• DEWALT DW7450 Table Saw Stand for DW745 10-Inch Compact Job Site Table Saw
• DEWALT DW7441 Side and Outfeed Support
• DEWALT DW7461 Table Saw Heavy Duty Sliding Table


SIMILAR ITEMS:

• DEWALT DW7460 Mobile Base
• DEWALT DW7462 Heavy-Duty Table Saw Cast-Iron Extension Wing
• DEWALT DW7468 30-Inch Table Saw Fence Rail System
• DEWALT DW7464 52-Inch Precision Table Saw Fence Rail System
• Leecraft DW-2 Zero-Clearance Table Saw Insert for DeWalt Model DW744 and DW746


CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice saw, Comes with a fence but no rails...
Comment: I recently purchased this saw from Amazon. It was deeply discounted as I didn't actually need a new saw. My previous saw was the Craftsman version of the BT3100 with the gravity rise stand.

I will start by saying the title on the listing at the time said "(no fence)". It is wrong. The base model dw746 does in fact come with a fence. DeWalt sells the rails (either 30" or 52") as a separate accessory. It probably streamlines their inventory. At the price at the time I decided to roll the dice despite the listing title. The saw comes equipped as described on the DeWalt site with a fence, but no rails.

Amazon's free shipping had it to my house in a couple of days. It came in a big yellow box upside down. And the guy rolled it into my garage. So if you plan on mounting a mobile base that would be the time.

The saw runs true with little vibration. However my Craftsman vibrated even less and consistently passed the nickel test. Rips are clean and glue ready. The stock blade is not bad. Definitely not good, and I would highly recommend swapping it out for even a low end 40-50T General Purpose or Combination blade.

The fence is easy to adjust and locks tight and square. Most of what a fence is supposed to do.

It is also pretty quiet running. Cutting is cutting, but the noise while running doesn't leave me feeling guilty about turning it on after 8pm in my development.

I also added the sliding table and this is a nice add-on. After a little fiddling I was able to get it dead square and consistent. It makes up to 30" cross cutting feel a lot safer with the miter clamp and being able to keep my hands away from the blade. My previous SMT was nice, but this one is more heavy duty.

Dust collection is pretty good. You won't have a clean room, but I had a reducer for my 4" hose already and it gets a good 85-90% of the below table dust. To keep the dust off the floor I slid a 20"X20" el cheapo furnace filter underneath. It saves me from sweeping the 10-15% for a few days.

As for the final verdict. I think it all comes down to price. If you are in the market for a great hybrid saw this will serve you well as will many of the others. It is well made, and made in the US, and will serve me well for many years. It is not a 500lb. 3HP Beast, and does not claim to be. However at the list price it is overpriced. I paid $600 for the saw and rails delivered to my garage. At that price a great value, no regrets. At $1,200 I would buy a Grizzly or Jet in the $800-$900 range.

Customer Rating:
Summary: After a Year owning the saw
Comment: I wanted to wait until I have used the saw extensively before passing judgment on the saw. I have found that a break in period i.e. learning curve is necessary for any type of new equipment especially something as often used as a table saw.

I bought the saw packages with the 52 fence, cast iron (steel) extension wings and mobile base. As other reviewers have noted, the blade that comes with the saw is something that should end up on a chop saw, not making rip cuts. Replaced this blade almost immediately with a Freud blade, could not be happier.

Assembly of the saw with all of the additional do-dads took a couple of day, spending an hour or two at a time. Instructions were generally straight forward, but would recommend going thru all of it before actually assembling the saw. Because of the 52 rails, some assembly needed to be removed to install rail components. Not a big deal, but added time to the entire assembly.

Now to the operation, saw was pretty set, right out of the box, with some minor tweeking.needed for fence. Powerful and quiet the best way describe the beast, I do a lot of ripping on 4/4 red oak and have had very little saw related issues. Fence remained dead on and repeatable cuts have not been a problem. Dust collection is fair, I have a steel city DC 1200 cfm connected but still I get a lot under the saw. Just recently (still waiting for shipment) invested in a true cut system to replace the stock one, never could get it to sit right...and with the addition of a Incra 5000, makes cross cuts a snap.

All in all, the saw was a good deal for the money spent, a year and 5-600 b/f of oak later, it might have been better to bite the bullet and get a cabinet saw, but what the heck, I can get another couple of years out of this one before looking for a replacement.

Customer Rating:
Summary: The heart of my workshop
Comment: So many features about this saw impress me but I will try to be brief.
- Power: This saw has all the power you need in a small shop and more to spare. Nothing seems to slow it down, not even for a brief moment.
- Smooth: This goes for the saw itself (no vibration) and for the cuts it makes. I use the blade that came with it for most of my cuts and I never have to sand or plane any of the cut faces. I made a zero clearance insert for it and now it even cuts the cheapest, thin plyood without chipping or noticable marks. I bought a Freud blade for the cross cuts but have not had to use it yet.
- The fence: Smooth-sliding as other reviews mention, very accurate, extremely easy to operate and calibrate.
- The table: Solid and smooth table. The wings should probably be upgraded since they are not as smooth as the main table (made out of sheet steel rather than the cast iron as the rest of the table.
- The controls: just what you need and right where you need them. Large power switch that is easy to bump off with your knee in an emergency. Smooth solid controls for the blade height and angle.
- Solid machine: This is a very solid and heavy machine that will serve you for a long time if you take care of it. Make sure you get the deal with the mobile base (see heavy above) which is so smooth and easy to operate.
There are some features that I would like to see improved. These are few and none of them diminish the value of this saw but I wanted to include them for completeness.
- The splitter and guard assembly is one piece that has to be removed by using wrenches. This is inconvenient and time consuming when you need to remove them for dado cuts (or other non through cuts.) There are splitters that you can buy which do not require tools for removal and installation and DeWalt should learn fron them. Also, the splitter should be seperate from the blade guard so the latter can remain in place for non-through cuts.
- The wings that come with the saw are made of sheet steel and not cast. There are optional ones that you can buy from DeWalt but they should be part of the saw to begin with.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I studied a long time before buying this saw
Comment: My woodworking hobby outgrew my starter saw a few years ago, but circumstances did not allow me to buy a new saw until this year. Since I really wanted to take my time with this decision, I studied the market, put my hands on every saw I could, and read everything I could find on the web about table saw features. Since I work in a library, I also had access to every table saw review in most of the woodworking magazines.

Eventually I came up with the following criteria:

- I have a one car garage for a workshop, so space was a big issue. I was only looking at saws with 30" capacity to the right of the blade. I also limited my search to saws that could be pushed flat against a wall if need be. This left only hybrids and cabinet saws to consider.

- I wanted the most powerful motor I could get without having to switch to 240 volts, yet have the option to rewire the saw for 240v later if I so choose (thus eliminating 3hp saws).

- I wanted a solid fence that was accurate and DID NOT DEFLECT when locked down.

- I wanted some decent dust collection abilities.

- I wanted a quieter saw with less vibration than my old Delta contractor's saw.

- I wanted to spend less than $1000 to get the saw, yet have lots of options for upgrading/outfitting later.

Eventually I chose the DeWalt 746, and here are my observations:

The saw package arrived in relatively undamaged crating (seven days after I ordered it from Amazon), and the saw was in perfect condition. Here's a tip - I ordered this saw over the phone and was given the option to pay $25 to have the saw delivered on the ground in my shop - well worth it! Assembly was not too bad (3 hrs), but the manual could have been a bit better. In my mind it was a bit too small and the illustrations corresponding to each step of assembly were not always on the same page! This saw is heavy and the cabinet/stand is very stiff and strong. I feel that the base of this saw is a much better design than the open stand of my old Delta. The saw also runs very smoothly - it is A LOT quieter than my last saw and vibration is at a minimum. The motor is about as powerful as you can get while running 120v without popping breakers left and right (which I have read is a common problem with the 2hp motors running 120v). I have not had any problems ripping 8/4 white oak with a good sharp blade... Speaking of blades, the one that came with this saw is inferior. I will keep it just for those instances where I want to cut treated lumber for outside projects or some other such task not requiring precision or smooth cuts. I have always wanted a Biesenmeyer fence, but I read good things about the fence on this saw and was eager to try it for myself. I am pleased to say that it is a very sturdy (and heavy) fence with some ingenious features. Most importantly this fence operates very smoothly, it does not deflect when locked down, it was easy to adjust square to the miter slot and blade, and zeroing the fence scale could not have been easier. I did have to fuss with it a bit to get the fence face set 90 degree to the table, but once I got it there it seems to hold the setting well. Dust collection on this saw is absolutely excellent. I hooked up my Fein Turbo II vacuum and basically no significant sawdust escapes. I couldn't be happier in that department. As for safety features, I like splitters and hate blade guards so I was pleased to find that the splitter/blade guard on this saw is able to be separated (I did just that). The splitter is easily adjustable and works well.

As far as downsides go... Well, as I mentioned earlier the assembly manual could have been way better and the blade that came with the saw is junk. Also (and I read this several places ahead of time) the table is not absolutely flat. Using a straightedge I found a couple of hollows in the surface. I don't think they are significant enough to throw off the accuracy of what I am doing with this saw, but be forwarned that if you use a tablesaw to cut something more intricate than tenons you may have a problem with this. Unlike other reviewers I didn't have too much of a problem with the steel extension wings that came with this saw. When installed properly are they perfectly level to the main table? Yes. Are they perfectly flat? No, but acceptible for what they are. I wanted a good saw that could be upgraded and these are good enough for temporary use. In fact there are a host of great accessories/upgrades available for this saw. I already ordered a cast iron router table wing (made by Bench Dog) and soon I plan to order the DeWalt cast iron wing for the other side of the saw.

When it comes down to it, I am very pleased with this saw. The features all met or exceeded my personal needs. This is important, because I have no doubt I could have gotten a saw that performed nearly as well for a lot less money, but it would have failed to meet one or more of MY criteria. As for the price - I bought mine at a time when the saw was on sale and the mobile base was included (see my separate review of the mobile base). The sale price coupled with Amazon's ongoing deal of 25 dollars off any order over 199 gave me this saw at more than a seventy dollar discount. If your needs are similar to mine, then take a close look at this saw. I highly recommend it!

Customer Rating:
Summary: No more table saw envy
Comment: After 7 years of use, it was finally time to upgrade my Skil portable saw. I did a lot of research into different models, including the Jet, Delta, and Powermatic. Finally I went to a woodworking show and talked to the man who literally "wrote the book" on table saws, and he recommended the DeWalt DW746. It was a little more than I wanted to spend on a saw, but he said it should be the last saw I ever buy. I ordered it and the 30" rails from Amazon, and ordered the mobile base from Tyler (Amazon had a long back order and Tyler was cheaper).

The suggestion made by someone else here to assemble the base first, then attach it to the feet while the saw was still upside down in the crate was on the money. Can't imagine trying to attach it afterwards.

* Pros:

Assembly took a few hours, and was very straightforward.

The table was very flat, and everything but the splitter was well aligned.

I had to resaw some 5/4 x 5 Poplar, and the saw never bogged down at all. Plus it made surprisingly smooth and well aligned cuts for having to flip the wood over to make 2 passes.

Dust collection works surprisingly well. I had to rig up a 2-1/2 to 4" adapter, but it removes 90% of the dust. A little dust still blows off the blade.

Very smooth running, no vibration. The internal motor and wide belt lend a lot to that.

Takes up a lot less space than most other saws, since the motor is inside the frame.

The 30" rails were flat and true.

* Cons:

Removing the guard is a pain, and it's a little hard to get at one of the nuts.

The blade that comes with it is lousy. Replaced it with a Freud and it's like night and day.

Needs a 20A line, as it occasionally trips a 15A breaker on startup. I'm going to switch it to 240v soon. Should be smoother.

The miter guage does not have any holes in it for mounting accessories and jigs. I took care of that.

The assembly instructions (as others have mentioned) could stand some improvement. The photos were not matched up with the text, and in some places the text started next to the picture then wrapped under it, making it very hard to follow. This should be a simple fix for DeWalt.

* Overall:

I'm hoping the author was correct that it will be my last saw. So far I have been very impressed with it.

11/23/07 Update: I've been using this saw for 2 years now, and I'm even more impressed with it than when I bought it. I've converted it to 220V, and it runs smoothly and never bogs down. I've used a number of Freud blades and a dado set, and all cut like butter.

One additional downside is the funky dust collection port they put on it. It points to the side, and if you tilt the blade it hits the leg. You have to manhandle it a little to turn it so it can be used. DeWalt should improve this. Otherwise, it's an incredible saw.

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