Dewalt DW745

[zener]

Hi! I'm thinking about buying a table saw for cutting up blanks for segmenting. I'm on a budget because I also need a new lathe and a grinder/jigs/chisels xD I'd buy used but I live on an island and there's not much available here, and not much hope of getting a used cabinet style table saw from overseas.

Pretty much any saw will cut pen blanks, but I was hoping for something with the accuracy to make clean cuts, and the ability to cut reeeally thin slices for segmenting, on dense woods (the densest would be african blackwood). I currently use a mitre saw, but the blade tends to chatter and leave teeth gouges, which also causes it to just break the wood if I try to cut it thin. I always spend a lot of time at the disc sander cleaning up cuts. I also like the idea of being able to take the saw outside if the weather is good, so I can keep my workshop cleaner.

What can I expect from the Dewalt DW745? With a good quality blade, will I get clean, repeatable cuts?

Thanks!

 

[magpens]

Welcome to IAP !!!!

Sorry, cannot offer advice on the saw.

 

[zener]

Thank you!

 

[qquake]

I haven't used one, but it's a great looking little saw. I can't imagine a DeWalt saw not being accurate. I have a full size Ridgid table saw that I love. It's the most accurate table saw I've ever used. I noticed Home Depot has a compact Ridgid for a good price. Might be worth looking at.

RIDGID 15 Amp 10 in. Compact Table Saw-R4516 - The Home Depot

I will say that I use DeWalt thin kerf blades on my saw and they're amazing!

 

[zener]

Thanks for the advice! I like the look of the rack and pinion fence on the Dewalt, it seems like it should keep everything nice and parallel. I'd love to get a full size saw but an entry level one would cost twice as much as the Dewalt over here. And the Dewalt is already twice as expensive where I live as it is in the US! I'd order from the US but shipping+import fees are high, and US stuff runs off of 120 volts where ours runs off 240 volts.

I'll have to try the thin kerf blades. I have some Bubinga and some other stuff that I need to rip, thin kerf should be easier on the saw and it'll waste less wood, so I'm glad to hear they're good blades!

 

[qquake]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you weren't in the US.

 

[zener]

No worries, I never actually mentioned that I wasn't! I just ordered the Dewalt. I'll build a sled and test it out when I get it, and depending on how it performs I'll invest in a nice blade. I'll report back on my experiences once I've used it for a while! Thanks again!

 

[qquake]

I can't see going wrong with the DeWalt.

 

[thrustmonkey]

I own a 745 and it is a fantastic saw! Money well spent. The rack and pinion is really nice, and there's a lever on the right side to lock the fence in place once you have it set to where you want it. I really like mine. It's many times better than the p.o.s. Skil tablesaw that I had.

You got a really nice tablesaw for your first one!

Ross

 

[robutacion]

I also own that exact saw and it works very well and accurate.

The blade that comes with it is OK but not the best and you may do better with a quality blade with the correct number of teeth you need for what you want to do. A less quality blade is always handy to have for those cases where you need to rip some old wood into manageable pieces and then use the better blade, changing blades take the best part of 1 minute.:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[BKelley]

I have the Dewalt and it is a good saw. Nice clean cuts no problems. I think you would be happy with one

Ben

 

[Herb G]

No worries, I never actually mentioned that I wasn't! I just ordered the Dewalt. I'll build a sled and test it out when I get it, and depending on how it performs I'll invest in a nice blade. I'll report back on my experiences once I've used it for a while! Thanks again!

It would help us help you if you put your location in your profile.
You don't have to put in your full address or anything, just a basic location is better than nothing.
Just a helpful tip, my friend.

 

[zener]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm really excited now! I'll probably get at least one new blade. The one that comes with it is 24 teeth. Should be fine for rip cuts but not the best for cross cuts, and the teeth are also the ATB type I think, so no good for cutting dados or anything like that.

It would help us help you if you put your location in your profile.
You don't have to put in your full address or anything, just a basic location is better than nothing.

Thanks, I updated my profile

 

[mredburn]

I have a Makita 10 inch saw along the same lines as the Dewalt. I use a 7 1/4 fine kerf 40 carbide tooth blade for really fine cuts. Im not sure what you have available in Ireland but the small blade will still cut 18mm stock. That should be about a 185mm blade if my conversion is close. I do have a full size set up but The Makita is easily stored and used only for small cuts.

 

[zener]

@mredburn, do you find the smaller blade better for making clean cuts? I was thinking that something smaller than 10 inches, especially if it's a thin kerf blade, might be better because maybe it wouldn't flex or vibrate as much.

 

[mredburn]

THe best blade I ever had was a Forest -Woodworker 2 10 inch blade with a stabilizer plate on it. It would cut so smooth That the cut edges were glue joint ready.
That was on a cabinet saw not one of these bench top models. THe smaller finer kerf comes pretty close, it also wastes less wood with the narrow Kerf. I use a 0 tolerance plate. You may be able to locate one to fit your saw model made from Hdpe or what ever it is that you run the blade up through from the bottom. I find that these saws need a smaller kerf saw blade to keep from burning out the motors as well.

 

[zener]

Thanks, I'll definitely try to find a good thin kerf blade. It's definitely worth it for expensive stabilized burls and stuff like that, a thin kerf could help squeeze an extra blank out of a small block. I'll build a sled and probably use that for most of my pen work, so I can cut a zero clearance slot in that. But if I can get some HDPE or something I can probably cut it to fit the saw and then run the blade up through it.

 

[farmer]

Pen blanks

I rather have a 14in band saw with a fence ,

 

[zener]

I plan on getting a bandsaw eventually but, for segmented blank making, a table saw will produce cuts that need less sanding before gluing so that's the main reason I went with it

 

[twinsen]

I have the big brother of the DW745, the DW744xrs. Only difference is fence adjustment, table size, and some extra pretty plastic. Maybe the motor is bigger. Anyway, I looked at a lot of contractor saw the the rack and pinion is FANTASTIC. It is easy to true up the saw blade to slots, and fence. There are bolts in the back to loosen the motor housing to adjust it to the blade to the slots, and a bolt (front and back) that the fence rides on to adjust it to the blade. Simple, see video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzVns-0xKxc

DO NOT adjust the rack and pinion bolts like this guy does here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqAD9sHgwHs

he has an older model that looks like the fence pins aren't adjustable.

Seriously, you can't find a better fence system on a small saw. I never have to measure the front and back of the blade to the fence unless I am tuning it up every couple of years.

 

[farmer]

Segmenting

I plan on getting a bandsaw eventually but, for segmented blank making, a table saw will produce cuts that need less sanding before gluing so that's the main reason I went with it

Hello my Island friend.
I to live on a island, true story , have a island in the middle of the desert in the middle of a river .
I have allot of wild life ..

I don't own a wood lathe and all my segmenting is done on my lathe using a live cutter .

I have a table saw and haven't used it for years.
Its not a very nice table saw . and the band saw blade are allot thinner then a then a table saw blade .
Not only that but a table saw can not cut near as thick of wood blocks or planks or event a short round of a tree trunk.

I have a 10 in dewalt compound miter slider laser sighted saw mounted on a dewalt saw horse and I use it some of the time but my go to saw is the band saw because it has the thinnest blade ...................

 

[jttheclockman]

I plan on getting a bandsaw eventually but, for segmented blank making, a table saw will produce cuts that need less sanding before gluing so that's the main reason I went with it

Hello my Island friend.
I to live on a island, true story , have a island in the middle of the desert in the middle of a river .
I have allot of wild life ..

I don't own a wood lathe and all my segmenting is done on my lathe using a live cutter .

I have a table saw and haven't used it for years.
Its not a very nice table saw . and the band saw blade are allot thinner then a then a table saw blade .
Not only that but a table saw can not cut near as thick of wood blocks or planks or event a short round of a tree trunk.

I have a 10 in dewalt compound miter slider laser sighted saw mounted on a dewalt saw horse and I use it some of the time but my go to saw is the band saw because it has the thinnest blade ...................

And this is why they make many different tools. There is not one tool that can do all aspects of woodworking. Good excuse to buy more tools.

 

[zener]

I have the big brother of the DW745, the DW744xrs. Only difference is fence adjustment, table size, and some extra pretty plastic. Maybe the motor is bigger. Anyway, I looked at a lot of contractor saw the the rack and pinion is FANTASTIC. It is easy to true up the saw blade to slots, and fence. There are bolts in the back to loosen the motor housing to adjust it to the blade to the slots, and a bolt (front and back) that the fence rides on to adjust it to the blade. Simple, see video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzVns-0xKxc

DO NOT adjust the rack and pinion bolts like this guy does here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqAD9sHgwHs

he has an older model that looks like the fence pins aren't adjustable.

Seriously, you can't find a better fence system on a small saw. I never have to measure the front and back of the blade to the fence unless I am tuning it up every couple of years.

Thanks for the tips! My saw arrived but they sent the 115v model instead of the 230v that I require, so I have to swap it, but I was pleased with the quality. The fence seems great and the table is actually metal as far as I can tell; I had heard some people say it was plastic before. The fence was the main thing that drew me to this saw.

Hello my Island friend.
I to live on a island, true story , have a island in the middle of the desert in the middle of a river .
I have allot of wild life ..

I don't own a wood lathe and all my segmenting is done on my lathe using a live cutter .

I have a table saw and haven't used it for years.
Its not a very nice table saw . and the band saw blade are allot thinner then a then a table saw blade .
Not only that but a table saw can not cut near as thick of wood blocks or planks or event a short round of a tree trunk.

I have a 10 in dewalt compound miter slider laser sighted saw mounted on a dewalt saw horse and I use it some of the time but my go to saw is the band saw because it has the thinnest blade ...................

Your island sounds awesome!

I can't really do a whole lot of segmenting on my lathe. I currently use a miter saw, but it's cheap and the cuts are very poor. I have a disc sander for cleaning up the faces, but it's tedious because I always have to be careful not to overheat the wood, and some woods like bubinga and african blackwood are quite slow to sand!

I definitely want a bandsaw, especially for ripping up wood without wasting so much. But a table saw also has the advantage of being able to cut dados, box joints, tenons, rabbets etc. And since I can't do segmenting on my lathe, this should work nicely in conjunction with a quick touch-up from the disc sander.

And this is why they make many different tools. There is not one tool that can do all aspects of woodworking. Good excuse to buy more tools.

Exactly! The amount of times I've told myself "once I have *this* tool, I won't need any more and everything will be puuure profit", only to decide a week later "yeah actually I need one of these too".

 

[eduardomachado]

I have it and love it! Got it in clearance on HD for $195


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