Dewalt’s newish DWS780 12″ double bevel sliding compound miter saw is a very nice machine. I gushed about its XPS work light, and mentioned the saw as part of my top-5 woodworking tools of 2011 list. It may be overkill for less demanding crosscutting tasks, but there’s not much that the saw can’t do.
Pros:
- huge cutting capacity, up to 16″ width boards with use of back-fence
- XPS work light is amazingly precise and effective
- dust collection, while not perfect, is better than for other saws in this class
- starter blade is quite good for general purpose cuts
- saw was perfectly aligned right out of the box
- rails glide smoothly
- knobs and controls are all easy to access and comfortable to toggle
Cons:
- saw is a bit too heavy to carry from top handle [the black carry handle, not the yellow operating handle], side handles are slightly uncomfortable
- dust collection still isn’t that good without an attached vac
- small dust bag
- requires more rear clearance than the Bosch Axial Glide saw
Overall, I am quite impressed with the sliding miter saw, and it was difficult to find much to complain about it. It comes with a fairly robust and nicely constructed workpiece clamp, which surprised me a bit, and optional extension rails are available for users that don’t plan to use the saw with a miter saw stand.
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The DWS780 saw is priced at $600, which is on-par with other 12″ sliding miter saws in its class.
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I posted a more photo-rich and detailed review of the miter saw over at Make: Online – check it out!
Thank you to Dewalt for providing the sample for this review unconditionally. Review samples are typically returned, donated, or in some cases retained for further testing or comparison purposes.
Dan
I love this saw!
Peter A
I have owned this saw since December 2011 and have used it quite a lot. Its a great saw, I just wish it glided better along the rails when the saw is pulled down. There is a good amount of stiction (static friction) that needs to be overcome before the saw will glide smooth. This makes it somewhat tricky when making those long cuts.
Raj
Indeed, this is my single gripe with this machine. I opened up the covers on the front and back of where the bearings would be. It appears there are bearings on one of the rails (which are damn small for a 12″ BTW), and the other rail has an adjustable metal guide that clamps around the rail (so you can adjust for minimal slop at full extension). This may be the source of the problem, so I’ll fiddle with that rail a bit to see if I can smooth it out. I may try degreasing the rail and applying a dry film lubricant that can’t gum up with exposure to saw dust and see how that works. The slides on my 10″ Makita spoiled me.
Adam g
Festool makes a great fast clamp that works amazingwith slight modification. Oddly enough its cheapest from amazon uk.
Gary
Dewalt seems to be cutting corners to save some $$$$ on this new model. I believe in comparision to its predecessor the 718, there is alot more plastic parts on it such as the bevel miter gauge. Also, the rails diameter on the 718 are smaller than alot of the other brands (milwaukee [which i have], bosch, ridgid), making it more susceptible to deflection. Not sure if this 780 beefed it up. I do feel though after using some of these saws, the dewalts always seemed to be best at size and weight (my milwaukee is a heavy mother load and not easily to wield around)….and that rigid one is just huge. Today, I still would either buy a bosch or Milwaukee slider over the dewalt if you arent gonna tote it around alot.
PAUL
FOR ONE THING, NO MATER HOW HEAVY THE TOOL IS YOU NEVER , NEVER PICK A MITER BOX UP BY THE HANDLE…AFTER 35 YEAR OF CABINET MAKING AND TRIM WORK THE SAW IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PERSON RUNNING IT. I OWN 2 DEWALT SAWS 1 10″ AND 1 12″ SLIDER AND THEY BOTH ARE HOLDING UP WELL. GOOD LUCK!!
Blair
I was thinking the same thing, though I’m pretty sure that Stuart didn’t mean for anyone to pick it up by the actual control handle, (there may be another “tote” handle on this?), but the advice is still good, I have seen less experienced carpenters do that, much to the chagrin, and sometimes outrage of the lead.
Fred
The 718 & 780 both have 2 handles, on each side of the base table. You have a really good handhold, even if you do have to lean it up against you to carry it.
I have my saw mounted to the plywood & table mounts permanently, and it’s not difficult to carry, just awkward. I picked them both up in the store and mine is about the same weight as the newer Dewalt.
Stuart
There is a black carrying handle, or tote handle as Blair calls it, which is intended for this purpose. I added clarification in the post to hopefully clear things up.
I completely agree that users should never carry a miter saw by its operating handle.
Fred
I really almost bought one of these recently when HD put them on sale with the free stand. I went with the Hitachi in the end for an even better sale (still saved about $150 after I bought a stand separately). My Hitachi has a lot of plastic and some people complained about that in reviews but it’s already heavy enough, as is the Dewalt. Besides any 12″ saw you use better sit where it is safe, away from anything but the work piece that could damage it. It could happen sure, but you have to do a little work to keep your tools nice. Plus, I bet the plastic they use on these saws can take some damage, otherwise they wouldn’t be asking $600 and putting their name on the line for a big item like this.
I totally agree, if you don’t have the option and have to move it around a lot this one is not the best choice, but the 10″ Dewalt slider probably is the best choice for that.
Blair
That plastic is indeed “high impact”, and often will take more abuse than the cast “pot metal” that other parts may be made of. I like the light weight idea just fine, as restoring older houses, with their steep stairs is conducive to selecting based on weight a higher priority!
Builder93
Bought one of these saws about a month or so ago and I was in a head-on crash soon after with it unsecured in the back of the van. It flew from the back through my front window and skided roughly 10m up the road. THE THING STILL CUTS LIKE NEW!!! aside from a few scrapes.
Gary
When the 780 came out, HD put the remaining 718’s on sale for $399. There were 2 of them. I almost bought one on price alone! They went fast….
rhino 3
I am not thrilled with the DW780 slide on a full throw at the operator,I have to push the saw through the cut….I would rather slide thru as the tools name says! Well heres to hoping De Walt can give all us Pros a fix to there problem.Other than the hard slide, the saw is good for everything else
Keith P.
I just bought this saw today rand new for 300 even . For that price it’s going to have to be more aggravating than my wife to get a bad review.
Yeah, I was looking at laser saws for twice the price.
And I had my heart set on the Makita.
I simply could not pass this up for the price!
A well treated Dewalt will last for years.