Dewalt vs. Delta table saw

The wife says I can finally buy a new table saw (cough,cough, new dining room set,cough,cough) and have it down to 2. I am looking at the Dewalt DW746X or the Delta 36-715. I would like some input from people as I am leaning toward the Dewalt but have heard minimal about this particular one.

Thanks, Allen

Reply to
Allen Roy
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I'm a cheap bastard. Can't see dropping a grand for either for those wannabeacabinetsaws when a used Unisaw or Powermatic with a brand spanking new biesemeyer fence can be had for anywhere between $750 and $1,000. (buy saw without fence and buy new fence) But if the shiney stuff turns you one then I'd get the Delta. Probably get better re-sale value than the funky looking dewalt. This will be critical when you decide that you can sell your used saw for a better used saw and have a better used saw and not be out of pocket.

Of course, both are Black & Decker brands so replacement parts will be equally unavailable.

Reply to
A.M. Wood

Not where I live they can't. There was nothing used of any quality available for about 800 miles in any direction over the course of about

8 months. 9" Rockwell contractor saws, yes. Used cabinet saws no.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Friesen

Do to limited space I have the Dewalt- is perfect for my garage shop. Go to Amazon for other's inputs- maybe try a search also. I installed a table extension- plenty of power even w/ oak & ash (I do use a thin kerf blade). I'd rather be woodworking than doing a rehab of used/abused equip. Dewalt sells alot of these- it has been a popular model. Table top & fence are excellent- plan on upgrading the miter (I bought an Incra 1000se on sale). I put a Benchdog router table on the left & replaced the crap steel wings w/ a cast iron wing on the right. Of course it is mobile. Hope this helps...

Reply to
greywood

I've had the opportunity to use the DW744S, and while it's a much smaller saw than what you're looking at, it was a very nice tool with some excellent features like the rack and pinion fence. Not having seen the DW746X in person, I couldn't say if that level of quality and engineering went into that as well, but I would feel very comfortable buying one based on the amount of thoughtful engineering they put into the lesser product's performance.

OTOH, the Delta outwieghs it by 80 pounds, and has a full cabinet. Given a choice between the two, I'd go with that- but I certainly wouldn't turn up my nose at the DeWalt. They're both good tools, and either would be a nice addition to most peoples' shops.

Have you taken a look at the lower end Grizzly cabinet saws? They're in the same price range as well, and are true cabinet saws rather than hybrids- if that matters to you.

Reply to
Prometheus

Congratulations.

To paraphrase James Carvelle from the 1992 election, "It's the fence stupid".

Jack up a Unifence and drive anything that wants to call itself a table saw under it, and you will be happy.

Seriously, IMHO, the fence is the most important part of a saw, next come the blades.

SFWIW, I have a Delta Contractor's saw with a Unifence for about 10 years.

The OEM motor was a piece of crap. Replaced it with a 2HP, 3,450RPM,

230V, standard motor. I'm a happy clam.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Same here, with the exception of the occasional $800-1000 beat-to-crap THREE PHASE Unisaw.

Before going new, I spent almost _three_ years looking for a good, used Unisaw, General 350/650, PM, or even a Jet, within a 2-3 hour drive of CT, in papers, on the web, and on eBay.

To further illustrate the point, the Jet contractor saw (low end version, with Jet fence and stamped wings) that I bought new 5 years earlier for $600, sold for _$500_ on the first day I listed it in the Bargain News, a classified paper / web site that covers NY, CT, MA, and RI. The guy picked it up the same day, and I got three more calls about it while we loaded it.

I know of folks in other locales who literally find old, working condition machines at the dump, or for free, they just need to haul it away! 8^(

Reply to
B A R R Y

I believe that has been your experience. However, I live near the Southern CT border and my experience has been much different.

AM Wood

Reply to
A.M. Wood

Where did you find the stuff?

I'd love for my experience to mirror yours!

Reply to
B A R R Y

FWIW, I bought the Delta back in May and have no regrets at all. Very easy to set up. Good dust control, large table to work on. The T2 fence has been great. I upgraded from a cheap Craftsman saw so I have not much to compare to. The only thing is the price, mine cast me $602.00 delivered from Amazon, so if you're not in a hurry you may wait until it goes on sale.

Good luck.

Reply to
Sparky

I have the 36-715 and have been very happy with it so far. Have not seen the Dewalt to compare though.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve W

No big secret. Ebay and Craig's List.

Delta Unisaw $350 had paint splattered on the cabinet and table top and a poorly mounted motor switch. (no miter gauge, which cost ~$35 purchased separately)

Delta Wood/Metal bandsaw, cast-iron base just south of $400. (Was missing the table insert which cost $10)

Delta 6" "long-bed" jointer, cast-iron base, magnetic motor starter & new motor $400 (Saw one in this area go on e-bay for ~200 that was missing a fence. (Most go for

Reply to
A.M. Wood

I've got a very small shop (11x13) and with the addition of the new Rikon bandsaw it's really overcrowded. I'm seriously considering going for a smaller tablesaw and have looked at the 744. Are there any "gotchas" I should know about?

Yes, I know the little Bosch comes in ahead of it in all the reviews, but second in a large field isn't bad. And I can get a reconditioned DeWalt for a lot less than the Bosch.

OTOH, if the Rikon performs the way the reviews say it can, I might not even need a tablesaw :-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

And if you look on craigslist under "Tools" in CT and Western MA, what you find mostly is lawn and garden equipment.

Lee

Reply to
Lee Gordon

Not that I'm aware of. It is a plastic cabinet, like most DeWalt stuff- but there's plastic, and then there's DeWalt plastic. Don't know what they do to the stuff, but I've never broken any of it on my jobsite tools.

The five truly nice features are:

- It has a rack and pinion fence that doesn't drift- a big improvement over the other small saws I've used. Not only did it stay square on every cut for the couple of days I used it, but it was easy to adjust with the little knob- almost, but not quite, micro-adjustable.

- The top is coated with something like teflon, that doesn't rust and allows the work to slide like a freshly waxed table. I talked with a few others who had owned one, and they said it does hold up to heavy jobsite use and fairly severe abuse (like falling off the tailgate of the work truck) over a long period of time. With care, I'm sure it's nearly bulletproof.

- Enough rip capacity to cut a 4'x8' piece of plywood in half (the long way).

- There are extensions for side and outfeed support that actually work, and slide into the base when not in use

-The folding stand is easy to set up, and is sturdy enough.

You can't expect a Unisaw if you get one, but they are good for more than just goofing around with. My test of the thing was panelling a cabin- two full days of ripping 4'x8' cedar panelling without a helper, with several bevel boards and rips for nailers in construction lumber for another small project on the same place. Didn't even grunt ripping 2x pressure-treated stuff, so it seemed to have plenty of power. Granted, that won't tell you how it performs in 8/4 hard maple, but it was doing a job that most of the other smaller table saws couldn't do in a week of Sundays.

It was so suprisingly easy to use, that I almost got it instead of my Delta contractor's saw. But since I had the space, and don't have to move it, I went with the heavier machine.

Not bad at all- I haven't used the Bosch, but IIRC, it had a lot smaller cutting capacity, and the stand was sold seperately. Either one would be great if you have to store it out of the way after use- far better than the other benchtops that are the same size, albeit far less expensive.

Well, keep your fingers crossed, and let us know how that works out for you.

Reply to
Prometheus

messagenews:z7x0h.10193$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.nyroc.rr.com...

Good Luck finding a used Table saw of good quality. I have been in the tool business for over 25 years and I can count on one hand the number of good used fair priced tablesaws I have seen for sale. I have sold new and used equipment and rarely did I get a chance to buy or take in trade a good tablesaw. Used tablesaws are like storys that "my neighbors brother-in-law's second cousin works with a guy who knows a guy that has a tablesaw for sale". Good luck.

Reply to
mike

Ever hear of the internet? Folks advertise stuff for sall all the time. Some outrageously over priced. Some at bargain basement prices and some fairly priced. Overall, millions of things being sold every day.

But out of all of that, less than 5 (assuming and hoping your hand has all 5 digits) were fairly priced table saws.

That's just really really really hard to believe.

AM Wood

Reply to
A.M. Wood

I strongly agree with this statement. Up until last week, I had a Craftsman contractors saw. Lots of modifications. But the single modification that kept me from tossing it out as being inaccurate and underpowered was a Biesemeyer fence. That made the saw very accurate. Well that and the fact that it held it's alignment.

The fence is the single most important feature on any table saw.

There's plenty of good fences out there. There's even more bad ones.

People seem to be happy with their Unifences and Vegas, I can say with certainty that the Biesemeyer fence is also top notch.

Reply to
George Max

I also have the Delta Hybrid saw, except I have the 36-317 and got the 50" table and Biesemeyer to go with it the only issue I have had with it was that I was missing one of the bolts to hold the Biesemeyer rails to the saw. Called Delta and they sent me a couple extra. I upgraded from the lowest possible saw out there...the Delta 10 bench saw on a stand...big difference. The saw was easy to setup and cuts a heck of a lot better than the previous one. The only problem you may run into is if you try to find a mobile base for it. Delta used to make on that would fit it but have discontinued it. I had to go to Woodcraft and get their universal mobile base and a sheet of plywood...works great.

Karl

Allen Roy wrote:

Reply to
Karl

The Delta 50-941 I got for mine fits fine too.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve W

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