I have been using the DW874 in our steel fabrication shop every day for the past three years with great satisfation.pWe needed another saw for field work and went to buy another DW874 and was told that they were discontinued. The replacement was the DW871. We bought it and were instantly disappointed. pThe DW871 is obviously [less expensive] to build saw. It has a plastic motor housing and a cheap vise. The threaded quick release also known as the anvil is [an inexpensive] cast iron piece while on the older saw it was a machined part.pAfter using it a few times the cast iron anvil would not engage the threaded rod to tighten the vise. The threaded rod was nicked and chewed up from the anvil not engaging properly. I had to get a new vise assembly.pAlso it is neccessary to mark the material to be cut because the blade cannot be lowered to rest on the workpiece in order to measure and cut quickly.pThe older DW874 does this quite nicely and because of this we can measure and cut about 10 times faster.pOverall, the new DW871 lasted only a few days before needing repair(and it is still difficult to use quickly), But my older DW874 has not given me any problems in three years!pPass on this one. It is a real hunk of junk.

Someone should blow the whistle on these Dewalt Characters. This model is not even a D.I.Y. tool, the best thing I did is save the reciept and the box for returning every couple of months, use two blades up and replace the brushes, use six blades and it won't cut more than one stud or one piece of 3/4" conduit. Time to return/exchange for the next one, and repeat. To the defense of Dewalt is that several other manufacturers have been the same and several of those were made for each other, change the color and decal. Poor work clamping and miter adjustments of any accuracy are not able to be done. This works fine if you want to cut a brick or two and a stud once in a while, steel over 1/8 inch is a load and results in brush/motor failure. You wonder why I own several, purely price. Save a little longer and buy a portable band saw and later a stand for it and enjoy.

I bought this because I liked my brother's DW-874. Bad move. This thing is a piece of junk. The clamp is horrible, It comes loose, the screw striped out after 6 months. If you make 45 degree cuts the back of the clamp is so far back the blade can not cut all the way through the metal, to correct this you have to put an extra piece of material behind what you are cutting to space it out far enough to cut through. It vibrates no matter what you cut. I've used saws with less horse power ratings that have more power. It trips breakers all the time on circuits that don't trip when I use my 110v welder. If I had it to do over I would buy a hack saw!

I'm a dock builder that uses chop saws reguarly and I found this saw to be a JOKE!! It lug's down stalls out trips the breaker in the breaker box ( a 20 amp breaker using #10 wire at 15 feet long cord ) won't use all the blade like the old saws. WILL NOT cut a miter cut without angling off crooked it even cut the base of the saw itself, is how bad it angles off!! The saw acts like it has a mind of it's own. it works when it wants to. The only thing I have to say good about it is, the handle is more easier to grip being horisonatal. Other than that it would't make a good trot line anchor!!!!!

I've had this for ~ a couple of years now. It's ok, and has decent power. It trips the ciruit breaker constantly when I try to cut through 1/4" square though, which gets annoying. It'll cut angle or thin stuff pretty quickly though.pBut worst of all, is that weak miter clamp. First, it's hard to set it at the angle you want b/c you're never sure if you're exactly hitting the angle you want.. But when you do finally set it, after you tighten the work down, the whole clamp will move, and now you're at a different angle. Cheap!

Saw donesn't have enough power to maintain wheel speed while feeding blade thru work.. Cutting rebar, it slows down conciderably and you will have to baby the feed to maintain the cutting speed. The unit should be 220 VAC. to develop the 5.3 horsepower they claim it to have. The quick release vise is extremely nice to use. Just can't keep up the RPM's. Most generator have a 220 VAC plug on it and the company should have a dual voltage selection on the tool.

I have this saw. You can't put any pressure on the saw because it will kick the breaker. It vibrates unbelievably. The threads on the vise screw got messed up the very first time I used it. I've only had it for a couple of years with little use and the motor burned out already. I'm looking to buy a new chop saw and it will not be a Dewalt.

The machine was not packaged right and the first one we got was broke and the second damaged. We kept the second because of need and straightened out the bent guard and replaced the broken cut off disk. Id recomend buying this saw but at a local store where u can inspect, and i'd even test them.

I bought this saw and like any other $200.00 chop saw, it has it's limitations, any one who buys this saw to cut any thing thicker than 1/4
br /steel needs a hack saw, I used this saw to cut angle iron and 4" purlins
br /and have been using this saw on a 15 amp breaker, but have replaced it with a 25 amp, because it will throw a 20 amp, if you force it. Take your
br /time use a good blade,you won't buy any better saw for the money, any one
br /who says you can is pulling your chain.

I am absolutely 100% pleased with the chop saw I purchased on Amazon.com It is a must for small welding projects. I would recommend the DEWALT DW871 14" 5.3 HP Chop Saw to anyone that has projects that require cutting steel.

I have been using this chop saw for over a year and have found it to be a good saw for the money. I have cut up to 2*2*1/4 square tubing with it, a tough job for any chop saw. Now the saw does vibrate more than I would like, but nothing you can't deal with. If pushed too hard it will pop breakers ( I found this out cutting the 2*2*1/4 square tubing)but I don't know what tool won't if pushed beyond it's limits. It is a good saw for smaller pieces of solid steeel(1 inch or below). Angle iron thin pipe are no problem. Now if you have some patience it will go through the thick stuff as I have done it. The base is adequete as is the clamp. I would rate it a 4 star were it not for the vibration. If you intend to cut thick steel or large and thick pipe you will want to get something else. By that I mean something other than an abrasive chop saw. These saws have their limitations. The cold cut chop saws are excelent but as you will see they are quite a bit more expensive. if you stick to the intended uses of this saw you will be happy.

This is definitely an improvement over the older model it replaces. It packs more power and I like that. We also got the Makita 2414b which has a double pivot cutting arm. ( not the 2414nb) It cuts faster because of that mechanism. Other than that using the saws is about the same . They both have plenty of power.They have quick release material clamps. The Dewalt has a horizontal handle whereas the Makita is angled. I think I like the Dewalt handle better. All the other chop saws seem to be made in Taiwan. If I could only have one I would go with the Makita.I really like that double pivot mechanism. It lets you rock the whole cutting head back and forth to engage the workpiece at differing angles giving both a cleaner and faster cut. If you really want a nice saw get a dry cut saw. They run at much lower RPMs and use a carbide blade to give the fastest and cleanest cut available today.

I mainly use DeWalt tools because of the performance and ease of use. The DeWalt line of tools have many features which make operation easy and Quick. Also, these tools are very dependable and made to last. I just bought a DW871 chop saw for it's value and features. I used it to cut a mobile home axle in half. It sliced right through it like a hot knife through butter. The motor didn't even seem to labor through it. Very powerful, and I even like the Quick release clamp.