I've had this for about 6 months and it's never let me down. It takes a little getting used to if you've never used a sliding miter saw before, as the technique is somewhere between a radial arm saw and a normal fixed miter saw. As a couple of other reviewers pointed out, you have to make sure you slide the saw all the way home or you'll leave a little bit uncut. pOne thing I've found is when I'm cutting narrow planks (4" or 6") I've gotten into the habit of pulling the blade toward me past the front edge of the piece, dropping it down, and then sliding it back through the piece - instead of just plunging the blade straight in, as you'd do with a fixed chop saw. This seems to significantly reduce bottom tearout.pIt's undeniably a very pleasant tool to use; if you've only used saws that have a vertical handle you won't believe the difference the horizontal handle makes. The switch is well designed, it's not easy to trigger by accident but not fatiguing to hold. The action of the slides is smooth as silk, and setting the miter angles is quick, easy, and very positive. The motor has plenty of power for any kind of wood I've ever sent its way. pThe 8 1/2 inch size has some advantages - the blade seems to be more stable, even without a stabilizer, than most 10" blades. Also in my experience 8 1/2" blades are a little cheaper than the equivalent 10" blade. But, it won't cut a 4x4 (or a 2x4 on edge) in one pass - a 10 incher will. Whether or not that matters depends on the kind of work you do.pYou'll want to replace the blade that the saw comes with, it's fine for chopping up 2x4s (but if that's all you want to do you don't need this saw) but not good enough for finish work. There aren't a million blades available for this size of saw, but there's a decent selection - although not all the catalogs carry them. My favorite is a 60 tooth DeWalt finish blade that you can find most anywhere for about 50 bucks and does great work for me in all types of hardwood. Freud makes one that's pretty good as well. Forrest makes one of their chopmaster blades in this size, I'm sure it's great but it's $100+ and since I'm happy with my current blade I've never tried it.pOverall fit and finish is very nice - as you generally expect from contemporary Italian manufacture. After taking it out of the box, I went over it completely with my machinist square and couldn't find anything out of alignment. The only quality complaint I have is the crummy screws holding the blade guard on - blade changing is not exactly a snap with this saw and they really don't help.pThere's no clamp included, unlike some other manufacturers - since I prefer to keep all 10 of my fingers I bought one - but they soak you on this item - $35!! Actually I bought two but you only need one - you hardly ever use both at once and it takes a second or two to swap it from one side of the saw to the other. Also, while it holds well, it's a screw type and I would prefer some type of cam action - I think that would be faster and easier to use.pBut overall if you want a really sweet, pleasant to use saw and you don't normally need to cut large timber, I'd recommend this saw - I'm certainly very happy with it.

I have just bought the DeWalt712 to replace an aging Makita LS1040 I have had for four years. I was really impressed with the facilities and price and I have been very happy with all the DeWalt tools I have purchased, so it was an obvious choice.pThe saw cuts wood! the extended ranges of cutting angles is great and the machine feels realy good to use, soft start, and it has good ergonomics; (on the 240v version only two buttons to press, make it easy for someone with small hands: but on the battery powered version 3 buttons are not so easy).pHowever I have a couple of complaints with the machine;pFirstly the guard runs along the workpiece on a wheel and I find that it feels like the wood is cut through when there is still a small corner left to cut and it can snag the workpiece when cutting some mitres. This could be operator error and I will probably get used to it in time.pSecondly the dust extraction is very poor. I have a workshop with a built in dust extraction system, with a 2Kw industrial vacuum unit I am used to a reasonably dust free workshop but this machine fires dust everywhere. I have to wear a dust mask when I use it, as the dust hits the piece of fabric behind the blade and bounces into my face.pI really like this machine and if you work on site I could recommend it to you; but unless I find a solution to the dust problem I am going to take advantage of the 30 day return policy and take it back, although I will be very sorry to part with it.pWell, I took it back and swapped it for a DW706, which I really did not like. Very fierce start and big blade did not suit me at all (I know I would have been better with the variable speed version).So I returned it next day and got my DW712 back!pThe dealer tells me there is a dust extraction kit, despite the fact DeWalt told me that no kit is available, so I have ordered it and hope it is effective.

Let me start off by saying that I have yet to find any miter saw that I would rate at five stars(although I do believe I rated the 12" Dewalt slide at 5 stars) because every manufacturer does put profit above product. However, I do like this saw very much. Slide is smooth, fence height good(when will Makita and Hitachi finally get the fence height right and even on both sides), lever action miter lock is awesome(knobs stink), blade deflection is good(it is only a 8-1/2 blade afterall), overall a really good saw. Dust collection complaints are irrelevant, as anyone expecting a slider miter saw to have good dust control lives in the world of clean radial arm saws too. I have yet to figure out what a "material hold down clamp"(or work clamp) is, but if I ever do, it means that I cut off on of my arms/hands and should not by using this saw anyway(we pros dont have time for clamping down wood prior to cutting it[short pieces should be cut from a long one, afterall]). I would buy another one in an instant.

I've had the saw for about a week and am very pleased. I bought the DW723 stand too and that's also great. A few reviews have knocked the product, but I suspect that's due to misuse or lack of thinking or experimentation. For example, the amount of dust thrown and collected is one issue. I use the saw with a shop vac on the dust outlet. Used straight down on the workpiece like a chopsaw it throws quite a bit of dust. But if you start the cut with the saw close to you and cut full depth towards the back, it throws almost no dust that the vac doesn't pick up. (I DO wish DeWalt had seen fit to design it for a 2.5 inch vac hose rather than 1.25 to increase the air flow and dust capture.)
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br /Also I've seen gripes about the material supports, but I don't understand why. The saw can be positioned anywhere along the rail of the stand, so if the saw is set at one end, support is available on the rail infinitely out to 4 feet and then the adjustable support adds another 3.5 feet. I suppose cutting a miter on the end of a 20 foot long board would demand additional support -- but DeWalt must have found that's a rarity and didn't want to add the extra weight -- understandable.
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br /Finally, availability of the 8.5 inch blade is NOT an issue. I found 60 tooth carbide tipped blades made by the GREEN Japanese tool company both at Lowes and online at Amazon for less than $30. They make a beautiful cut. Several other makes of the 8.5 blades are available too -- but their prices are generally substantially higher.
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br /Hope this corrects some misleading information in a few reviews.

Fine tool in most respects. It is very accurate and well made. The bevel gauge however is inaccurate: 0 degrees is a 90 degree cut. However when the blade is tilted to 45 degrees the gauge reads at 46 degrees. This means you have to fudge bevels (already difficult to get right) when cutting crown moulding on the flat. Ie. a 33 degree bevel must be cut at 32 2/3 degrees on the scale. Its a pretty anoying flaw in an otherwise sensibly engineered saw. I emailed Dewalt and got a lame, formula answer.
br / The saw is about about 42 lbs. but feels lighter than my Dewalt 12" compound saw (which is the same weight, or a little less). The compactness of the tool is one reason I bought it...its easy to carry without a lot of shin-banging. The motor is powerful and the tool feels nice to use. Larger sliders have considerably more blade deflection, making for less accurate cuts. I built furniture and cabinetry, so cutting 4 x 4s is not a usual thing for me. This saw performs well. I would be curious to try the Hitachi and the new 29 lb. Makita.
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I researched for months and found the reviews at Amazon made me decide on this saw. Almost bought the 8 1/2" Hitachi but comment about D Handle is right on. The vertical handle Hitachi has is awkwade and unconfortable to use. A lot of cutting fatigues the wrist. D Handle is great. Blade with the Dewalt cuts beautiful, cutting MDF 3/4" like butter and clean. Also crosscutting 24" stock with full 12" pass and fliping material. The slide makes it easy to line up exact ( no power on first to allign after flip). I like all the notches in the adjusting curve and I adjusted the 90 degree, easy with wrench that came with saw. Has a depth gauge that can be adjusted if you want to cut groves and not go through material. Easy flips out of way. Asked Carpenters in my development why they use Dewalt, answer, they like the saws and they are accurate, good enough for me. I am cutting material for finish carpentry and love the saw. Weight is very important to me and this saw is portable and light.
br /Saw came in 2 days with the free shipping, can't beat that!
br /Tony - Hamilton, NJ

Overall I think this saw is an excellent saw,it cuts smooth and acurate and is lightweight.Ther are a couple of things I was dissapoionted with,first of all the if you are going to do any kind of finish work you need to replace the factory blade which is only good for cutting 2x's and a good blade is going to cost you and extra $100 or so.I was also dissapointed that the saw was not manufactured in the USA,the technical details provided in the review stated it was, and that played a large part in my descision to purchase this saw.Last of all the saw could of least came with dust bag which costs an additional $15.Whith the addition of a new blade and dust collection the performance of this saw is very good.

Picked up this saw this past summer our local bigbox had it on clearance. I have nothing bad to say about this saw. I was debating between a 12" slider (either the Rigid or Dewalt) and this 8 1/2". What made up my mind was, a friend of mine bought the 12" Rigid Slider. Although it's a good saw, its a monster to lug around. One of the features I wanted in a saw was portability. This Dewalt is very easy to transport around and set up, it's lightweight but seems very durable. It has a very nice fence system, it moves between angles very smoothly, some sliders I looked at just felt very "cheesy" when you moved the mechanism between angles, this one does not. It was accurate right out of the box, both on the 90 45. I had to rebuild my cedar deck this past summer and replaced all boards with 2x treated wood. This saw handled all the cutting tasks (both 2x4 thru x10's) with ease. The only thing this saw won't handle that the 12" will is cutting 4x4's. But to me that's a small price to pay for the added portability, I don't find myself needing to cut 4x4's very much anyways, but if you do this saw isn't for you. The blade that comes with a saw never plays a part in my decision to buy a certain saw of not, I expect cheap blades anyways. But the blade that comes with this saw is better than average. I cut alot of 2x stock and haven't changed the blade yet. Bottom line, if you do trim work from site to site, don't have a need to cut 4x4's, I highly recommend this 8 1/2" saw.

I picked up the Dewalt 712 to replace my 10" makita. Cuts smooth and was cutting square out of the box. The one thing I found was when you finish the cut, you have to make sure the saw head has been pushed all the way back or else it leaves a small amout of material uncut. They need to push the fence forward a 16th of an inch. Also for $400.00 they should include a dust bag! Overall a good quality saw.

I got my DeWalt saw a month or so ago for use on job sites. The first project I did with it was to build a 100 square foot sauna with three rows of benches. pThe saw was dead on accurate right out of the box. I was immediatly impressed with its light weight and compact size. The saw cuts beautifully and slides nicely on the rails. It is also much quieter than other miter saws I have used. The cutting capacity rivals bigger saws, except you can't cut a 4X4 in one pass (something a trim carpenter/woodworker like myself never does). The horizontal handle is very comfortable to use, even after long days. The depth stop is perfect for jobsite dados.pDust extraction was good. It does not come with a bag, but I noticed most of the dust escaping through the port. When I hooked the saw up to my Fein vacuum, the dust collection was very good.pThe supplied blade is suitable for most carpentry, but is not sufficient for nice trim work. The nice thing about an 81/2 inch blade though is that a new one won't break your wallet like the 12 inch blades will.pOverall, a very nice, light, and compact saw, which exceeded my expectations for the $399.00 price. It is the first saw that I have seen designed for the woodworker or trim carpenter. If portability is important to you, this is an outstanding saw. If you are going to set it up relatively permanently in your shop, then I would suggest a 10 inch slider (Makita makes a nice one). I can't imagine a need for a 12 inch slider.

This is a great saw. It is super smooth to operate and the stops snap right in. My only complaint is with the lack of a dust bag. The price was good. I would have given it 5 stars but with the poor dust system it only gets 4.

I bought this saw for homeowner use. Don't need a bigger one. Positives: Accurate right out of the box. Powerful. Easy to use, and light enought to carry around my shop, which is half of a two car garage. Nice smooth action on all moving parts. Bought it to do trim work for a remodel, including craftsman style wainscotting. My 12" radial arm saw just isn't accurate enough for this. That project is done and I am happy with the result.
br /Negatives: they are admittedly minor, and include: No work supports on either side. There appear to be holes for them, but they are not included and I don't know if the ones for a larger saw would fit. Needs a dust bag. And if you want to do a 45' tilt cut, you must first move the left upper fence portion out of the way. A minor complaint, since it's easily done, but it's still necessary to do. The factory blade is a rough crosscut blade. Suitable for cutting studs for framing maybe, but not finish work. I immediatley bought a finish blade.

I just got this saw 2 weeks ago ( upgrading from my 12" Dewalt - which I love ) It is a reconditioned one so I got it for a great price. I have bought recon. tools in the past and have great success with them. This saw came out of the box looking brand new and also dead square! I shopped for quite awhile comparing all the brands of slides. It was down to this one and the makita 10" slide. I liked the makita because of the tilt going both ways ( but it will only go to a 45 ) So the #1 reason for the Dewalt purchase was the tilt that will go up to 48 and a bonus of the table going to 50 and 60 degrees. 6" base or bigger will be very nice on this saw. I haven't found too many corners that are 90 deg so the extra degrees will be very nice to have. Cutting a 1 x 12 was a breeze also! As for the dust bag - Well its a miter saw - what do you expect.

I've just had the saw a couple of weeks, but I did a small trim job with it and it worked great. It does everything a 10 or 12 inch saw would need to do on a nice trim job with about half the weight. I owened a 12 inch dewalt slide compound a few years back that someone stole from me, it was a great saw but it was so heavy to move from job to job. the 8.5 slide is the perfect trim saw for me and I love it and I'm glad I bought it. I give it 5 stars and I'm left handed.

Im not sure why people would leave 4 out of 5 stars for this saw stating that its not getting all 5 for dust... Ive never in my life seen a miter saw cut without making dust. Its all part of the ambiance. Thats like saying its an oil change on a car that doesn't have oil that drip as you move the pan afterwards. I give this saw 5 out of 5, it cuts right on target everytime. After laying over 5000 liner feet of baseboard, and 4000 liner feet of crown molding, it still can cut a 45 on a 8" piece of wood with the same precision. I would only use the blade that came with it for rough cuts and framing work, try to get a 60+ tooth for finishing work(baseboards, crown, shoe and quarter round).

I've been pleased with the saw's performance so far. However, I would suggest swapping out the included factory blade immediately. It tends to leave wood "feathers" at the end of your cuts. Swapping to a 60 tooth took care of the problem.

My new saw arrived in Feb. and I am just getting around to my summer building projects(May 2006). My new saw came by Fed-Ex in tact and not a scratch. This is my first slider and I love it, I replaced a Delta chop saw that is worn out(also a good saw). It didn't require any adjustments, accurate right out of the box. Very powerful motor and the noise level is about what I expected. Amazon provides great service and even better prices.

I've now been using the this saw for 4 years and it is absolutely the best for finish work. And it kicks @$$ on 2x framing as well.
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br /Why? Because with a regular thick-kerf blade, such as CMT's 8 1/2 cut-off, you don't get deflection as you do with a 12". You get more power to the tooth because of the decreased blade diameter (motor torque is divided by the moment arm (radius) of the blade). And the sliding gives you almost 12" of cross-cut. It is light enough to carry with one hand with the other hand on the DeWalt saw stand.
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br /A minor annoyance is the lack of double bevel.

I bought this saw specifically for a flooring project. The room is a complex shape with many angled cuts. Even with the narrow-plank flooring (laminate) we were using, some of the angles (60deg off a straight - perpendicular - cut) required a sliding miter saw (or a larger chop saw). This saw, as other reviewers have noted, throws a lot of dust - but this was aggravated by the material (the composite part of the flooring which generates very powdery dust). I hooked up my ShopVac to the dust collection port and it helps a lot (yes, I used the extra-fine dust bags in the vacuum).
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br /I would have given this saw five stars except the angles which it will cut are asymmetric. You can turn the saw 60deg to the right, but 50deg to the left. Admittedly, not everyone needs to cut such steep angles, but only being able to cut 60deg on one side meant flipping stock around. A little more difficult with material like laminate flooring that you are supposed to cut laminate side down.
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This is a very nice DeWalt miter saw. I have been using this one since early 2005. Never had any issues w/ it. I've put in a lot of flooring, hardwood laminate, and with the correct blade, a 60T blade,(get rid of the stock blade) it has worked perfectly. Changing the blade takes a bit of time, not as easy as my other miter saw (Makita LS1013FL, I'll review that after I've used it a bit more, needed a bit larger and double-bevel saw for other projects). Miter cuts seem to be right on, as far as when I install flooring. I have not used it for crown as of yet. I do wish it was a double-bevel, for certain cuts it would have been handy. Instead of flipping your work around. Other than that, it just plain works, very ergonomic handle, in my opinion.
br / You won't regret owning this easy to transport saw. I only bought the Makita LS1013FL for other projects that require more cutting depth and a double-bevel cutting ability. I did not want the large and heavy DeWalt 12" sliding miter saw. This is in no way a knock on this fine DeWalt saw.

I got this saw about three months ago and have put it through alot of use. Right out the box it has been accurate and I have never had to alter it at all. The cuts that I have made on it are dead on and because the blade is 8 1/2" there is no play at all in the blade when making cuts on 12" wide panels. It is a single bevel, but it has so much going for it that you don't mind flipping your work around. One minor complaint is that even with a vacumn hooked up it still kicks out a lot of dust.

I got the dw712, and it was 350 dollars, not the 500+ shown here, and its the same saw, my box is the same model, and clearly marked as heavy duty. I also found blades, not as readily availible as other sizes, but they are out there, so no complaints there, this is a nice saw, and covers everything that a non-sliding 12 does, except 4x4s, and I dont do many of those anyway, very compact and easy to move from job to job, love it, for the money, cant beat this saw!!!
br /As for complaints about it throwing dust, its a miter saw, what do you expect???

I did quite a bit of research before buying this saw, and I considered both the Hitachi 8 1/2" as well as the Makita 10" equivalents, both of which appear to me to be excellent saws as well. In the end, the wealth of positive reviews, and their emphasis on certain features, swayed me to this saw. I have found this saw to be an excellent choice, and I am very glad I went with it. This saw is performs exceptionally well. One of the most critical features in my view is the horizontal d-handle. I have been restoring our 1770 house for the last five years, and I have used a non-slide older Dewalt 12" saw with the same handle configuration. I have never gotten wrist fatigue from this saw, even after long days of hundreds of cuts, and I am convinced it is due to the excellent handle design. I bought the DW712 for finer work, and I am currently using it to cut face frames for cabinets I am building. I find that if I plunge the saw away from the board, then push it through slowly, tear out is virtually eliminated, and with an 80-tooth blade the cuts are glass-smooth. I also had occasion recently to use the saw to cross-cut reclaimed antique heart-pine wide-board flooring that I subsequently installed in my kitchen. The 15 amp motor easily cut this dense wood and the cuts were clean and perfectly square. I am convinced that the 8 1/2" blade size, reducing flexing, really helps in this regard too (my other principle reason for selecting this saw). There were no gaps or spaces whatsoever at the places where the floorboards abutted one another. The saw performed beautifully. My plan for this saw is to use it for fine work only, and to use my 12" saw for rough cutting, but there is no doubt in my mind that this saw has all the necessary power to do the latter. This saw is really a bargain, especially at the current price of approximately $370, which is $30 less than I paid a year ago after looking long and hard for the lowest price. I highly recommend this saw.

The machine itself is excellent but they put a cheap saw blade on it. I immediately replace with a Forrest CM08H606100 which leaves a smooth as glass cut behind.

I have owned Makita, Delta, and Hitachi compound miter saws. Most larger saws have too much "head flex" if you are into precision cuts, you will know that term well. The reason I bought this saw, is because it has that precision cutting and well engineered from ITALY. Read the small print on the motor. I almost bought the Hitachi, but the Hitachi does not have good fences on both sides and the Hitachi is a little awkward. It's like buying an italian sports car, this is the Lamborghini of compound miter saws.

It works amazingly smooth and clean, all the cuts it makes are comfortable without forcing it for anything. the machine is very quiet over the average miter saws I've used before this one. the only flaw is that it's been quite difficult to find variety of blades for it. but, after all, A+ tool.

Great saw. Feels much lighter than my big 12 inch Dewalt. After using a sliding miter saw for so long I am glad that Dewalt has made one that I can move around without throwing out my back. There are lighter saws on the market but they are not sliding. To me a sliding miter is much better than any regular miter saw. I got this saw about a month ago and used it to cut treated 2x4's and spindles on a deck job. The saw worked great and cut through the material accurately and easily. The stock blade works great for framing but is not intended for fine finish work. I would recommend this saw to anyone who is looking for a light and portable saw that can do pretty much everything a 12" can do with less weight.

I work back stage in a small but well equipped community theatre in Brooklyn. We build both back stage and on stage so all our big saws have to be mobile. We have pretty good tools, pneumatics, table saw, etc. and 10" Delta chopper mounted on a a 'Sidewinder' fold up cart. I have been eying a new slider and new bench for some time and finally got it. The saw mounted easily on the the Rousseau bench.
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br /Most of our materials are 1" to 2" thick so this is an ideal saw for us. I have not used a slider before, but had used radial arms - very similar cutting feel; silky compared to the old chopper. Perfect and smooth cuts. Also bought one of those laser guides (Laser Cutting Guide - northern tool) - what a combo.
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br /Don't miss the 10" blade at all.
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br /One issue, unlike the chopper, the saw dust is quite fine and tricky to control. Time for a small shop vac.
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br /I bought a better blade, but there is nothing wrong with the one that it came with - excellent.

Now that I've used this saw for about 1 year, I wanted to write a review. I absolutely love this saw. I am a home owner who is remodeling my whole house. This saw cuts 2 by x with ease and then turns around and cuts perfect miters on oak for cabinetry without changing blades and without tear. I locked preset angles as well as custom angles without issue. Changing blades is a bit of a pain in the butt because of the blade guard, but once the phillips screws are replaced with torx or allen screws, it's easier to loosen and tighten the screws because the tool grips the screw better. Tonight I was cutting 24" wide OSB and this saw cut about 60% thru on one pass, then I simply flip the OSB, line up the blade (put it in the existing slot) and finish the cut. I HIGHLY recommend the DW723 miter saw stand (which I have been using for about a month now) for this saw. I'd buy this saw again in a heartbeat, especially when Amazon has free shipping and it's delivered to my door!

Awesome piece of machinery. Changing the blade the first time really test my patient, but that because I didn't read the instructions.

Saw is excellent value and met all of my expectations. Would recommend to serious woodworker.

I do finish carpentry. Have used most of the saws made. This one is lite and is a nice saw. Only complant is that the right side has more distance then the left side for holding wood squaire against the fence. I use my left hand to hold the wood and right hand on the handle. Guess the engineer at Dewalt is left handed.

Found this saw late last night, had planned to buy today, price is up $50 bucks in less than 24hrs? Gold plating on the data tag now?
Never mind! (Looks like a great saw, too bad)!

The dewalt saw is a capable compound miter. The problem is the 8 !/2 inch blade, which is a odd size and does'nt have any fine tooth available at all. The only blade that I could locate is a fast woodcutting, which is unnacceptable in some instances. There are many different blades available in 8 1/4, why they made this saw 8 1/2 is beyond me. Why make a saw with no blades available.