When my abrasive blade chop saw "died", I debated whether to replace it with a similar saw or to try the carbide blade one. I was very hesitant to purchase the DW872 in that it did not seem possible it would do the job. However, the abrasive blade saws are quite expensive to own in that the blades do not last very many cuts and nor do the saws themselves. However, with a 30 day satisifaction guarantee I had very little to lose.brHaving used the saw for several projects now, I know that I have made the correct decision in buying the DW872. The saw is much faster than the abrasive saw, makes a cleaner burr free cut. There is very little heat generated in the making a cut with almost to sparks.brErgonically the saw is very well set up, with the large D-handle being amnidextrious, the vise affording a positive lockup, miter cuts are a breeze to adjust for, and downforce required is smooth. The metal base is the heaviest I have owned on such a saw.brDewalt you really outdid yourselves on this one and I highly recommend it.

I am a welder/fabricator. To me, time is money and this saw is a TIME SAVER! I mostly work with 2"x1/4" angle iron, 2"sch 80 Pipe and 4" channel. This saw is the best! Cutting time is literally 1/10 th the time of a band saw or abrasive cut-off saw and NONE of the of the clean up. I have 2 extra blades and alternate them at the sharpener. Unfortunately, I only get about 600 cuts out of a blade but, man is it fast. It's light weight and portable and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to save time.

I have owned this saw nearly a year and have just started using it extensively. It is like anything else in life I guess, it has it's good points, and it's bad ones.
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br /The good news is that it does do a beutiful job of cutting. Clean, burr free, and quick. The bad news is that the blades are terribly expensive and not nearly as long lived as advertised. I would estimate that I get about 3-4 abrasive blades worth of cutting out if it before it is time to think about sharpening it. In my neck of the woods it costs nearly 50 cents a tooth ($36.00) to sharpen, so I can't say that it is cost effective. The material holding vice doesn't seem to be strong enough for the amount of vibrations you can sometimes get with this saw. (Mine is held on with a snap ring that sometimes falls off without warning). Push it a little too fast through some small diameter rod (5/16" in my case) and it will rip it right out of the holder, total the blade, and scare the heck out of anyone misfortunate enough to be standing where the material got tossed. (Only happened once, very light down pressure is essential, but they don't tell you that in manual that came with mine.)
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br /I tried using Freud blades but was told by their factory tech support that they do not allow re-sharpening of their blades, and that the 14" Speed Demon was not sold in the U.S. but boot legged in through a third party.
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br /Regardless, the theory is great. If they could just come up with longer lasting blades (yes even with very light pressure, they wear out quick) and possibly a better vice arangement (The one that came with my Dewalt abrasive blade chop saw is better designed and more durable), I could recommend them whole heartedly. Right now I could only say that it depends on what you are using it for. If you have a lot of cutting to do and your time is expensive, you might be able to justify the expense by the time savings and prep savings (No grinding to remove burrs, at least until it gets dull). For the rest of us that just wanted a good cost effective way to cut lots of steel, the abrasive blade seems to be the better way to go for now.

I got tired of burning through band saw blades so I figured I'd give this saw a try. The cuts are very nice with little blade deflection. The speed is better than any other type of saw I've used. I've made about 50 cuts on medium to heavy gauge tube, pipe, bar, and angle, and the blade is shot. Completely my own fault, as I became more confident with the saw I was putting too much pressure on the blade, material got hot, started throwing sparks, and stopped cutting. I don't like the fact that it only takes one minor mistake to waste a very expensive blade. I have a new blade on the way and I'll get the original one sharpened as a spare, but I'm not getting rid of the old band saw yet. Overall I'm happy with the saw, but I don't think it's worth the extra cost. There is no reason this saw should cost 4X the price of an abrasive chop saw. For the price of the saw it should have a cast base and a better clamping system. The material clamp works OK, but the backrest has a lot of deflection when the material is clamped down tight. I think they should also reduce the blade speed and ship with a 90 tooth blade.

I've had this tool now for about 1 month. I've cut channel, angle,flat, and pipe with it and it's been a tool I wish I had 3 years ago, I would have saved hours of cutting time. This is one of my better tools in the garage. I've cut 9" flat bar(just barely fit), 1/2"x3"x3" angle, and 11ga tube all with ease compared to anything else I have. The only time I've seen any problem is cutting say the long edge of a 6"x1/2" bar, if you can't stand it vertically in the clamp, the cutting teeth will have to work a little harder and create a few more sparks, otherwise cutting it standing vertically it will cut through it like butter with very few sparks and little heat. brI've made purhaps 60-70 cuts to date and the blade has held up pretty well and appears still sharp.brIf your into cutting a lot of channel, angle, flat or pipe and time is important to you, spend the extra [money] and get this saw, you won't be sorry.brgary

I own a muffler shop and the reason i bought this saw was the number of cuts you could get on a blade before it had to be resharped. You cannot get 1200 cuts from 1 blade. All we cut at the shop is 14 gauge aluminize exhaust tubing. The saw comes with a 70 tooth blade and i have bought 1 90 tooth blade and dewalt sent me a 90 tooth blade. I get a averge of 125 cuts per blade. So to say the least i'am not happy at all with this saw. I own several dewalt tools and have no problems with any of them JUST THIS ONE

I had made two attempts to purchase the Porter Cable 14" "Dry Cut" Metal Cutting Saw, model 1410, but had to return both due to problems. I decided to go with a DeWalt.pI find the DW872 to be better than the PC1410P in a couple aspects. First, the vise and miter angle setups are quick and easy. Second, the pivot locking pin is far more impressive than a cheap chain and hook. I wish the DW872 would be better in a couple of areas. First, the noise from the tool is incredibly loud (far more than the PC). Second, the blade guard is not well designed. It is flimsy plastic and tends to bounce a lot, whereas the PC blade guard is a smooth operating work of art.

I haven't tried the Porter-Cable multi-cutter saw, so I can't compare them, but after a couple dozen cuts in steel angle and tubing (up to 1/4" wall thickness) I'm very happy with the DeWalt. The ultra-smooth cut surface is remarkable compared with the ways most of us have cut metal all our lives. I'll be amazed if the blade really holds out for a thousand cuts, but several hundred before resharpening would still seem pretty good to me, considering the labor saved and the great results. I'm hanging on to the abrasive chop saw to handle hardened alloy shafts, spring steel, etc.; but I'm sold on the multi-cutter for most metal cuts. It IS one loud mama, and has a tendency to trip a 15-amp circuit breaker with its startup surge, but I can't blame the tool for my under-powered shop....

Clean, fast cuts. Be careful and DO NOT force it through the piece TOO FAST. It still cuts steel pipe faster than anything before it. Take all needed precautions for flying debris and make sure the work is held securely. And, don't let your welder use it if they do not how to, first. Otherwise you get missing teeth and a bent blade. All-in-all: It paid for itself in 2 days as I saved two days of additional welding (using fittings and cut pipe instead of just pipe cut on a 45s or 22s). And, since the blades are servicable, it costs way less over time.
br /Point-of-reference: I was cutting 3" Sch 10 galv steel pipe for exterior mounted gutter downspouts @ Las Lomas HS, Wlnut Creek, CA. I am a plumbing contractor.

There are currently two flaws that have forced DeWalt to taketheir metal chopsaw off of the market until June. 1. There hyped uppositive drive arbor system is destroying the gears when the bladebinds. The blade has know where to go when this happens. This information is from a DeWalt salesmen alert. 2. The vise to hold the material to be cut is failing miserably. This vise does not hold it in place and sucks the material up into the blade guard and causes #1 to happen by binding and destroying the gears. Call 1-800-4 DeWalt to verify. It is still for sale on this site and I wouldn't buy it. Period. Also, Tools of the Trade Ranked this Model first in the March April issue even though it is under recall. When I purchased my saw from Amazon.com and I installed the blade it, would hit the base of the tool and not make it into the bottom of the cut. I had to return it and have bought another model altogether.

I've been sculpting and working with metal for over a decade (forming, welding and forging) and I own thousands of dollars worth of metal fabrication equipment including commercial duty abrasive cutoff saws and plasma cutters.
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br /The DeWalt DW872 Carbide Cutoff saw is simply amazing. Other reviewers grip about it not being square and the high cost of blades. I've not had that problem. My unit did have a (slight) wobble in the blade but a single call to Dewalt got new blade bushings express mailed to me and that solved the problem.
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br /The unit cuts incredibly smooth and square providing perfect miters, something NO abrasive saw can achieve.
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br /I agree that this tool costs considerably more than an abrasive saw, but if you value your time and are looking for clean precise cuts it will deliver. It is well worth the money!
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Cuts great, if you take proper care to go slow. If you're used to a using an abrasive type wheel you will be tempted to push too hard and ruin the blade. The cut finish is excellent.

I bought this saw for a small, part time welding business. It immediately started to pay back. The first project I used it on, my brother made almost 300 cuts in one day, on one blade, cutting 2" square tubing, 3/16" wall thickness. If we had been using abrasive blades, he would have had to stop to replace the blade at least 5 times, probably more.
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br /However, as mentioned, the base is light, and we found that the threaded rod on the clamp mechanism was soft, and wore out easily. We did build extensions, to support the metal at level, and also a stop, to be able to cut many pieces to length, without repeatedly measuring. I used the saw for a year, had two blades that I would rotate to the sharpening shop. I then sold it to my father-in-law, and they are still using it now, 4 years later. The clamp mechanism is gone, the base is beat up, but they bolted it to a table, and it keeps on going.
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I have been using this saw for approx 2 years in a farm shop. I cut everything from alluminum to hard steel. I have even cut 3 inch heavy wall tubing with this saw and still on the original blade and that is after making all the cuts for 280 foot of pipe fence just recently built. There is no burrs and the cuts are cool enough to handle after you make them. The best part is you don't loose any of your cutting diameter after several cuts like with the abrasive blades. I normally went thru 6-8 abrasive blades a year and at 10.00 a pop it more than covers the cost of replacement of the carbide.
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br /I couldn't be more pleased with the saw and would buy another whenever required.

This is one of the biggest disappointments in my 45 years of buying and using tools. The table is light and tinny. I have yet to get a square (top to bottom) cut out of it. It wanders to the right a good solid 1/8 inch while cutting 1/2 by 4 bar stock vertically. The blade that came with the saw lasted only about as long as a quality abrasive blade. Because of the great amount of time required for fit-up, due to the inaccuracy of the saw, along with the short life of the blade and it's expensive re-sharpening costs, I cannot see how this can be a money maker for any one. DeWalt makes excellent wood cutting chop saws as well as a good abrasive cut off saw, but I cannot reccommend this to any professional metal worker.

One big warning: don't cut stainless. Even with the stainless blade: DeWalt DW7749 14-Inch 90 Tooth Stainless Steel Cutting Saw Blade with 1-Inch Arbor It blew up on me after about 50 beautiful cuts on 1-1/2" 16 gauge square tube; fairly light stuff. Then about 20 teeth were missing or chipped in short order. Thankfully, the Amazon guarantee made it worth trying out for no risk except for the wasted time.
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br /But overall, it's a pretty nice cheap alternative to a cold saw. It's also faster than a cold saw or even an abrasive chop saw. Yes, it costs more to operate, but resharpening in Minneapolis (Eide Saw) is less than $20. The resharpened blades don't cut quite as clean, but they last as long or better. It's worth it for the speed and for spending a lot less time cleaning up the burrs left by a chop saw. There's also a heck of a lot less dust in my shop and on me now.
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br /I agree that the vise is cheesy, but if you deduct the value of the included blade, the saw costs less than $300.
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br /And one more thing. As a friend told me, if you want to clear out the shop in a hurry, just fire up this saw. People will find another place to hang out as soon as they hear that DeWalt start wailing.

I have had the saw for a little over a week now. I have been satisfied with the speed of the cuts but am really dissatisfied with the amount of cuts I got before the blade had to be sharpened. I cut 14 ga square tubing and got less than 600 cuts before having to have the blade sharpened. As a result I am undecided as to whether or not I will be keeping the saw...

I bought this for my husband. He is a very enthusiastic about this saw. All the years he hand sawed steel and now it cuts like butter. As he says you don't need this all time but when you do this does a great job.

Though this saw is a far cry better than an abrasive blade saw after checking out the DW and Porter Cable side by side the PC is obviously a better made unit for the same price. I bought a PC and love it.

There are really two issues here: carbide saws for metal cutting, and this particular tool.
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br /The carbide blade has severe limitations. It dulls relative quickly under ideal circumstances, and can be wrecked on one cut if you hit a hard spot in the metal: most common shapes of steel are made from scrap, including ball bearings and spring steel. Only thin wall tubing seems to be exempt from this. Cutting thin wall seems to be the only good use for this type of blade.
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br /The tool itself is not designed or made that well. The base is cheap sheet metal and doesn't look like it will take a drop or any abuse. The clamping system does work, but the miter accuracy is compromised by the design. After putting out some big bucks for the DW872, nine cuts out of ten, I find myself using my old Makita 10" wood miter saw with an abrasive blade.