Customer Reviews

DEWALT Bare-Tool DC390B 6-1/2-Inch 18-Volt Cordless Circular Saw

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The saw arrived within a week, in perfect condition and I have been framing in a bathroom with it all day. It is a great tool and it almost keeps up with my mag77 only I don't need to roll out any cord's.
PLEASE NOTE: this saw has recieved some undue bad ratings because it is a BARE TOOL (a perfect replacement or addition to your existing 18v DeWalt tool collection) It does not come with a battery or charger ... well duh! A single battery retails for over $80 alone, what do you expect? It does however come with a blade (nice little suprise to me).
This is a great buy and I'm sure you will be very pleased with it's capabilities if you purchase one.

I thought i was just picking up a trim saw when i bought this 3 years ago.
Apparently i was wrong. I am a handyman/carpenter by trade and have used this thing to rip 1x and plywood, crosscut 2x anything...and it takes it. I keep 3 different blades and always try to use the appropriate one for the material i am cutting and of course, a fully charged battery.
The last framing job i did, i used this thing to cut over 250 2x4's for the walls. The corded Makita sat unused for two days.
For all the criticism of this saw, it does the job for me...for 3 years now of daily and sometimes abusive use.
But, as always, the Dewalt batteries suck so i keep 3-4 charged all day.

This saw got poor reviews due it being the saw only- which is great for those of us who have other dewalt tools and all ready have batteries. Otherwise it is a fine saw for use when pulling out a corded saw is too much work or your not near electricity. It's not a replacement for a corded tool- but it has worked very well for me when cutting conduit, some 2X4's and working on the fenceline without electricity.

I purchased this saw as a companion tool to my other 18 volt DeWalt tools. I already own
several battery packs and chargers so the "bare saw" option seemed great - a cordless saw (DeWalt no less) for around $50, how can one beat that? I used it all day on the first day and found it very easy to use with plenty of power and the blade speed was more than adequate for framing material cutting. I had absolutely no problem getting used to the safety device on the trigger (contrary to another reviewer's experience). The saw I purchased was the one from MaxTool and was pleased that it was a little more than a "bare tool". It included the blade wrench, carbide blade, and edge guide with the saw - in other words - you get everything in the picture plus an edge guide! I cannot speak for the other dealers, but this MaxTool really exceeded my expectations.

I bought this "Bare-Tool", as I already own another DeWalt tool and have spare batteries and a charger. I have a 18 volt "Black & Decker Firestorm" saw of this type, but it is very under powered, and the battery packs do not last well. This DeWalt will out saw the B & D numerous times over and is an excellent buy.

My husband was thrilled to finally have a DeWalt 18V XRP Cordless Circular Saw. He likes to cut wood outside, and this allows him to do so quickly and without an extension cord. I was very pleased with the price. The saw was shipped to us very quickly. He was quite happy on Christmas!

I used this saw this past weekend to cut deck boards and 2x4's. It is very easy to use and cuts great. I love that there is not cords to get in the way! The battery lasted for my entire project.

I recently upgraded to a Dewalt 18V drill, so I bought this bare saw to go with it. I just spent a good part of the weekend building a deck and stairs for my spa. This saw rocks. Very light, very easy to handle both right and left handed. The trigger safety is an easy reach. I can't say enough good things about this saw.

At the current time, cordless saws have noticeably less power than corded tools. The DeWalt DC390 is no exception to this. It will certainly cut 2" thick fir and pine lumber, but you won't get the same rate of production as with a corded saw.

This saw has a thick base plate, which I like. Thinner stamped metal base plates on circular saws often get bent after several years of use and the saws never work well after this happens.

A routine use of the DeWalt DC390 will be to cut thin stock such as plywood. It's handy to have a cordless tool for this purpose since you often have to extend your reach to make cuts. However, this saw is poorly balanced for such work. With the cut depth set shallow, the battery is raised high and the saw is top heavy. If you put the saw down as you would a normal circular saw, it will tip over. The lower half of the saw guard is made of a slightly flexible plastic. Given this saw is likely to tip off worktables frequently, I think this is better than having a metal guard which might get permanently bent. Plywood is often cut using a guide such as a bar of metal clamped to the work. It is difficult to cut with the DeWalt DC390 while keeping it snug to a guide because, in addition to the trigger, the saw has a safety that must be pressed with your thumb. It prevents you from wrapping your thumb around the handle, so you don't have a normal grip. (The DC390 also suffers from a weakness of all direct drive circular saws in that the motor leaves little clearance under it and tends to bump into any clamps that you use to hold the guide. It seems to me that manufacturers could do a better job of designing a motor housing that provided more clearance, even if only when the saw is set to do shallow cuts and motor is raised relatively high.)

The locking knobs for the bevel and depth of cut are made of hard plastic. I find them comfortable to use.

The saw uses a 6 1/2 inch diameter blade with a 5/8 inch arbor hole. The blade included with the saw has 16 teeth and is for rough carpentry. (It is easy to find a variety blades that fit this saw in hardware stores. Don't buy a blade with a 10 mm arbor by mistake.) The arbor bolt is reversed threaded and must be tightened with a hex key. The key is provided and it can be stored securely by pressing it into slots in the body of the saw.

Like many cordless saws, this is a "left handed" saw, which has the blade mounted on the left side of the motor. For a right handed person, the consequences of a "left handed" saw are these: When you cut along a marked line, you will be able to see where the blade is cutting clearly because the motor won't be in the way. However, when you perform the typical operation of holding a board down with your left hand while you cut off the right end of the board, the wider part of the saw's base is resting on the wood that will bend and fall away. The saw also tends to tilt and fall away. You have to apply attention and force to keep the base of the saw level.

This particular product offer ( DC390B, "tool only") does not include a battery for the saw or a charger. The saw's shipping weight is listed as 8 lbs ( about the weight of a plastic gallon jug of water) and, to me, this feels correct for the weight of the tool. Attaching a battery adds weight. At the current time ( Nov. 2010) DeWalt makes both 18 V Nicad batteries and more expensive and lighter 18 V lithium batteries that fit its 18V cordless tools.

I rate this saw as three stars out of five to indicate that it is an average cordless saw. It may be a better than average deal depending on your requirements and its current price.

I bought this saw (along with a couple other tools) because I wanted to start building a selection of power tools for myself, so I don't need to go to my dad's tool shelf on the occasion I want to do something. Cordless technology has come a long way in recent years, so I thought I'd go this route, because I've never liked the additional setup/teardown and mobility restriction factors of a corded tool.

This thing fulfilled and surpassed my expectations, easily. While it definitely spins slower than my dad's 7.25" DeWalt corded saw, it makes a lot less noise and actually went through 2x4's faster (the fresh Freud blade most likely had a hand in that). It saw use just this last weekend crosscutting 2x8's in the garage and doing trim cuts in 2x4 sections in the basement. I really appreciated being able to carry it from one spot to the other without worrying about where I would plug it in, or what extension cord I would use.

I noticed another review marked this as a "left handed" type saw, due to motor position relative to the blade. I will agree that the motor side makes for a little more difficulty keeping the saw level at the end of a cut, but the blade cut line is also more visible without the motor housing in the way. Grip didn't seem to be a problem for me, but I used a table with grips in one case and had my father holding the wood down in the other, so I was able to keep two hands on the saw in all cuts. I like the position of the secondary grip (forward of the trigger) as compared with the one on my father's saw.

Another thing I really like is that the blade does not "free spin" after a cut. Because of the motor design, the instant you let go of the trigger the blade brakes to a halt, increasing safety and allowing you to set the tool aside right away instead of waiting for the blade to stop moving.

I haven't worn a battery down yet, do I can't speak for its project longevity, but it's probably just right for the light duty homeowner. I wouldn't want to rely on this saw for building a deck, for instance, but a bookshelf should be well within reach.