Customer Reviews

DEWALT DW321K Heavy Duty Variable Speed Top Handle Jig Saw Kit

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

I am very diappointed in this saw.

I have had 2 of them during the past 10 months.
The Dewalt service center worked one the first one and
then had it replaced. They tried at least.

The problem with the saw it that it pulls to the left while cutting.
In the application I was using I wanted to use a straight edge to get a very straight cut, ie. better then I might get free hand.
This was in some 1/4" walnut plywood.

With a straight edge (ie guide fence)if the fence was on the left it would pull the wood out from under the fence creating a bow or the blade would jump out of the guide roller.
If the fence was to the right of the saw it pulled away from the fence and trying to guide it back to the fence caused the blade to jump out of the roller guide.

The service center contacted someone at Dewalt, who said that I could not use a jigsaw with a fence and that I needed to buy a cutout tool.

I didn't argue with them but to complete my project I had borrowed my friends Bosch and it cut with a fence just fine. For a lot of years I managed to do this type of cutouts with an old Craftman until I wore it out.

I had also contacted the main Dewalt customer support via email who told me to go to the nearest service center and that the saw should work this way. When I wrote them a second time about the last visit to the repair store I got no response.

The sole plate also hangs up and is difficult to set to an angle.

The saw has a dust blower which is adjusted by a slide on the right hand side. My first manual did not have a description of this switch.

I do like the ability to chuck both universial and T shank blades which was why I choose the tool initially over its Bosch counterpart.

Today I used the saw for the last time and being very displeased with the results I just gave it away.

buy the bosch. After using no more than 25 blades the blade lock mechanism broke. It was out of warranty so the cost to fix it is 75$. I either pay 75 bucks to get the saw back or add an additonal 75 and get a good saw.

After looking at 5 different saws for a couple of hours, I settled on this one. It's use of standard and t-blades was the deciding factor. When I started sawing wood,I noticed that it cut to the right, so I had to face the saw about 25 degrees left to track straight.When I examined it, it looked like the the blade holder, or the entire shaft was crooked. The blade ran against the side of the guide bearing instead of being straight. The power-on locking mechanism did not work all the time, and it seemed chintzy. Also, the blade locking mechanism did not inspire confidence. Besides for these things, it was okay. I thought it felt good in my hand, and the power was good.I returned it and bought a Milwaukee 6266-21. I think I will stay away from Dewalt after this. Seems their QC is sleeping.

I manage a small manufacturing plant where workers use jig saws for roughly 20% of their day. We recently replaced our aging Makitas (7 years old!!) with 3 DeWalts. We have had them all to service depots at least 3 times, and have now given up and are purchasing new Makitas again. The major problems: 1)If you cut through anything but wood (even using blades recommended by DeWalt) the blades fall out. Once this has happened a few times, the "quick release" mechanism becomes so loose you can barely turn a corner in 1/4" ply without stopping to find your blade. 2)Whoever designed the dust blower has evidently never tried the saw - we had to fabricate small plastic covers to keep the wood chips from blinding the workers - very annoying design if you are useing this saw a lot, and an easy one for DeWalt to have corrected. 3)The orbital plate mechanism (which we never use) has become so loose as to require tightening almost before every cut. On a positive note, this saw is very powerful and shows no sign of fatigue other than the above, despite being in a rugged commercial environment. Unfortunately, unless you plan on keeping this saw in a box just to show your friends, I would not recommend it's purchase.

Dewalt is on the right track with this saw,however the saw has performed less admirably than I had hoped. It cuts well, once you familiarize yourself with the 'quirks' of the tool. It has little 'too much' in features that lends itself to the homeowner and backyard shop category. I absolutely hate the blade lock function on mine. Just when I'm making a critical cut .... it 'quick-releases' the blade. This does not inspire confidence. As a professional I have used other saws and bosch, portercable, and milwaukee all have their drawbacks, but I am going back to my bosch until the engineers get out of the gadget business and start designing 'industrial tools' instead of 'designer tools'

I nicked this saw barely used on Ebay for $40. Thanks to all of you who gave it bad reviews here, must be the reason it went so cheap - and I got me a great tool. It seems this saw has suffered from the 'real men don't read manuals' syndrome. Sure enough, the saw I got arrived sans manual, which probably got discarded by the previous owner the first thing after opening the saw. So, I printed and thoroughly studied the PDF version off Dewalt website.

I will just go over the problems that seem to be mentioned the most here.

1. Dust removal: works a lot better if you turn it on. My saw arrived with the switch on 'off'.

2. Inability to make a straight cut: Orbital action is for aggressive cutting, and manual specifically cautions to set it to 0 for precise cuts - or for cutting metal. My saw arrived with orbital jacked to 3. Previous owner must have had trouble cutting straight. And this saw is powerful. I shudder at the thought of trying cutting metal on orbital with it.

3. Base plate retention lever working loose. It did come loose during test cuts. Manual says if that happens, tighten the screw holding the lever. Which I did - and the lever never came loose again - ever.

4. Blade retention mechanism. Manual states that in order to secure the blade, one must turn the tab clockwise a couple turns before pushing it down. Having done this, I never had a blade go loose. This is one knock for Dewalt - the claim to support both T and U blades is not entirely correct. You CAN chuck a T blade, but a quick survey of the mechanism assured me that is is really made for U blades and is not likely to hold T's properly. This problem is made worse by the fact that later Dewalt jigsaws are all T-blade users, and the only Dewalt blades I saw in stores were T. So I got me a set of quality Bosch U-blades. Never tried this saw with a T.

So far, I've been using this saw for several months - cutting all sorts of things with it. Not a single problem. No bent/ejected blades. No crooked cuts. No desire to ever get another jigsaw.

Dewalt has done it again! Managed to charge more for something that looks and acts identically to other brands' tool. Yes, its about the same as any other jigsaw (i.e. Bosch "progressor"), but it costs more.

PROS

** Clic blade change system

Cons

** Costs more to comparable jig saws.

** The "feel" just isn't as good as others.

Have been using for couple of weeks now. So far I like it, here is my findings:

the good: handling, power, variable speed switch and blower.

the bad: cost, blade release mechanism.

the ugly: when make orbital cut on thick material >1", it tends to cut to the left on the bottom.

Runs smoothly, handles well, very very little vibration, easy to change blades, runs quietly....an excellent product.

I must own about 20 DeWALT tools and this is a frustrating tool. For the most part I really like DeWALT tools but this one needs to be redesigned. The blade will not track straight. The problem seems to be in the blade mounting system. I have never had a problem with the blade coming loose, however as you screw the cap to tighten the blade you can see the plunger start to turn as you crank down on this thing. Since you tighten to the right, the blade will end up pointed to the right. Now I have found that if you back off slightly you can line it up, but that's not the way a jig saw should work. I think that in this case you would be better served with a Bosch.