Customer Reviews

DEWALT DW744X 10-Inch Job-Site Table Saw with 24-1/2-Inch Max Rip Capacity

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought a 744 after trying out the 745 and decided I would like the larger fence. The 744 I received from an online source (Tyler Tools) had a serious blade wobble and when set at 45 deg. the blade would contact the plate. The box it was shipped in looked as if it been hit by a semi! I called the Dewalt center (Seattle for me) and they traded me for a brand new model which works flawlessly. They told me some versions of the 744x are on recall so watch out. I haven't found any information online about the recall except for a posting in Australia. Had I not been near a Dewalt center I would have been hit with some serious shipping costs so be careful before you order a 744x.

I had purchased a small contractor DeWalt 745 saw. It was a great little saw. But I wanted the larger 744x unit. I need a bigger fence area. Got the first 744 and it had a problem with the rack and pinion fence. It was so tight It wouldn' move. Tried adjusting it via the owners manual to no avail. Amazon shipped another unit and to my dismay it also had a rack and pinion AND fence problem. The fence would hang on the right miter slot. And the pinion gears jumped off the track when trying to adjust the fence. I'm very dissappointed in the factory setup on these saws. Poor quality control. I believe once I get beyond these poor factory quality issues I might have a good saw. But frankly, I would think twice before purchasing a DeWalt saw agaain . . .

I have owned this saw for 3 years and I have constantly had to make adjustments to the rack and pinion "pillow blocks" that hold the rod, they are nothing but plastic in thin sheet metal and are prone to bending to the point where the fence will be 1/8" off from one end to another. DeWalt went super cheap on materials when making this saw, they should have used a hardened rod (one that won't flex) to hold the gears and they should have used solid aluminum with bronze bushings for the pillow blocks. This saw is very frustrating to use every time I go out with it. I used to use an old Makita with the simple fence and as long as I have to check the blade every time with a tape on the DeWalt saw, it makes it no better than anything else out there. Good tools were once made in the USA, not anymore. :(
DAVE, California Licensed Contractor 15+ years

I bought this saw primarily as a job site saw but it has seen some service in the workshop as well. It is ideally a two man lift not so much because of the weight but because it's awkward to man handle on your own, owing to the large table. I also purchased the additional outfeed and side supports which are great but they also add weight to the saw which have made it even heavier. As i work on my own the additional 30 inches of outfeed support has to be balanced against the extra weight.

The saw sits securely on the stand and has all the power anyone should need in a contractor saw. The rack and pinion fence is excellent and the best on the market in my opinion. I place the fence on the right hand side of the blade so the rip scale is set for me, anyone who sets the fence on the left will have to use their tape measure. The rip scale was out by a 1/16 of an inch and the fence was a 1/32 of an inch out of parallel with the blade. The mitre gauge seems as on all contractor saws to have been a bit of an after thought, there is a 1/16 of an inch of slop between the gauge bar and the gauge slots. This is not a huge issue for me as i rarely use it, when i do use the mitre gauge i push against the side of the mitre slot nearest the blade when making a cut.

There is onboard storage for spare blades and blade spanners, it's a pity Dewalt couldn't have included a cord wrap and onboard storage for the mitre gauge. There is an aluminum shield with a rubber extension which covers the bottom of the blade underneath the saw, this seemed to be holding the sawdust and overheating the motor. I removed it, it might be intended to be left in place if a shop-vac were attached to the dust port. I also removed the blade guard and the riving knife, these imo are workshop acessories.

The threaded bar that is attached to the handle that raises and lowers the blade is exposed, hence the threads get clogged with saw dust. Making it almost impossible to raise and lower the blade, i modified a piece of plastic tubing with a slightly larger diametre than the threaded bar by slitting it down the middle and slipping it over the bar. This has kept the saw dust off.

In conclusion i would'nt advise someone working jobsites on their own to buy this saw, it's just a bit too heavy and awkward. Ideally i'd leave the DW744 in the workshop and buy the DW745 which has the same size motor but with a reduced rip capacity and hence smaller table.

Just a little update on the above, the fence on my saw has a tendancy to drift towards the back of the blade which burns my stock as it clears the blade. This always seems to happen no matter how many times i re-adjust the fence. There are two 10mm bolts under the fence at the back of the table which need to be loosened to adjust the fence for parrallel. I recently went to re-adjust the fence and ended up tightening the bolts when i should have been loosening them, this sometimes happens when the bolt heads are facing down rather than up. I stripped out the threads in the bolt housings which unfortunatly are part of the cast table. I took the saw to the service centre and they gave me three options, thread locking compound, a new table, or a new saw. I choose the tread locking compound as a temporary fix, a new table will cost me 250 Euro. Expensive mistake.

This saw cuts with ease. The ability to rip up to 24.5 inches has already come in handy in the first week of using it. It makes it easy to cut plywood by your self. and the gaurd once set up makes consistant accurate cuts every time. I do not even measure the wood, I just set the table up to the correct size and rip the boards. Purfect every time.

I was looking for a table saw for causal use. I need it to cut 4' x 6' boards, and similiar size boards in general. And I need a stand, and preferrably with wheel. I really wanted the Bosch 4100 or the Ridge models with wheel. However, those are priced at around $600, which is too much for my budget and use purpose.

Anyway, I found this saw on sale at around $300. (yes, got it for a famous national hardware retailer, and authorized dealer) I got comments that it should be better than the Craftsman saws. Since they are similiar priced, I got this model. And I used this saw for 5 months now.

Overall, the goods are:
1.) Rip Fence - it rack and pinion design is great, and easy to operation. It allows accurate measure easier by just "rolling" the wheel.

2.) Decent size table, and seems durable.

3.) Stands/legs are stable

4.) easy to set up.

5.) good power

Bad:
1.) need to do a lot of adjustment: like realign the rip scale.
off by 0.75" !!

2.) meansure can only set from cutting from Right, not like Ridge model which has retractable measure, allowing you to measure from both left and right.

3.) rip fence need to realign parallel to the blade

4.) Throat plate is kind of cheap.. I think it made from plastic with a very thin metal plate on it.. For sure not solid metal.

5.) Yellow casing seems a little weak

Overally, I think it is a pretty decent table saw. However, you will need to do a lot of manual adjuestment.

I've liked it for the month I've had it, but the blade went out of alignment and caused a serious kick-back issue. I followed the (very skimpy) directions for adjustment but wasn't able to fix it.

I went on-line and found a recall for saws made in 2007 with the identical symptoms. My saw doesn't fall under the recall, but since it's only a month old the warranty covers it.

One other issue. Is it just me or are the holes for bolting the saw to the stand too close to the legs to allow a secure attachment?

Those issues aside, it's a handy easy saw for what I want to do right now, but when moving up to a more exacting type of work I may well trade up. A manual adjustment of the blade angle doesn't encourage precision.

Update 12.08- adjustment went fine- problem solved.

The rip fence on the first saw I received would not align parallel to the blade. Out of the box, the rip fence was more than 1/2" out of alignment (manual indicates the fence should be pre-aligned at the factory). Furthermore, I was not able to align the fence following the instructions in the manual - fence was still ~1/8 inch out of alignment with blade.

Amazon customer service was fantastic. The CSR issued me an RMA for the defective saw, and had a replacement saw over nighted to me.

The replacement saw apparently is the latest Dewalt revision. It has a couple of design fixes:

1) The throat plate is redesigned with a lock-down mechanism. Apparently, the old non-locking plate is dangerous, because the manual issues a warning to always have the plate locked when the saw is in use.
2) The blade guard, anti-kickback mechanism, and splitter have been totally redesigned. The splitter now has two positions: one for through cuts, and a second for non-through cuts. The old splitter only had one position, and required adjustment using shims - no shims with the new splitter!

The new saw set up was as advertised. No major adjustments needed out of the box. The fence is perfectly parallel with the blade.

The new saw also comes with a push stick.

Here is a link to the Dewalt web page with a picture of the new saw - note the change in blade guard.

[...]

Summary observations:

Questionable manufacturing quality: The fence and rack-and-pinion mechanism on the first saw were not even close to being adjusted correctly. The box showed no signs of damage to indicate the problem was due to a shipping problem.

Questionable engineering quality: The throat plate and the blade guard/splitter assembly re-design appear to address defects with the original saw design.

Questionable documentation quality: The original documentation indicated the saw comes with a push stick. In fact, it only came with instructions on how to make a push stick. The new saw comes with a push stick.

I've not used the saw yet, so I have no feedback on operational quality.

However, if you're thinking about buying this saw, make sure you get the new saw with the design fixes mentioned above (look for new blade guard style and included push stick).

Great portable saw, easy to tilt, raise and lower blade. I use it on the job site and in my shop at home. Not too heavy, I have carried it 100 feet from truck to worksite many times. The stand is very sturdy yet lightweight, and collapes easy. My only negative is the fence. It's OK for normal ripping but sometimes I need a sacrificial auxiliary fence attached to it for dadoing. This fence has no holes in it to attach a sacrificial fence, have to clamp it. Overall it's great. I reccomend it!

The saw is a great quality tool. The only problem I had was the brand new which I was sent, had a major manufacturing defect. When I took it to the local Dewalt service center, they knew right away what the problem was. Unfortunately, it was either pay to send it back, or take a refurbished one. The refurbished one did not have the same table top.