Customer Reviews

DEWALT DW7470 Miter Gauge for Table Saws

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

 

 

This miter gauge is the same design as the famously praised Osborne EB-3, which DeWalt chose to include with the DW746 table saw. Based on the glowing reviews of the Osborne (even Norm loves it), I thought I was in for a real treat with this tool.

Though I have only used it for a few days I wanted to share my thoughts. First of all, assembly of this guage took just 15 minutes or so, despite the terrible assembly diagrams. The feel of the DW7470 seemed to be good and I was hopeful that it would be as good a performer as my DeWalt rip fence. Let me just say that I was a bit disappointed when I began to use it. I really like the design, but I have 2 problems that cannot be ignored. The preset detents (which allow you to set the guage at the most common angles) are not completely accurate out of the box. I would estimate that the detent for setting the guage 90 degrees to the saw blade is off by 1-2 degrees. There IS a clever way to calibrate the guage so the detents are accurate, but as I went through this process I discovered that the fence face was very slightly cupped (over its length). My other beef was with the "play" in the fence. The miter slot bar is adjustable so you can take out any wiggle it may have while riding in your saw's miter slots, however, after completely adjusting my bar, I realized that the play in my gauge was caused by the connection of the fence to the bar, not the bar itself... which is unfixable. Customer service tells me that a little play in the fence here is normal!

Overall, I would say that this miter guage is better than your basic model included with most saws, but if I was looking for a "rock solid" aftermarket upgrade this would not be it.

Wasn't impressed at all with Dewalt's answer to the Osbourne EB-3.

The fit and finish was not up to Dewalt's usual standards. Think they rushed this into production. I couldn't get the rocking of the fence adjusted out..Dewalt says its normal. If you are cutting precise miters, ya sure don't want the fence rocking around while going thru the saw. Also the presets won't stay preset. They will vary as much as 1-2 degrees each time you move the slide. I have the Dewalt 746 table saw and wanted to stay with Dewalt equipment if I could, but after a couple days of messin with this miter gauge I took it back and ordered an Osborne EB-3(seperate review).

It looks impressive, but it simply is not possible to cut 90 degrees accurately. Actually, I found a way: use a framing square to square the fence to the blade; clamp the fence to the sliding table (if you spent the $400 for that option), then cut. Clearly, DeWalt rushed this product to market even though it was faulty. DeWalt can no longer be trusted I guess. They should have a recall on this. If I could give it a minus rating I would.

The problem I have found with this is that none of the fasteners are loctited so I had to pull it apart and lock them all.

and the stops built into the slide are not even close to the callouts on the slides e.g. I thought I was cutting at 90deg and I was actually cutting at 85deg. My fault for not checking the setup ahead of time, but thats why I bought this so I can just set it and cut.

After reading the reviews here, I was reluctant to order this tool. As I opened the box and read the instructions, I could see why so many poor reviews. The assembly manual is so poorly written that I had to resort to the pictures to figure it out. It still wasn't too difficult, but I had some trial and error assembling it. The first time I tried it for calibration, it was obviously off, so I consulted the instructions again where I found the answer. The gauge has positive detentes at 0, 15, 22.5, 30 and 45, and you activate them by pushing a button on the bottom while rotating the angle. Once the detente is engaged, lock it in and you're ready to cut. If it's off, as mine was, the instructions tell you to loosen an Allen screw and rotate an eccentric nut to adjust for a perfect 90 degrees. For improvements, I would like to see a slot in the face that would allow adding an auxiliary fence. I will probably work on attaching a wooden fence with double sided tape instead. Also adding a small foot on the left extension with a High-density polyethylene (HDPE) pad to aid gliding across the extension table of my saw. In conclusion, I believe this may be the most accurate miter gauge I've seen in 35 years of woodworking. I love it!

The specs say this will fit 3/4-inch - 3/8-inch slots. This gives the impression that it will fit in a slot that is smaller than 3/4". It does not. The guide that fits in your table saw's slot is exactly 3/4". I used a micrometer on it. If you have a 3/4" slot, good luck in getting that inserted. I have a Sears Craftsman Professional table saw. It will not fit my slot. When I contacted Dewalt, they said this is only made for Dewalt saws and no others.

I am a dewalt fan, I like most of their tools and this one did not let me down.