ColG":3t2y9cb7 said:
I've looked longingly at the Dewalt DW743 flip over saw and wondered if anybody had any experience with this machine?
I've had a DW742 (slightly older close cousin) for a couple of years as my "working out" saw. It's a heavy lump, but it will go in the boot of my car (the legs just pull off) - a real bonus. Whilst it is not as accurate in chop saw mode as, saw, the Makita LS1013 it can be made almost as good by the use of a Trend Anglefix (
http://www.trendmachinery.co.uk/library/Catalogue_Pages/PAGE158.PDF), so it tends to get used as a chop saw in the shop, depending on the job. The real bonus is that flip-over feature. Carrying my own rip saw was exceptionally useful last year when I was doing plywood flooring and encing jobs (it helps out in between the good stuff..... :wink
. This saw replaced an older Elu which I had owned since the 1970s, and I still know one chippy who has a scratched and worn looking blue metallic Elu flip-over (the granddaddy of the DW) in daily use.
On the downside, there are quite a few plastic T-knobs (for example 4 to pinch clamp the legs on) which can go walkabout (luckily they don't normally impede use of the machine), the table top is a puny 20 x 20in (heavy) sheet steel affair and the mitre fence is a plastic and ally jobbie (although still more accurate than a lot of the fixed-function site saws I've seen). The dust extraction system, a sort of three pronged hydra of a hose is completely and absolutely useless in chop saw mode - I feel it was a waste of £50, oh well. On the upside it does have a proper riving knife, a decent extension table AND EVEN A SLIDING TABLE are available and the induction motor is absolutely unburstable (no belts or brushes to worry about). Overall I'm in favour, but then I've never even seen the Beckum....
One thing about this design, if you do decide to buy one, ALWAYS but ALWAYS lock the saw head and flip the saw back to table saw mode when transporting it around - don't and you'll eventually break the neck (it does say to do that in the manual, but not WHY). This is probably the only weakness in the machine.
If not sure, try hiring one - DW742/3s are in some hire fleets - to see if you can live with it (or if you ever get up North come and play with mine)
Good hunting
Scrit
