Concord Carpenter

DEWALT 20V Cordless 7 1/4 Inch Miter Saw DCS361

By Robert Robillard on Tool Reviews

Tweet

 DEWALT 20V Cordless Miter Saw Review

DEWALT just released their DEWALT 20V Cordless 7 1/4 Inch Miter Saw DCS361. The DCS361 offers is designed to provide a portable, and convenient solution to general contractors and remodelers for cutting applications involving:

• Trim installation
• Flooring work
• Cutting 2x material

Power

The DCS361 spins at 3750 RPM and makes, on average 183 cuts of 2×4 pine or 275 cuts of 3-1/4 inch pine base molding on a single battery charge (DCB204 4.0Ah battery).

Ribbing on bottom

Durability

The DEWALT 20V Cordless 7 1/4 Inch Miter Saw DCS361 has a heavy duty aluminum base and table.  The underside of the base was designed with tall ribbing to reduce weight but provide rigidity and strength.  A large aluminum trunnion  controls the slide and is both rigid and secure.

The bottom of the base has rubber feet that we found kept the saw from sliding as well as marring surfaces.

Capacity

According to DEWALT the DCS361 miter saw, equipped with a 4.0 amp hour  battery,  is capable of 183 cuts in 2″x4″ pine and 275 cuts in 3-1/4″ pine molding.

• 3-5/8″ nested crown molding
• 3-1/2″ vertical baseboard
• 2″ x 8″ laid horizontal
• -3° to 48° degrees left side bevel
• 48° left and right miters

Accuracy and Ease of Use

First of all, this is a cordless tool – right of the bat we eliminate the weight of an electric motor and a power cord.

We were excited to see that the DEWALT 20V Cordless 7 1/4 Inch Miter Saw DCS361 comes with the XPS Cross Cut Positioning System.  The XPS system is powered by a separate switch, located on top of the tools handle, which is helpful if you want to check  a cut without powering up the saw.    An LED light casts a shadow over the blade, indicating the line of cut.   Our crew likes this feature over a laser because there is no need to align the light and it works on any size blade.

LED light system

The XPS system works when the main power switch is activated or by manually turning on the switch.  It turns off after 20 seconds.

At the rear end of the tool a large red pointer helps guide the user  through an easy to read bevel scale.  The bevel is controlled by a large three-winged knob off the back end of the tool.

A large, and in charge, cam lock with a push button release controls the miter angles.  We found this saw has intuitive design principles.   This cam lever is a perfect example of simple, easy to use and natural movement.

Miter guage

The  DCS361 miter saw has a stainless steel detent plate and easy to read, miter angles, with a large red pointer to lead the way.  Ten [10] positive detents are provided at the most common miter angles:

Left Miter Detents:

• 0°
• 5°
• 15°
• 30°

Right Miter Detents:

• 0°
• 5°
• 15°
• 25°
• 30°
• 40°
• 45°

One handed side carry

Portable

The DCS361 with a battery is lightweight at 31.6lbs and with the integrated cast-in side handles it’s easy to transport.The DCS361 Miter Saw  is both lightweight and portable.   There are three ways to easily carry this saw:

1. Top Handle:  Allows users to transport the saw in a traditional fashion, but with the saw oriented sideways for easier movement.
2. Side Handle 1:  [one-handed]  Cast in place side handles allow users to carry this saw, in a vertical fashion, with one hand.
3. Side Handle 2:  [two-handed]  Cast in place side handles allow users to carry this saw, in two handed carry, similar to carrying a tray.

Dust Port

The DCS361 Miter Saw comes with a dust bag and a 1-3/8 inch inside,  1-5/8″ outside diameter dust port. The dust port accepts the DEWALT universal connector as well as DEWALT DWV012 and DWV010 dust extractors .

Low Battery Indicator

The DCS361 Miter Saw has an electronic module that monitors the battery and senses low voltage. When the battery drops to a certain level the XPS light will blink when the trigger is pulled. This alerts the user that the battery will be shutting down after 4-5 more cuts.

Optimized Miter Saw Blades

DEWALT recommends using their 40-tooth, 7-1/4″ Precision Trim blade, model DW7114PT,  with this saw.  The blade has a carbide grade of C3 with a “clockwise” tooth orientation.  With a 7° hook angle, and a 12-14° ATB Angle this blade was optimized for this miter saw.

Using The Saw

The DCS361 Miter Saw cuts like a normal corded saw only its much smaller and cordless.  I try to evaluate tools with an open mind and lock away my biases for awhile.  I’ll be honest, I was more than skeptical on this saw.   While reviewing this saw,  I easily made over 300 cuts in 2×4 stock, AC plywood, clapboards, casing and poplar 1x stock.   I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised with this saws power and performance.

The saw has plenty of power, is easy to use, and is durable.  It’s almost as if  the DEWALT knew they’d be skeptics like me, and over designed the tool.

When hooked up to my HEPA vac the saw also did reasonably well on dust collection.

Testing the Capacity

Dewalt claimed that the saw made 183 cuts in Pine 2×4 stock, I wanted to see if this claim was accurate.  I used 2×4 Spruce for my testing. For the capacity cut testing I cut the 2×4 every 10 seconds and after 10 cuts, I waited a minute and then repeated. I cut 173 pieces.

When you stop to think that DEWALT probably did this test a few dozen times, with different batteries and saws. For statistical purposes I’m sure they calculated their average of their sample, excluding its highest and lowest values. In that case, 173 cuts and 183 cuts are in the same ball park.  Impressive indeed.

How Much and Where To Buy?

TheDEWALT 20V Cordless 7 1/4 Inch Miter Saw DCS361 sells online for $399.00 here: DEWALT-DCS361M1-20V-Cordless-Miter 

Video Review: