DEWALT DWS780 12-Inch Miter Saw
DEWALT DWS780 12-Inch Double Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw Review
Full disclosure. We have over 50 years of collective carpentry experience on the job and only use Dewalt miter saws. Other brands have come and gone but Dewalt has seemed to figure out how to provide state-of-the-art technology for fine and precision cutting in a durable job site, cost-effective package.
We recently had the opportunity to review the Dewalt DWS780 12-Inch Miter Saw on our job site, here is our thoughts:
First Impression
I have owned the DW708 and DW718. I loved the 708, and the had a love hate relationship with the 718. I was curious what I would think of the DWS780.
When I first saw the Dewalt DWS780 12-Inch Miter Saw I was happy that they decided to go back to their old bevel lock knob system. I have heard people critical of rear mounted bevel tightening systems, but this is quite easy to operate and better than having systems cluttering my cutting area it also keeps it at the rear of the saw and away from possible damage from dropped lumber.
Adjustments
The saw miters 60 degrees to the right and 50 degrees to the left, with 10 positive stops. A cam lock miter button allows the user to lock angles between detents. A miter detent override is also used to allow precise angle adjustment without falling into detents.
The bevel scale is easy to read, and has rotating into position bevel pawls, and 45 degree overrides. It allows you to bevel from zero to 49 degrees with positive stops at:
- 0 degrees
- 22.5 degrees
- 33.9 degrees
- 45 degrees
- 49 degrees in both right and left directions
We found the bevel adjustments to be very user friendly, again I’m loving the rear mounted knob!
Dust Collection
Dust collection on most miter saws suck, unless your using a vacuum. The DWS780 dust bag system has improved and seems to fill the bag, where as prior models did not. When combined with a vacuum attached the DWS780 works great t collecting the saw dust.
Integrated XPS cross cut positioning system
The Integrated XPS cross cut positioning system is basically an ultra-bright LED light that casts a “laser-like” shadow on the blade. The shadow is cast, on both sides of the blade, where the bade will contact and cut the material. This lighting system is unaffected by different blade widths, no calibration is needed, as it casts a shadow on the blade mounted on the saw. A switch on top of the saw turns this light on or off.
Fence and Blade Guard
I like the “real” fence on this tool as we tend to cut a lot of crown and need to roll it up or down depending on wall conditions. Cutting flat with the positive stop positions is not always an option.
Visibility through the blade guard and operation have always been well designed. I also like that Dewalt allows you to can move the kerf plates inward to prevent larger pieces of wood to fall into the blade kerf.
