Customer Reviews
Still not sure. 
2005-11-23
I got tired of burning through band saw blades so I figured I'd give this saw a try. The cuts are very nice with little blade deflection. The speed is better than any other type of saw I've used. I've made about 50 cuts on medium to heavy gauge tube, pipe, bar, and angle, and the blade is shot. Completely my own fault, as I became more confident with the saw I was putting too much pressure on the blade, material got hot, started throwing sparks, and stopped cutting. I don't like the fact that it only takes one minor mistake to waste a very expensive blade. I have a new blade on the way and I'll get the original one sharpened as a spare, but I'm not getting rid of the old band saw yet. Overall I'm happy with the saw, but I don't think it's worth the extra cost. There is no reason this saw should cost 4X the price of an abrasive chop saw. For the price of the saw it should have a cast base and a better clamping system. The material clamp works OK, but the backrest has a lot of deflection when the material is clamped down tight. I think they should also reduce the blade speed and ship with a 90 tooth blade.
Best I've seen. 
2005-08-12
Clean, fast cuts. Be careful and DO NOT force it through the piece TOO FAST. It still cuts steel pipe faster than anything before it. Take all needed precautions for flying debris and make sure the work is held securely. And, don't let your welder use it if they do not how to, first. Otherwise you get missing teeth and a bent blade. All-in-all: It paid for itself in 2 days as I saved two days of additional welding (using fittings and cut pipe instead of just pipe cut on a 45s or 22s). And, since the blades are servicable, it costs way less over time.
Point-of-reference: I was cutting 3" Sch 10 galv steel pipe for exterior mounted gutter downspouts @ Las Lomas HS, Wlnut Creek, CA. I am a plumbing contractor.
Nice cut - poor material holder - expensive to operate 
2005-02-11
I have owned this saw nearly a year and have just started using it extensively. It is like anything else in life I guess, it has it's good points, and it's bad ones.
The good news is that it does do a beutiful job of cutting. Clean, burr free, and quick. The bad news is that the blades are terribly expensive and not nearly as long lived as advertised. I would estimate that I get about 3-4 abrasive blades worth of cutting out if it before it is time to think about sharpening it. In my neck of the woods it costs nearly 50 cents a tooth ($36.00) to sharpen, so I can't say that it is cost effective. The material holding vice doesn't seem to be strong enough for the amount of vibrations you can sometimes get with this saw. (Mine is held on with a snap ring that sometimes falls off without warning). Push it a little too fast through some small diameter rod (5/16" in my case) and it will rip it right out of the holder, total the blade, and scare the heck out of anyone misfortunate enough to be standing where the material got tossed. (Only happened once, very light down pressure is essential, but they don't tell you that in manual that came with mine.)
I tried using Freud blades but was told by their factory tech support that they do not allow re-sharpening of their blades, and that the 14" Speed Demon was not sold in the U.S. but boot legged in through a third party.
Regardless, the theory is great. If they could just come up with longer lasting blades (yes even with very light pressure, they wear out quick) and possibly a better vice arangement (The one that came with my Dewalt abrasive blade chop saw is better designed and more durable), I could recommend them whole heartedly. Right now I could only say that it depends on what you are using it for. If you have a lot of cutting to do and your time is expensive, you might be able to justify the expense by the time savings and prep savings (No grinding to remove burrs, at least until it gets dull). For the rest of us that just wanted a good cost effective way to cut lots of steel, the abrasive blade seems to be the better way to go for now.
Clean cut is a treat 2003-10-31
I haven't tried the Porter-Cable multi-cutter saw, so I can't compare them, but after a couple dozen cuts in steel angle and tubing (up to 1/4" wall thickness) I'm very happy with the DeWalt. The ultra-smooth cut surface is remarkable compared with the ways most of us have cut metal all our lives. I'll be amazed if the blade really holds out for a thousand cuts, but several hundred before resharpening would still seem pretty good to me, considering the labor saved and the great results. I'm hanging on to the abrasive chop saw to handle hardened alloy shafts, spring steel, etc.; but I'm sold on the multi-cutter for most metal cuts. It IS one loud mama, and has a tendency to trip a 15-amp circuit breaker with its startup surge, but I can't blame the tool for my under-powered shop....
Many refinements over the P-C 2003-09-14
I bought this saw after wearing out my Porter-Cable dry cut saw. It's every bit as good as the P-C, and has a couple of nice design features to distinguish it.
1) The hand-lock for the fence and miter adjustment is great. P-C's saw requires using Allen wrenches for adjustment, which is time-consuming. (Also, the holes in the Allen screws fill up with swarf from the saw, so just getting the wrench into the screw head can be a project.) Adjustments are easy and basically instantaneous.
2) Horizontally oriented control handle and switch is very nice. Because of the way you run a saw like this (more below), the rgonmoics are much better than the P-C.
3) Pin-and-socket saw arm retainer. OH YEAH! P-C uses an old-fashioned chain-and-hook contraption to hold the saw arm down, which can be troublesome to engage. The Dewalt locks down just like their woodworking chop saws: hold the arm down and push in the retaining pin.
4) Quieter in operation than the P-C saw.
I am not a shill for Dewalt; I loved my P-C dry cut saw. I never realized the design could be this much better.
An important note for any dry-cut saw users: THIS IS NOT AN ABRASIVE CHOP SAW! I noticed complaints about blade life in some of the other reviews. Well, if you run this saw like an old-timey abrasive wheel chop saw, you won't get any blade life out of it either. The secret: minimal downward pressure. Rest your hand on the handle with just enough weight to keep the saw arm moving downward, and let the blade do all the work. If the blade throws more than a couple of tiny sparks once in awhile, you're pushing too hard, and the blade will suffer. I was able to make several thousand cuts in heavy stock with my P-C saw before the blade needed sharpening, an this one behaves similarly.
If you're doing a lot of work, get a spare blade. Having the carbide blade sharpened usually runs about 25 cents per tooth, and if you have a spare there's no downtime...
Couldn't be any more pleased! 2008-05-01
I have been using this saw for approx 2 years in a farm shop. I cut everything from alluminum to hard steel. I have even cut 3 inch heavy wall tubing with this saw and still on the original blade and that is after making all the cuts for 280 foot of pipe fence just recently built. There is no burrs and the cuts are cool enough to handle after you make them. The best part is you don't loose any of your cutting diameter after several cuts like with the abrasive blades. I normally went thru 6-8 abrasive blades a year and at 10.00 a pop it more than covers the cost of replacement of the carbide.
I couldn't be more pleased with the saw and would buy another whenever required.
Great if your patient 2008-02-22
Cuts great, if you take proper care to go slow. If you're used to a using an abrasive type wheel you will be tempted to push too hard and ruin the blade. The cut finish is excellent.
Good saw, but use carefully 2008-02-05
I bought this saw for a small, part time welding business. It immediately started to pay back. The first project I used it on, my brother made almost 300 cuts in one day, on one blade, cutting 2" square tubing, 3/16" wall thickness. If we had been using abrasive blades, he would have had to stop to replace the blade at least 5 times, probably more.
However, as mentioned, the base is light, and we found that the threaded rod on the clamp mechanism was soft, and wore out easily. We did build extensions, to support the metal at level, and also a stop, to be able to cut many pieces to length, without repeatedly measuring. I used the saw for a year, had two blades that I would rotate to the sharpening shop. I then sold it to my father-in-law, and they are still using it now, 4 years later. The clamp mechanism is gone, the base is beat up, but they bolted it to a table, and it keeps on going.
Highest precision cutting available 2007-05-18
I've been sculpting and working with metal for over a decade (forming, welding and forging) and I own thousands of dollars worth of metal fabrication equipment including commercial duty abrasive cutoff saws and plasma cutters.
The DeWalt DW872 Carbide Cutoff saw is simply amazing. Other reviewers grip about it not being square and the high cost of blades. I've not had that problem. My unit did have a (slight) wobble in the blade but a single call to Dewalt got new blade bushings express mailed to me and that solved the problem.
The unit cuts incredibly smooth and square providing perfect miters, something NO abrasive saw can achieve.
I agree that this tool costs considerably more than an abrasive saw, but if you value your time and are looking for clean precise cuts it will deliver. It is well worth the money!
Stick With Abrasive Cutoff Saws 
2006-10-07
There are really two issues here: carbide saws for metal cutting, and this particular tool.
The carbide blade has severe limitations. It dulls relative quickly under ideal circumstances, and can be wrecked on one cut if you hit a hard spot in the metal: most common shapes of steel are made from scrap, including ball bearings and spring steel. Only thin wall tubing seems to be exempt from this. Cutting thin wall seems to be the only good use for this type of blade.
The tool itself is not designed or made that well. The base is cheap sheet metal and doesn't look like it will take a drop or any abuse. The clamping system does work, but the miter accuracy is compromised by the design. After putting out some big bucks for the DW872, nine cuts out of ten, I find myself using my old Makita 10" wood miter saw with an abrasive blade.
