Think I've got the new saw dialed in!

[Mainewoods]

After I got the saw put together and adjusted the blade clamps so there's no side to side movement of the blade (which was significant out of the box), I still had enough front to back movement, @3/32", that it was giving me some headache when I was making sharp turns.  Before I got the saw, I looked through the DeWalt tune-up items on Rick Hutcheson's page, and since the front to back motion was enough to be annoying, I decided to try the suggested fix.  So I tore the saw apart, cut notches for the screws that hold the blade arms in place, and started trying different settings as described on Rick's page.  The description there said to move the arms straight out, up to 1/16" to alleviate most of the front back motion.  I did this on both the upper and lower arms.  This accomplished nothing!  Still had quite a bit of motion.  After contemplating things for a while, (I'm no mechanical engineer, but I'm pretty good at figuring things out) I decided to try tipping the arms slightly towards each other.  In other words, the screw closest to the table on each arm remained in place, while the outer screws, and thus the outer end of the bracket were moved forward slightly.  I only did it a small amount, maybe 1/64", but when I checked the front to rear movement, it had improved slightly!  So I moved them a little further out, rechecked, saw even more improvement.  Ultimately, I ended up moving each one approximately 1/16" out, at an angle, and I have removed most of the front to back movement.  Measured with my digital caliper at .022" - less than 1/32"!!!  I was carefull about running the saw after these adjustments for fear of throwing thing out of sinc and causing things to start banging into one another.  I started the saw at its slowest speed, then increased the speed little by little until it was maxed out, and I dare say I believe its running a little bit smoother too!!!  Today I cut four projects with it and it works like a charm.  Way happier now!!!   Sorry for this dragging on, but I'm very pleased with the results!!!

Glen

[dgman]

Hey Glen, I'm glad it worked out for you, but it sounds like to much work. What I did is I removed the screw and nut that holds rear table mount. I raised the table a little at a time, clamping the the table mount with a clamp till most of the front to back movement was gone. The table mount is still clamped to the body of the saw. Some where I found a pattern for an adjustable table mount, I have it and plan on cutting it, I just haven't found time to do it. But for now, my saw is cutting just fine!

[Mainewoods]

Dan, I'd heard about adjusting the table, but it seemed to me that unless you change the stroke of the blade, all you're doing is moving the table to the spot on the blade where there is the least amount of movement.  The blade would still be moving just as much front and back.  Even with my table removed, I could put my finger on the back of the blade and feel significant movement.  Cutting 1/8" material wasn't very noticeable, but when I tried a piece of 3/4" material, I could really feel the movement, especially in turns.  It was bad enough that I actually snapped a piece off my project because it bound up in the middle of a tight turn.  I couldn't accept this, and decided to do something about it.  Believe me, I really hesitated about tearing apart my brand new saw, but I wanted this thing to work as smoothly as possible.  When I get done work today, I'll try and get a picture or two of what I did.  BTW, I cut something yesterday at 1 1/2" thick with no trouble!

[dgman]

Glen, I did tons of compound cutting last year without any problems. I guess your saw was worse than mine!

[Mainewoods]

I guess your saw was worse than mine!

Dan, I assumed you were dealing with a Type 1 Dewalt, whereas my Delta was built in China.  I know I shouldn't ass-u-me anything.  Since so many have been having troubles since manufacturing moved there, I wasn't surprised that my saw needed some adjusting!!  I've got it to where I expect a saw of this quality should be, and I'm very happy with it now.  In fact, one of the cuts I made yesterday was my first compound cut!  And, considering I forgot to copy the pattern at 130%, it came out alright!

[dgman]

Nope, I have a type II. Made in Taiwan. I do have a type I that needs to go into the shop. I just cant afford it right now.