DeWalt boat anchor

[golfman]

The front to back blade movement on the DeWalt saw i bought makes it impossible to cut any fine scroll work I think ill take up fishing and buy a boat i already have an anchor. I will never buy anything with that name on it again.  No help from them they claim nothing can be done

[jrpeteo]

Check to see if it is square to the blade front to back, mine was not, brand new. You can stick a screwdriver in the side of the motor housing and manually cycle the motor. Put a square on the table and watch through the stoke. I had to raise the back of my saw table a quarter inch, made a world of difference. See it here.

http://stevedgood.com/community/index.php?topic=16826.msg156421#msg156421

Pete

[Dakota Saw Dust]

Don't forget - if you clamp your blade all the back in the bottom clamp and all the way forward in the top clamp, you are also setting up an exaggeration of the swing motion. I was terrible at first with my saw but with practice I can now do pretty good.  I think it's more my operator error than the machines'.

[jscott2]

Frustrating, isn't it.  Quite a few people have had problems with the DW788 and there are a number of fixes online.  Rick http://www.scrollsaws.com/ has a bunch of fixes.  Scroll down on the left to "Dewalt Tuneup". "Lengthening" the bottom arm may help.

Raising the back of the table can reduce the back and forth movement of the blade.  http://stevedgood.com/community/index.php?topic=12146.0

A new saw shouldn't need all this fussing to make it work properly but now that you have it, fixing it is better than using it as an expensive boat anchor.

Good luck and let us know how you are getting along.
Jim

[scrollgirl]

I am also so sorry to hear this. I have the older "Type 1" DeWalt saw that I have had for almost 15 years and it is still a good workhorse saw. I use it for my backup, as I now use my Excalibur for my usual cutting. 

I used to recommend DeWalt to everyone, but since things changed over there, I have heard so much negative regarding the quality of the  "Type 2" (newer) saws that I no longer felt I was able to do so. It is sad to see a company change so much.

However, the links that were previously mentioned are all good options. We are very fortunate that people took the time to post fixes for these issues and hopefully you can get things to a more manageable place by following them.

Good luck with your saw!

Sheila

[golfman]

Thanks to all who replied i did the modifications suggested and reduced the movement to a sixteenth . I am still very unhappy with a product that you have to make parts for and modify in order to make it work. Never will buy from them again !

[scrollgirl]

This is why in good conscience I can't (and DON'T) recommend them anymore. I moved to the Excalibur and while I realize that it is a more expensive saw, I tell people it is very much worth the extra money. Especially when you purchase it from Ray at Seyco because he makes sure the saw is fine tuned before he sends it out.

I hope it works better for your now, Sheila

[pddesertrat]

From what I read, the movement back and forth is inherent in this type of saw.  Unless you go to a higher end saw, like Hawk, Henger, which are made differently you will have some of that movement.  It is the way they work.  Isn't that correct?  Doesn't the Excalibuter use the same technology as the DeWalt and have forward and back movement to some extent?

[scrollgirl]

The Excalibur is NOT exactly the same as the DeWalt.  It is much easier to adjust the motor and attain the least amount of front to back movement possible. I am not the only one who graduated from the DeWalt to the Excalibur and felt that it was a WORLD of difference. Many customers whom I recommend the Excalibur that actually purchase one come back to me to tell me how much they feel the difference. Most say it is huge.

I haven't heard from anyone who doesn't see a positive difference.

I hope others who own the Excalibur speak up as well.

Sheila

[Jim Finn]

I went from DeWalt to Hegner.  The reason I switched was: the DeWalt literally fell apart on me just out of warranty. Back to front motion on my Hegners is zero.  Same on my old Jet.

[julief]

When this forum started, it seemed the majority of members used the big yellow saw.  I jumped on my soapbox regularly to sing the praises of my EX21 and Ray at Seyco.  It is great to see so many have converted.  I would not hesitate to replace my saw with another Excalibur, IF it ever needs replaced.

[pddesertrat]

Stop this talk, people, now you have me very skittish about my DeWalt.  Scrolling last night I kept thinking I was hearing strange sounds and new vibrations coming from it.  I hope it is just my imagination!   

[ALG]

 I saw all the posts about the DeWalt saw so I bought a Delta 40-694 two weeks ago.
To date no problems and a real step up from what I had before. Now you all have me
thinking how long before trouble comes along.

[Ray]

The problem with the front to back movement on the saw is that during manufacturing, either the top arm frame was made too long, or the bottom frame too short.

I had the problem with mine really bad when I first got it. In fact I'm the "Ray Morgan" that came up with the fix that Rick has posted on http://www.scrollsaws.com/SawReviews/DewltTuneUp.htm

Scroll down to "Front to back blade movement fix; DW 788 blade forward travel" and you'll see the fix along with my pictures. Mine has been great since I did it a couple years ago.

Ray

[pddesertrat]

In Steve's youtube video, on the Excalibur, he shows some simple way to measure or get an idea how much front/back movement there is on a saw and you could better tell if you adjustments/fixes are working out.  I think it is in the Part 3 video.