DEWALT DW712 8-1/2-inch Single-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter saw

One thing I've found is when I'm cutting narrow planks (4" or 6") I've gotten into the habit of pulling the blade toward me past the front edge of the piece, dropping it down, and then sliding it back through the piece - instead of just plunging the blade straight in, as you'd do with a fixed chop saw. This seems to significantly reduce bottom tearout.

It's undeniably a very pleasant tool to use; if you've only used saws that have a vertical handle you won't believe the difference the horizontal handle makes. The switch is well designed, it's not easy to trigger by accident but not fatiguing to hold. The action of the slides is smooth as silk, and setting the miter angles is quick, easy, and very positive. The motor has plenty of power for any kind of wood I've ever sent its way.

The 8 1/2 inch size has some advantages - the blade seems to be more stable, even without a stabilizer, than most 10" blades. Also in my experience 8 1/2" blades are a little cheaper than the equivalent 10" blade. But, it won't cut a 4x4 (or a 2x4 on edge) in one pass - a 10 incher will. Whether or not that matters depends on the kind of work you do.

You'll want to replace the blade that the saw comes with, it's fine for chopping up 2x4s (but if that's all you want to do you don't need this saw) but not good enough for finish work. There aren't a million blades available for this size of saw, but there's a decent selection - although not all the catalogs carry them. My favorite is a 60 tooth DeWalt finish blade that you can find most anywhere for about 50 bucks and does great work for me in all types of hardwood. Freud makes one that's pretty good as well. Forrest makes one of their chopmaster blades in this size, I'm sure it's great but it's $100+ and since I'm happy with my current blade I've never tried it.

Overall fit and finish is very nice - as you generally expect from contemporary Italian manufacture. After taking it out of the box, I went over it completely with my machinist square and couldn't find anything out of alignment. The only quality complaint I have is the crummy screws holding the blade guard on - blade changing is not exactly a snap with this saw and they really don't help.

There's no clamp included, unlike some other manufacturers - since I prefer to keep all 10 of my fingers I bought one - but they soak you on this item - $35!! Actually I bought two but you only need one - you hardly ever use both at once and it takes a second or two to swap it from one side of the saw to the other. Also, while it holds well, it's a screw type and I would prefer some type of cam action - I think that would be faster and easier to use.

But overall if you want a really sweet, pleasant to use saw and you don't normally need to cut large timber, I'd recommend this saw - I'm certainly very happy with it.


Good but not great   July 15, 2004
Jonathan Conway (Schuylkill Haven, Pa United States)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful

Let me start off by saying that I have yet to find any miter saw that I would rate at five stars(although I do believe I rated the 12" Dewalt slide at 5 stars) because every manufacturer does put profit above product. However, I do like this saw very much. Slide is smooth, fence height good(when will Makita and Hitachi finally get the fence height right and even on both sides), lever action miter lock is awesome(knobs stink), blade deflection is good(it is only a 8-1/2 blade afterall), overall a really good saw. Dust collection complaints are irrelevant, as anyone expecting a slider miter saw to have good dust control lives in the world of clean radial arm saws too. I have yet to figure out what a "material hold down clamp"(or work clamp) is, but if I ever do, it means that I cut off on of my arms/hands and should not by using this saw anyway(we pros dont have time for clamping down wood prior to cutting it[short pieces should be cut from a long one, afterall]). I would buy another one in an instant.


Not perfect but   May 14, 2003
Keith Smith (UK)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

I have just bought the DeWalt712 to replace an aging Makita LS1040 I have had for four years. I was really impressed with the facilities and price and I have been very happy with all the DeWalt tools I have purchased, so it was an obvious choice.

The saw cuts wood! the extended ranges of cutting angles is great and the machine feels realy good to use, soft start, and it has good ergonomics; (on the 240v version only two buttons to press, make it easy for someone with small hands: but on the battery powered version 3 buttons are not so easy).

However I have a couple of complaints with the machine;

Firstly the guard runs along the workpiece on a wheel and I find that it feels like the wood is cut through when there is still a small corner left to cut and it can snag the workpiece when cutting some mitres. This could be operator error and I will probably get used to it in time.

Secondly the dust extraction is very poor. I have a workshop with a built in dust extraction system, with a 2Kw industrial vacuum unit I am used to a reasonably dust free workshop but this machine fires dust everywhere. I have to wear a dust mask when I use it, as the dust hits the piece of fabric behind the blade and bounces into my face.

I really like this machine and if you work on site I could recommend it to you; but unless I find a solution to the dust problem I am going to take advantage of the 30 day return policy and take it back, although I will be very sorry to part with it.

Well, I took it back and swapped it for a DW706, which I really did not like. Very fierce start and big blade did not suit me at all (I know I would have been better with the variable speed version).So I returned it next day and got my DW712 back!

The dealer tells me there is a dust extraction kit, despite the fact DeWalt told me that no kit is available, so I have ordered it and hope it is effective.


GREAT Saw!! Use it thoughtfully   April 6, 2005
Don Brockett (near Motown (MI))
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I've had the saw for about a week and am very pleased. I bought the DW723 stand too and that's also great. A few reviews have knocked the product, but I suspect that's due to misuse or lack of thinking or experimentation. For example, the amount of dust thrown and collected is one issue. I use the saw with a shop vac on the dust outlet. Used straight down on the workpiece like a chopsaw it throws quite a bit of dust. But if you start the cut with the saw close to you and cut full depth towards the back, it throws almost no dust that the vac doesn't pick up. (I DO wish DeWalt had seen fit to design it for a 2.5 inch vac hose rather than 1.25 to increase the air flow and dust capture.)

Also I've seen gripes about the material supports, but I don't understand why. The saw can be positioned anywhere along the rail of the stand, so if the saw is set at one end, support is available on the rail infinitely out to 4 feet and then the adjustable support adds another 3.5 feet. I suppose cutting a miter on the end of a 20 foot long board would demand additional support -- but DeWalt must have found that's a rarity and didn't want to add the extra weight -- understandable.

Finally, availability of the 8.5 inch blade is NOT an issue. I found 60 tooth carbide tipped blades made by the GREEN Japanese tool company both at Lowes and online at Amazon for less than $30. They make a beautiful cut. Several other makes of the 8.5 blades are available too -- but their prices are generally substantially higher.

Hope this corrects some misleading information in a few reviews.


Makeroffinesawdust   November 7, 2005
MAP (Mich United States)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Picked up this saw this past summer our local bigbox had it on clearance. I have nothing bad to say about this saw. I was debating between a 12" slider (either the Rigid or Dewalt) and this 8 1/2". What made up my mind was, a friend of mine bought the 12" Rigid Slider. Although it's a good saw, its a monster to lug around. One of the features I wanted in a saw was portability. This Dewalt is very easy to transport around and set up, it's lightweight but seems very durable. It has a very nice fence system, it moves between angles very smoothly, some sliders I looked at just felt very "cheesy" when you moved the mechanism between angles, this one does not. It was accurate right out of the box, both on the 90 & 45. I had to rebuild my cedar deck this past summer and replaced all boards with 2x treated wood. This saw handled all the cutting tasks (both 2x4 thru x10's) with ease. The only thing this saw won't handle that the 12" will is cutting 4x4's. But to me that's a small price to pay for the added portability, I don't find myself needing to cut 4x4's very much anyways, but if you do this saw isn't for you. The blade that comes with a saw never plays a part in my decision to buy a certain saw of not, I expect cheap blades anyways. But the blade that comes with this saw is better than average. I cut alot of 2x stock and haven't changed the blade yet. Bottom line, if you do trim work from site to site, don't have a need to cut 4x4's, I highly recommend this 8 1/2" saw.