New lightweight sliding mitre saw (DWS773) £199

[Job and Knock]

This morning whilst at Screwfix I happened upon the deWalt DWS773 sliding compound mitre saw which appears to have a lot going for it as an ultra portable site and DIY saw. The spec is generally quite similar to the DWS777 216mm saw with a couple of exceptions (48° left/right mitre as opposed to 50° on the heavier machine, 1300 watt motor instead of 1600/1800 watts) and the cutting capacities are almost identical but the base is somewhat smaller and DW have provided two large, removeable, handles for transport and at 11.5kg this saw really is the most portable trade rated saw I've ever come across. Could be very handy for the mobile handyman as well

deWalt DWS773 001 01.jpg (16.44 KiB) Viewed 21257 times

Available in 240 volt and 110 volt (24 hour delivery only). SFX are throwing-in a free deWalt DT1953-QZ 216mm x 30mm x 40T TCT blade (the saw comes with a 30t one) until 04/09/16 if you add item 7089P to the order. Generally positive reviews on SFX apart from the one guy who expected a £200 saw to give him trench cuts and actually uses the hold down....... Read the spec, maybe, buddy?

[big-all]

good review j&k

that "guy"doesnt know his stuff then

you can only trench if the rails/rods are horizontal to the bed and the head nods

[lake]

This is on offer at screwfix right now at £170.

Do you 2 still consider this a 'competent' tool?

Only asking as all my power tools went 'walkies' (no insurance) and I am replacing them item by item.

Was using a bosch rip saw for framing but then bought the makita 4351 jigsaw and have been using that!!! (dislike the bosch GKS190, why is the cut line hidden from view? Makes zero sense.)

So still have a few partitions to create and was going to buy the Hitachi C8FSE but if you guys consider this to be better, especially at £169.99 then I will buy it tomorrow.

Funny but this morning I was in screwfix getting some plumbing gear and looked at this saw, it looked decent to my eye. But I dont know?

[Job and Knock]

I don't know the Hitachi. I've had the DW777 for a few years now but last summer one of the agency lads had a DWS773 in use cutting recycled hardwood parquet floor blocks to length next door to where I had mt DW777. The DWS had enough power and didn't seem to be straining. DX not brilliant, but no better or worse than the DW777 (or a lot of other saws on the market). Quieter than mine, a bit smaller and not quite as heavily built, but amazingly light and compact. If my DW777 hadn't got a lot more life left in it I'd certainly have considered it, bearing in mind that this was before Festool put out the KS60..... One downside, if you need it - this is only a single bevel saw. Personally I can live with that

[big-all]

as an aside i have bought the 18v version that has an identical base but a different head
and compared to my very old 712 which has the 60% and is very accurate
its much lighter and whilst it doesnt do trenching it can do with a stepped spacer as it has a nodding head
it a cracking very accurate saw easy and light to use so assume it works and functions simmilar to the 773
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Dew ... -Bare-Unit

[lake]

Thanks for the advice, both of you. Excellent as always

So I picked it up this morning and right out of the box it seems to be spot on!

Checked it 90 and 45, all good. Used a trend digital angle finder, tight squeeze but managed.
Fiddly to bolt the handles on (thick fingers and no glasses didn't help, finally put on me specs and with small nose pilers got the buggers on).

It is compact and light and through this week I will see how it performs? Got quite a bit of framing to do, 4x2, so will let you know.

Thinking back, this is the first 'yellow' power tool I have ever bought!! Mainly always used Makita. But since the 'gremlins' visited all I have left of that is 3 x 3ah batts, impact, combi, vacuum and radio and of course the now added jigsaw recently purchased by EDF Energy for me (which feels so very much more natural than a D handle, will add to that thread once I have used the Collins Coping Foot).

Anyway, thanks guys.

[lake]

Posting the above made me think of the first power tool I ever bought!

It was this



and did that change things No more brace and bit



and no more of this contraption



lol, my arms felt so very much better after work

[big-all]

just be careful if you have the saw on soft or unlevel surface the black handle at the front can be lifted
i found out to my cost when cutting very expensive cladding as a step kept appearing between the planks
the handle was lifted allowing the saw to rotate away from the positive locating notch it was only about 1 degree so was sanded out

[lake]

After having used it this week I can state that I am very happy with it. Good piece of kit. Made light work of the wet tan 4x2, kept its angles through the week and didn't struggle at all (new blade but still).

So thanks guys for great tool advice.

[oz0707]

Looking for a replacement for my DWS707 (around 10 years old).

Would this be a good candidate? On offer at screw fix at the min for 170 inc vat. I'm a bit concerned about the length of cut being 250 as opposed to 260/270 on the old one. Not that I really cut much above a 9" skirt very often. I had a look at the spec of dws777 and it does appear better, bigger angle and more power. Didn't want to buy this then regret, however 170 does sound cheap!

[big-all]

dont forget if you pad out the bed with say 12mm you will increase the blade width cut by perhaps 16-20mm as the cut line is now is now higher up the blade at quite a shallow angle
just checked on my 18v slider and its 256mm padded out 12mm is 272mm

[Job and Knock]

I'm a bit concerned about the length of cut being 250 as opposed to 260/270 on the old one. Not that I really cut much above a 9" skirt very often. I had a look at the spec of dws777 and it does appear better, bigger angle and more power. Didn't want to buy this then regret, however 170 does sound cheap!

TBH the vast majority of what I work on in interior fit-out (i.e. shops, pubs, restaurants, hotels, etc) wouldn't stretch this saw. 10in (250mm) or 12in (300mm) wide shelving or window boards, maybe? Never do that much shelving and when I do it's often either 6in (150mm) to 8in (200mm) wide - if not I tend to use a saw and a batten/rail - whilst window boards are often narrower and if they have "horns" (the projections at either end) they invariably need to be cut and scribed using a combination of portable circular saw and a jigsaw (and often the ends rounded or "biull-nosed" with a block plane/spokeshave and sandpaper). In other words I don't think that 10 /20mm will make that much difference unless you regularly cut stuff at the limit of your saw's capacity. Certainly when cutting 18mm plywood, 18mm MR-MDF, 4 x 2in (100 x 44mm) CLS softwood, etc I noticed little difference between the two saws in terms of speed and power - maybe nice wet pressure treated stringy CLS would have shown some difference but I didn't use it that long. To me the biggest difference is that the DWS777 is a heavier-built saw which should make it more durable (an issue to me where I may well be sharing my saw with 3 or 4 other joiners) but at the penalty of being much more of a handful to shift around (although far, far better than the Makita LS1013 it 90% replaced). Either way DW are noted for the longevity of their mitre saws and the length of time that spares are available. On the subject of spares my DW777 has required one guard return spring (an item which can fail on any saw), a pair of inserts for the table slot and has needed the big turntable nut to be tightened (once) to take up a bit of wear in the last 5 or so years - hardly surprising I'd say.