dewalt dry cut still the same?

[plug ugly]

Has there been any improvements to the dewalt dry cut? I thought I had heard it had a shity base and clamp. the specs say solid steel base that you can weld to. is this the same saw that so many have complained about?

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=159

[Wicked_S10]

Still the same shitty base. I know, I have one! By solid steel, they are taking some poetic license in that it is not a "cast" base. It is still .125" thick or so steel stamped from a single piece. It is an excellent saw, but the base sucks. I have had mine 6-7 years, bought a new base for it last year, and it is trashed again already. I am going to machine the next one out of 3/4 or 1" plate :D

Later,
Jason

[JTMcC]

Makita's have the best table/clamp so far.
They are the best saw too imo.
Mine's got over 15,000 cuts, almost all of it small pipe in the 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" range.

JTMcC.

[Mr. Mindless]

I used the hell out of one of those saws building sets with mostly .120 wall 1.5x1.5 and 2x4 1018 steel. Fantastic saw, and if you use a little cutting oil the blade lasts forever. The clamp shits itself in no time though. I had better luck with the clamp on the (now $160) HF abrasive that I used in another shop at the time.

I hate abrasive chop saws. I still use a cutoff on a grinder rather than get one. I'll have to check out the Makita unit if it's a similar saw with a good clamp.

[JTMcC]

The base on the makitas are fairly heavy cast aluminum, it and the clamp are a big step ahead of the cheap stamped stuff i've seen on the other brands.
A friend of mine who's also in the welding business recomended the makita to me after using 3 of the other brands and I agree with him that it's the best out right now.
The quick adjustment on setting angles is nice too. Pull the lever, set the angle, push the lever.
The 12" blade deflects less (really not at all) on angled cuts than the bigger blades.
They could of made the base/clamp even heavier for my use, our little saw doesn't get used very often but when it does we work the poor thing to death. Mines still runs like new after way over 15,000 cuts on small bore (1 1/2" to 2 1/2") sch 40 pipe.

JTMcC.