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This one is a big step up. I like the consistency, the reliability and the safety of this add-on. I had a Sliding miter table on my Craftsman 21829 so I was a big fan of the concept. I got this with a new DW746. Based on the price it's justified more if you do a lot of panels. Now that I have gotten it set up I can reliably get square cuts along a 30" crosscut and keep my fingers well out of the way.
I took off 1 star for those 2 issues.
It is much sturdier and has a wider and longer capacity.
The other feature I like is that there are two tabs in the miter slot that get tightened to hold the miter gauge in place for the sliding table.
I really like this slider.
Although it is not a necessity, it is a nice addition.
The shipping was harsh on the packaging.
Fine tuning the set up was finicky as well.
These tabs can also be used to hold shop-made feather boards thin strip jigs in place in the miter slot.So in summary a well made nice to have accessory for your saw.
I received my sliding table today and installed it on my 746 with no problems. Many of the reviews have described problems with the mitre assembly being sloppy and inaccurate, but I must have received an improved/updated unit because mine is tight and spot-on. Really nice kit.Amazon delivered in two days which was impressive as well.
Finally, the only thing that worked was getting online and buying a worthy replacement for the miter gauge. The miter gauge has play even after I went through the prerequisite rituals of tightening anything that looked like it might tighten.
I like the table a lot. Like many, I'm sure, I lifted the nasty up there by myself and thought I was going to lose 11 of my 10 fingers for the momentary insanity.
My experience so far isn't different than many others. My only complaint so far is the same as you've read here.
As luck would have it, I remain whole--in body anyway, but it is a pretty heavy table. Anyway, it was packed well and undamaged when I got it.
I tried rigging something, and I tried facing the table toward Mecca while prostrating myself. I'm taking the dewalt miter gauge in the house and see if I can't work my way through the system to see where it's breaking down.
Overall I gave this three stars largely becuase if I use the table with the fence, the table really helps move stock through the saw easily while the fence keeps it square IF I only use the miter to as additional support (not for accuracy). Set up was not a problem. I liked the weight it added to the table. Sorry DeWalt you win some, you lose some. 3) What's with the table lock. If I could do it again, I would do what I'm planning on doing now: buy an Incra Miter Sled.
The travel just seems to change with each pass. My cuts are inconsistent with no change to material or miter guage settings, meaning I'm recutting the same board multiple times in succession with different results. This makes square cuts really difficult even with the miter guage set properly. I verified this by replacing the Miter gauage that came with the sliding table and using the original stock guage, then using a T square to ensure material squareness and create a square pencil guide line to follow the saw tracking. I purchased this accessory over a year ago. Even when locked down "tight". I think this is also contributing to non-square cuts.
Even when locked, the table routinely slides if slightly bumped. Pretty flimsy and yes I did try adjusting the lock bolt. I will say that some of this may be operator error as the stock miter guage does't have enough support for large material so maybe the material is moving but not all of it is me. The three biggest issues I found were: 1) Alignment, I've aligned this table three times now to get the travel parallel with the saw table. So in this case the table is improving accuracy and ease.
Cuts range from a 1/32 to 1/8 an inch out of square. 2) Miter Guage, like others I'm in disbelief that the guage has so much play in it. But not as intended. This accessory.it's not a winner.
This attachment is a waste of money for one simple reason: The mitre gauge flexes left to right when set so there is no way to get a perfectly square cut. It doesn't matter how tightly locked in everything is, the fence on the mitre will move. I called Dewalt directly to see if there was a fix for this. They told me they were aware of the issue but that it was not a significant variance to warrant a manufacturing correction.
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