I acquired the new DeWalt DW718 mitre saw to replace my old Makita saw. I have had a Makita compound slider saw for many years and have used it at length. The limited capacity and lack of a laser alignment sight were heavy downsides. I did not want to purchase a new mitre saw until now because not one of the newer saws had seemed that much of an improvement.

I was pleased to see that the new DW718 simply fitted my existing workstation and the table height was precisely the same. All I had to do was take away the old saw, align the fence of the DW718 to the fence on the extension wings of the workstation and bolt it down. First, the standard of the saw, detents, table and overall build quality was fantastic.

The DW718 is noticeably quieter than my older direct drive saw. The saw brake stops the blade quickly and the blade guard returns quickly as one expects. Both are important security features that work as they should. The standard carbide blade cut smoothly and was miles better than I was expecting for the supplied blade.

I have replaced the blade with a high spec one but will use the original supplied blade when cutting probably damaging material. The sole negative thing I have found about the saw is the dust collection system. Most mitre saws, due to their capability to be set at many angles, do a poor job of picking up saw dust. My older saw was one of the better ones, but the new DW718 does a particularly poor job of picking up saw dust.

I had to make little tweaks to the red angle indicator arrows and the mitre detent bar. The adjustments took five mins and were simple to do. The laser system is a genuine winner, and its illumination of the complete cut range of the saw, both vertically and horizontal, is glorious. The laser will be a genuine timesaver as well as enhancing the accuracy of my cuts, particularly with cutting miters and bevels. It works off the saw’s power system and will work even if the saw isn’t triggered. I did not find any problem with blade or head deflection. The slide works extremely smoothly and the large horizontal handle is a pleasant feature. The mitre and bevel adjustments are simple to make and the detents snap into place strongly.

Aside from that problem, the saw is a definite improvement.

“Ashes, that is all I amlooking up at you;

whose the fool?
“I take up such little space, inside this little

urn
“you’d think I was a butterfly, in a

cocoon.
“Just keep me if you wish, in a corner of a

room in your home:
I won’t say muchI got many other things

to do.”

#1374 6/22/2006

Note: The urn is preferred for many reasons in considering a proper burial; and as in many Asian countries it is kept in a home (as in Japan); some timesas in Cambodia, bones are kept (of the loved ones) in a little open-ended shelter in the backyard of a home (folks have been kind enough to show them, and allowed me to touch, and hold them, they feel they are residue spirits in a way), most made out of wood. It provides a closeness you will never get, putting a loved one in a cemetery, that most people never go to after the day they bury the person. In some cases this is perhaps good, depending on your memories of the person. In Peru, people do go to cemeteries quite often, an exception to the rule. And in Haiti, where I spent some time, a cemetery is preferred, they save all their money for such an event, it is like a holiday, another exception. But in America, they can’t wait to put you in the ground, call the insurance company up, and run outside and celebrate, spend the money, and will never step a foot back in that old graveyard again.

On one hand it is a cheap burial compared to the grand tomb, of modern man, costing between $10,000 to $30,000-dollars; in Minnesota you can do a service, nice Urn, and cremation for $1400-dollars, and take the urn home for everlasting warmth. Young Americans think this a tragedy, and so do some Peruvians, it only proves one thing, their inexperienced limits of the world: they think they live in a one-world parking lot.

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com