DeWalt DW872 14" 70T 15 AC/DC Amps HD Carbide Tipped Blade Multi-Cutter Saw

I've tried it all, bandsaw, handheld plasma cutter, 14" grit saw. All in the attempt to make accurate cuts in 1/2" x 6" hot rolled bar stock.All were pathetic attempts. In frustration I bought one of these saws. Cutting very slowly at first, as that's what I read online was the 'right' way. I spent just over 7 minutes per. After a few of those I started to get impatient, I realize solid stock this size is approaching the limits of the saw blade, so decided to 'sacrifice' the blade in the interests of finishing the job before I retire.Adding just a little downward pressure improved things dramatically. Not hanging from the handle, but just a little more than the weight of my hand and cut time went from 7 minutes to 1. Cut quality is excellent and accuracy is as good as my setup of the saw/fence. No blade deflection, no dross on the bottom of the cut, just clean and ready to weld.I will say that with stock this wide and flat the chips do get hot and sparks are flying. The teeth spend a lot of time in this sort of cut, I couldn't get the material too far forward as they suggest in the manual. That seems to be the nature of the beast in this case. Cutting smaller stock and things stay cool and no significant sparking. Can't speak to how long the blade will last before resharpening or replacing but after a couple hours of this continuous use as described, no significant difference in cut time or quality (yes a little bit, but not significant). I'm sure the blade is getting duller and the heat is affecting the carbide, but the effect is subtle and perfectly reasonable. And that's with the 'free' blade that comes with it. Likely a high quality aftermarket blade with better carbide will be even more impressive.Best of all, unlike grit disc saws, no smoke and grit cloud to breath.Downsides:The fence is light for my use. The angle shifts as I push the bar stock around to square it up to the fence, on occasion pushing the fence to the bar rather than the other way around. I'd like to see a more positive lock on that. After-all, metal heavy, no?I'd also like to see accurate and adjustable positive stops for the common angles. The stamped marks are useless, why bother? Do it right or leave them off all together.I'd like to see variable speed. I got the feeling that the fixed speed was a bit faster than wanted for such a long time in the kerf. Again, maybe my project is pushing the boundaries, I can see with thin wall material slower would be bad.The work piece clamps work OK, I'd like to see the pivot on the main clamp be lockable so it can secure small work pieces without pivoting or having to add spacers. Just a pin to lock it square would be great.Overall, it's a great saw, buy one and be happy.

I originally bought the Porter Cable abrasive saw, and that saw was very good for what it cost. However, I did not like all the cleanup I had to do to the parts. I then bought the blade that goes to this Dewalt DW872 thinking that I could use it on the Porter Cable abrasive saw instead of the abrasive blade. Granted, I have no doubt that some do use it, the many kind people who responded to my inquiry about using the metal blade at the high speed of the abrasive saw was a unanimous, “Don’t do it” The higher speed of the Porter Cable Abrasive saw would damage the blade, and possibly cause injury the user when teeth of the blade fracture off at high speed. The thought of that was a bit frightening. So I sold the Porter Cable to a friend for what I paid, and ordered the Dewalt DW872 to replace it. I already had an extra blade, and I decided to keep it as a backup.Now I want to address the reviews that said that the blade wore down and became useless quickly, and it made the saw expensive to use. That is just nonsense, if the saw is used correctly, the blade does a wonder job, and makes many more cuts than a stack of abrasive blades can do. The not so secret about using this saw is to take your time. If you see sparks, there should only be a few. The saw should be allowed to make the cut with moderate pressure from the user. Sure it will still cut if you push it through as fast as you can, but that is when the blade heats up, and destroys itself.The cuts I made with this saw were amazing. I cut angle iron from a bed frame, and the edges were bright, shiny, and smooth. The saw has a nice clamping system, and if you read the manual it explains why the clamps are there, it has one more clamp than an abrasive saw needs. That is because one other important step in using this saw is to clamp your work down tight. They ad another clamp that presses downward to keep the blade from pulling the metal up out of the other clamp. The teeth of the blade shave metal away, and it takes a lot of energy to shave steel, so that means you need an equal amount of energy to hold the work down. If you push the work back into the blade more, it will catch part of the up-turn of the blade, and that can pull whatever is in the first clamp straight up and cause damage to you, and your work all at the same time. So be sure to read the manual, and learn to use as many clamps as you can, how still the metal is, is the first half of all that matters when using this saw. The other thing that is equally important is to go slow, don’t force it.This saw is much heavier than the Porter Cable, and everything about it is better quality, the motor turns much slower, and it uses gears to turn speed into power.