Why are some CMS's such a pain to change blades?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Yesterday, I had to change the blade in my DeWalt 10" CMS.
This is a chore that I dread with the DeWalt, my little 8 1/2" Delta & my 8 1/2" Workfarce slider. (Ok, I shouldn't pick on the Workforce - it's really been an exceptional value - just a major PITA to change blades)

W/all three it seems you need 3 hands, an adult education seminar from the local community college and more patience than I can muster standing in the hot sun in the driveway.:confused:

OTOH - swapping blades out on my 10" Ryobi is mindlessly easy and simple. One screw w/the supplied little combo hex key/screwdrive lossens the guard - 10 seconds tops - and another 10 seconds to loosen the blade. 15 seconds to swap the blade & another 20 to tighten the screws and you're back in business.

Considering that I paid a whopping $59.00 for the Ryobi & nearly 4 times that much for the DeWalt, why doesn't DeWalt take a clue from the cheapie and design a better way?

[Steve Clardy]

I have 4 of the 12" dewalts.
3-4 minutes to change a blade.
The blade cover, loosen 1 screw, slide cover up for bolt access.
Slide front guard up, and it contacts that blade cover, holding it up out of the way.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Just today, I had to change the blade on my DeWalt 12" miter saw. It's a PITA to change as the guard is in the way. This is the one design flaws with this series of saws. My DeWalt 10" is the same also.

[John Thompson]

Could you not simply push the guard up and tape it temporarily with a piece of duct tape while you change blades as I do on my Hitachi 12? Just a thought.... :)

Sarge..

[Bruce Wrenn]

Could you not simply push the guard up and tape it temporarily with a piece of duct tape while you change blades as I do on my Hitachi 12? Just a thought.... :)

Sarge..Nope! There is a metal plate that holds the spring for the guard. It bridges the arbor bolt. It has to be removed to allow access to bolt. Of course I only change the blades maybe one a year, so I can live with it. I'm blessed to have two of both the 10", and 12" DeWalts CMS. One of the 10"ers was bought and used on one job about five years ago. It was a simple crown job, inside a dentist office. There wasn't room enough to reverse material end for end, so we just put a saw at each end of the bench. Cutting outside wasnt an option as it was raining. Denist's office is sixteen feet wide, and sixty feet long.

[Steve Clardy]

Like this?

Metal plate slid up, guard rolled up, wedged in place because the metal plate is slid upwards.

[John Thompson]

Thanks from me guys as I will have a look at one at the Box store. I don't have one but I do like to familarize myself with most of the WW machines for whatever reason. Most of the trim guys in my area usually run Hitachi or DW's as the National Service Center for Hitachi is here in Atlanta and there is a DW service center about 6 miles from it.

Sarge..