Dewalt TS puzzle- mod 744 and 745 ?

[Scott Perkins47]

For the first time I just saw the pinnion gear driven fence
on the Dewalt TS and I felt like I was just introduced
to electricity!
I have never been able to adjust fences microscopically
and repeatedly the way I was able to do on the display
model in the store. How come the whole world isnt
going berserk over this feature. I've seen other
after market fences costing hundreds of dollars
that cannot do these things. Does the dewalt fence
not actually work well in practice? or are there
other attributes about the saw that make it unpopular ?
Scott

[Rick Hall]

I picked up the smaller model of this saw about a year ago to use as a job saw, and I've found the fence to work just fine for that purpose. I do like the knob to adjust the fence position. It does seem to be nice and precise, though the cuts aren't always so. I think that has more to do with the direct drive, small table, and light weight than the fence itself. It would be interesting to see a fence like this on a larger, more substantial saw.

Rick.

[Bill Orbine]

I have that rack'n'pinion on the SCMI slider. And I have the Dewalt 745 for portable field saw. The one huge advantage on the 745 is the rack and pinion is on both the front AND back meaning that the fence is align with the blade... not unlike many other portables where the need to align fence with blade every time the fence is set. It's nice feature and easy to set fence position on the mark. On the other hand, the 745 plastic switch box broke at the screw flanges for the switch cover plate already.

[Jeremy Brant]

I have the 745 and was using it as my primary saw until I finally obtained an older PM66 (still in the process of setting it up). I had used a friend's while remodeling my house and decided at some point I had to give the saw back, so I purchased the same saw. I find that the rack & pinion works excellent. The saw was set up perfectly right out of the box. You can make a cut, change the rip width, and change it back to the original one and the parts match exactly. For a direct drive, it cuts very well with a sharp thin kerf blade...even the stock blade is ok, but something like a freud or similar will yield better results. Problems: the miter gauge is nearly useless. That's it. Otherwise you get what you see...it's not a large table and has no infeed/outfeed support, and with the 745 you only have a 16" rip capacity, which is ok for field construction type work but doesn't get you far with any kind of plywood for casework.