Dewalt Sliding 7.25" miter saw (cordless)

[John Petsche]

I was looking to see if anyone uses this saw and what their experience has been with its battery life and dust collection.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCS361B-Cordless-Miter-Tool/dp/B00YEWX4SK

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm a huge fan of their Flexvolt batteries, after resisting buying them for as long as possible. I'm a carpenter, my guys use them a lot, and it's impressive how long they last. Check the amp hour rating on the batteries you get, most of ours are 6 which will run a impact driver for several days, or a circular saw nonstop (like cutting lap siding to length) for half a day. You'll need a couple batteries to cut all the siding on a normal house. The 9 amp hour batteries will go longer of course, and they have bigger ones if needed. Batteries are expensive but watch for deals. I'm using a Flexvolt air compressor for a foot stool right now, was on sale for a price that made the battery free so you can add batteries fairly affordably that way if you need more tools. Batteries charge as fast as normal 20 volt with the bigger fan cooled flex volt charger. All the 20 volt tools I've tried will take flex volt batteries.

[Richard Shaefer]

I have had that saw for a while. Bought it at a tool show when DeWalt first rolled it out, so maybe 2 years-ish?
That is hands-down the best saw for just about any job that isn't big time structural framing. It's small and light enough to carry anywhere. The slider feature lets it work on just about anything you want to cut. And because it's smaller but the slides and blades are still pretty thick, that means that blades and guides deflect less, making this saw more accurate than a bigger SCMS.
I used to just hang it on a hook on the wall until I needed it (It's that light), but I eventually built a self-folding rack on the wall that folds out with a gas strut

Really though, all that is secondary to walking onto a job, opening up the tailgate and looking angrily at the usual stupid giant 'portable' SCMS rigs that you'd have to drag into a house and up the stairs. Screw that. I'm personally of the opinion that DeWalt made this saw for people who need a good saw that's light weight and portable and don't have anything to prove in an, um, er.. 'blade' measuring contest.

[John Petsche]

Richard, how good is the dust collection on that saw when hooked to a shop vacuum?

[Gary Ragatz]

I've had one of these for about 6 months, and I'm very happy with it. Clean, accurate cuts. Solid, but pretty light-weight and easy to move. I have the rolling saw stand (DWX726) to go with it, and like it a lot.

Battery life is not a big issue for me - I'm just a hobbyist/DIY-er, so I'm not making hundreds of cuts per day, and because I have several other DeWalt 20V tools, I have a couple of 2 AHr and a couple of 5 AHr batteries. But I have seen tests from multiple sources that say you can get ~ 200 cuts in 2x4 framing lumber on a single charge with a 4 AHr battery - so I think that's probably a fairly accurate number.

Dust collection is decent. I connect a shop-vac to the dust port, using a Rockler adapter, and it gets most of the dust (that included dust bag won't get you very far, even if you're a light user, like me). For use in my basement shop, I'd like to add some below-the-saw dust collection - hoping to get by with a funnel below the saw, but might end up with one of those "shroud" setups.

[Richard Shaefer]

Richard, how good is the dust collection on that saw when hooked to a shop vacuum?

same here for me as far as dust collection goes. I would classify it as 'decent'.
the smaller blade certainly makes for a smaller mess.
I don't know that anyone has really solved the miter saw dust collection conundrum.

[John Petsche]

https://www.facebook.com/158483627512457/videos/246084512740656/

I found out there is this new hitachi 7.25" miter saw coming out in 2019. This model has 11.5" crosscut capacity with dual bevel, front sliding rail design, dust chute looks well positioned, and its multi-volt (battery or AC power). This looks very impressive if it has good accuracy. Hitachi bought Metabo this past year as well not sure if that will reflect improved tool quality.

[Gary Ragatz]

Sounds nice. Quite a price differential vs. the DeWalt.

[Reinis Kanders]

Milwaukee version is also good and dust collection is decent as well.

[Richard Shaefer]

https://www.facebook.com/158483627512457/videos/246084512740656/

I found out there is this new hitachi 7.25" miter saw coming out in 2019. This model has 11.5" crosscut capacity with dual bevel, front sliding rail design, dust chute looks well positioned, and its multi-volt (battery or AC power). This looks very impressive if it has good accuracy. Hitachi bought Metabo this past year as well not sure if that will reflect improved tool quality.

$1000!!
I do like the forward rails design.
reminds me a lot of the Dewalt/Elu DW777 saws they sell in Europe.
Hitachi used to be THE name in miter saws.

[Brian Nguyen]

Yep, I just got the 7 1/4" Milwaukee cordless miter saw and really loving it so far. I just wish that it has a forward rail system like the Craftsman version that I had before. Oh well.


Milwaukee version is also good and dust collection is decent as well.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

$1000!!
I do like the forward rails design.
reminds me a lot of the Dewalt/Elu DW777 saws they sell in Europe.
Hitachi used to be THE name in miter saws.

$1000 seems a little steep, but those old Hitachi were good saws.