Review: Dewalt DWS779 Sliding Compound Miter Saw

The Dewalt DWS779 miter saw has both sliding and dual bevel action along with a large cutting capacity, making it a very capable saw. Let’s take a closer look at this one.

Cutting Power & Motor

This saw has excellent cutting power and can be used to cross cut 2×14 inch lumber at 90 degrees and 2×10 inch lumber at 45 degrees. This saw has no problem making cuts through even treated hardwoods at those dimensions. The cutting capacity and power is this saws greatest strength.

This saw is powered by a 15 amp motor and runs at a no load speed of 3,800 RPM. The motor sits towards the back of the saw and uses a belt drive to spin the blade. There is no soft start and the saw has some noticeable torque on startup. This saw does have a blade brake, which helps to quickly slow down the blade after cuts.

Starting up this saw can draw up to 1800 watts, and people have had some issues with tripping 20 amp circuit breakers on startup if there’s other appliances running on the same circuit.

This saw uses a 12 inch blade with a 5/8 inch arbor, which helps give it the larger vertical cutting capacity. The included blade is a 32 tooth blade designed for cutting wood in a construction setting. People who want smoother or cleaner cuts with this saw upgrade the blade right away.

Cutting Capacity

The cutting capacities of this saw are as follows:

Maximum Size

6-1/2″ Tall

5-1/4″

Maximum Height x Width

4.4″ x 13.75″

4.4″ x 9.6″

3.1″ x 13.75″

2.2″ x 13.75″

As you can see, this saw can do larger crosscuts and it also has enough vertical capacity behind the blade to handle cutting taller baseboard or crown molding.

Miter Adjustments

The miter can be adjusted from 0-50 degrees on the left and 0-60 degrees on the right. There are 10 positive stops on the miter scale. Both the miter scale and the pointer can be adjusted to calibrate if needed.

The miter works smoothly on this saw and it’s pretty easy to use. To make a miter adjustment, you simply lift the lever at the end of the handle to unlock. If you are positioned in one of the positive stops you’ll need to release with the stop lever as well. Rotate the handle on the miter to find your position and then clamp down again with the lever.

The miter scale is interesting since it offsets the actual indentations of the positive stops with the scale. This is due to the pointer for the miter scale being located on the side of the miter handle rather than centered underneath.

Bevel Adjustments

The double bevel design means you can tilt this to the left or right for bevel cuts. The bevel capacity is 0 – 49 degrees to both the left and right. There is a visual dial for measurements. There are stops at 0, 22.5, 33.9 and 45 degrees on the bevel.

Adjusting the bevel is quick and easy, but you need to reach around the back of the saw to get to the release lever. After turning the lever, you can tilt to one of the stop or anywhere in between. There is an override knob for the bevel stop at 0 that allows you to tilt to the right. Once you make your adjustment you simply tighten the lever again to clamp it down.

Sliding Action

The sliding action on this saw is great and it works smoothly and accurately. There doesn’t appear to be any sloppiness in the action unless you put unnecessary lateral pressure on the arm during cuts.

This sliding action uses two guide rods and has a couple options for locking into place. There is a lever on the left side that simply latches the blade into place for standard chop cuts. There is also a knob behind the blade housing that can be turned to lock the sliding action in any position.

Depth Stop

This saw also has a basic depth stop that works well but can be a little tedious to measure. The depth stop has a plate that can flip down to activate it. There is a screw that can be turned to adjust the depth. With the way the plate/screw works, you can keep your depth adjustment at a specific measurement and turn it on or off easily between cuts. Measurements need to be done at the blade as there is no depth stop scale.

Cutting Table & Fence

The cutting table on this saw is made from aluminum and it has a smooth finish to it. The table is flat and provides enough surface area to rest the larger materials that this saw can cut. The table also has mounting holes on the four corners so that it can be mounted to a workbench.

The fence is a two-piece system on both sides to accommodate the dual bevel tilt. The upper portion of the fences can be removed to make room for the tilting blade. The fence is pretty tall on this saw as well and is tall enough to vertically support 6-3/4 inch base board being cut vertically.

This saw includes a vice clamp that can flip over the fences. It’s kind of awkward to use and not designed for quick clamping and release. Most people find it to be annoying, which is unfortunate since using a clamp can greatly improve safety on miter saws like this.

Handling & Safety

This is a pretty safe saw to use as long as you are taking typical safety precautions. The handle is easy to hold but is designed mostly for right-handed use. The power trigger can be pulled only after using a safety lever which is also on the trigger, which is good to keep from accidental startup. The up/down and sliding action is smooth and doesn’t require a large amount of strength to handle effectively.

The blade guard works well on this saw. It keeps the blade safely covered when not making cuts and gets out of the way just enough to see what you are going to be cutting, which is great.

The vice clamp system is pretty cheaply implemented but it works well enough to secure materials to the table when making cuts, helping to prevent kickback.

Dust Collection

Dust collection is a weak point with this saw. The included bag doesn’t really collect dust at all and if you want to get decent results it’s best to use a dust collection system. The dust port exits the back of this saw and if you hook it up to anything it needs more space behind the saw. This can make it difficult to put up against a wall in a shop. The dust port is roughly 1-3/4 inch, which is a non-standard size for dust hoses and collection systems. This will connect easily to a Dewalt dust collector, but anything else will probably require an adapter of some sort or duct tape.

Build Quality

This is a very well built saw and all of it’s major movements and action are solid, even more so than some cheaper Dewalt saws. The bevel, miter and sliding action don’t feel sloppy at all and it provides good confidence to the user when making adjustments and cuts. Overall, this saw has pretty good fit ans finish with all of it’s parts.

There are a few weak points to point out. There are some plastic parts here that could potentially break, like some of the levers and knobs. The dust port feels a little cheaply implemented and it can bend when weight is added to it. The housing for the motor is plastic but that’s ok since it keeps the weight down. The belt drive could require maintenance at some point, depending on how much work you put this saw through, so keep that in mind.

Overall though, this is a very well built saw and people who own it find it to stand up well to lots of use and stay in pretty good working condition.

Portability

This saw is very large and heavy, no doubt about that. However, Dewalt still wants to make it somewhat portable since it could be used by contractors or people who need to use it outside of a shop. It can be folded in a closed position and the miter can be rotated all the way to the right to give it a more compact size for storage or travel. There are handles on the left and right sides of the base for lifting it off a table or workbench. This saw can maybe be lifted by somebody that can lift 7o lbs, but due to it’s bulky size it’s going to be a lot easier to move it with two people.

Included Accessories

This saw comes with a few accessories, here’s what’s in the box:

• Wrench
• Vertical clamp

Setup & Assembly

This saw requires a little bit of setup time and you’ll want to take the time to check all the calibration points and align everything properly. After getting everything setup and aligned, you’ll be able to make adjustments and measurements quickly during use. It’s important to read through the manual on this one so that you catch the smaller details for calibration, blade changes and safe use.

Warranty

Dewalt offers a 3 year warranty on defective parts or workmanship. They also include a 1 year free service contract and a 90 day money back guarantee. This is good enough to help you out if you have quality control issues in that first year of use.