DWalter

For ripping, the Freud LU87R010 is a sweet blade. It's a coated, 24 tooth, thin kerf blade that works well in both portable and stationary table saws. http://www.freudtools.com/index.php/products/product/LU87R010

Most European grinders and cut off tools have 14 mm spindles whereas most North American ones use 5/8-11. Sounds like it might be a US model.

I believe that Rona exclusively carries the Fatmax line of power tools in Canada. They list the 20v max battery on their web site at $79.99 http://www.rona.ca/en/20v-lithium-battery-00275519 You could also try your nearest Dewalt/Stanley/B&D service centre.

I've seen this several times on drills that have some hours on them and it's been the switch. VSR switches use electronics to vary the speed up to about 3/4 throttle and have a set of mechanical switch contacts that close at the end of trigger travel thereby bypassing the electronics to obtain full speed. After much use, the mechanical contacts can burn out from arcing and you're only left with partial power provided by the electronics. Symptoms usually start out just like you described with intermittent full speed, and as the contacts continue to arc and burn away with further use you eventually loose full power altogether. You should be able to check the switch output with a voltmeter to see if full power is making it to the motor.

Hi GIBBSRS, Drills with single sleeve chucks have an automatic spindle lock mechanism that prevents the drivetrain from spinning when you tighten or loosen the chuck for bit changes. The spindle lock mechanism is essentially a one way clutch that allows the motor to spin the chuck, but prevents the motor and transmission from spinning when you twist the chuck collar. It is normal for drills with this type of mechanism to make a clicking or clunk when you release the trigger in high gear. The reason it makes the noise in high gear and not low is due to the high inertia of the rapidly spinning chuck which tends to engaging the spindle lock mechanism just like when you manually twist the chuck. This is completely normal and does not indicate a problem with you unit.

All the 12v Max tools, use a sealed can motor that does not have serviceable brushes. The entire motor can be replaced as a unit for about $15. This is standard in this category of tool; even Festool's 10.8 v driver uses a non serviceable PMDC motor.

My 10" DW717 also did not have the smoothest slide action when I got it in 2008. I found though, that a large portion of the stiction originated from the 6 dust seals around the slide bearing/bushings. When I loosened the plates on the front and back of the trunnion assembly (where the slide bearings are) and temporarily slid 4 of the dust seals up the rails away from the trunion (the other 2 seals are fixed to the linear bearing assembly), I noticed that the sliding action loosened up considerably. I also own an old Craftsman Professional 8 1/2" sliding compound mitre saw that slides like butter, but it does not have any additional dust seals around the bearings meaning less durability. My DW717 did smooth out with use, but after the warranty period I decided that i could likely improve the sliding action further. The porous bronze bushings in the right hand side of the trunnion come from the factory impregnated with some oil, but I found them to be on the dry side. I experimented with a few lubricants including light greases and different grades of oil and found that a lightweight oil (10W or ISO 32) has worked the best. I also added several drops of oil to the inside of the linear bearing by removing the rails, since I also found very little lubrication in there. As for the 4 mm set screw, I set it so there is maybe a few thousanths of an inch play, but no tighter. The saw is much smoother now than it ever was. The additional oil has not only smoothed out the bearing/bushing action but also eliminates most of the stiction from the dust seals. I wouldn't recommend tinkering with a brand new saw on warranty, nor should you have to, but it does appear that the issue you are experiencing may not necessarily be with the bearing but rather a combination of tight seals, break in period, and inconsistent factory lubrication between batches.