Grumpy MSG

FlexVolt runs an 8 1/4" blade, so the options are limited there. Concerning the corded saws, the DW745 is an older model and there are a few changes that were made along the way to it. Early saws had a simple guard system that was held on by 2 bolts, later had a modular guard system. It's similar sized replacement is actually the DWE7480, The DWE7491 and DWE7490 are replacements for the slightly larger DW744,and come with with a rolling stand (DWE7491) or X stand (DWE7490) and 32 1/2" or 28 1/2" rip capacities respectively. The later models are more open and have onboard storage for the guard parts and riving knife as well as a T slot miter groove which the older saws didn't. Price wise the new saws cost about the same as the saws they replaced, so if it were me, I'd go with one of the later saws, that just leaves you to decide do you want the compact saw, the X stand version or the rolling stand version.

It is out there. bare charger/ power supply was $399 at an event I was at a month ago. When it was purchased with batteries it had one FlexVolt and 3 20volts. I can't remember the price or Ah ratings on that offer. They also had the 790 with the big miter stand for $799 as part of the deals that day.

Maybe you will get lucky and that is what it will ship with, since it is taking them so long. That was some serious B.S., CPO and others selling a bunch of stuff at a discount price without firm knowledge of how many they were getting and how quick the replenishment rate would be. That is assuming they didn't know how many they were getting. It is far worse if they knew and kept on selling without knowing when they were getting more follow on tools. Lets say they were getting 10, they could have sold 10 and then announced they would offer the same price and place orders in a backorder status. They should have been honest with the customers.

This poll is the opposite end of the spectrum, which do you like more... Clinton versus Trump is about which one you dislike more.

I never saw the 20V at my local Lowe's, only the 40V. Meanwhile the nearby Home Depot has had the full 20V line including the hedge trimmer.

Like I said earlier, I went to the Rocking R fall tool show, I got to see many of the FlexVolts, a few in action. I didn't stay for all the demonstrations, But I will offer my thoughts about what I saw. The sliding miter saw was everything folks were hoping, a DWS780 that runs on batteries. The table saw is compact, it is comparable in size to the DWE7480 or the DW745. The 7 1/4 circular saw is a beast. I don't know why you would ever need to do what they were doing, but for the demonstration they had 3 3/4 sheets of OSB stacked up clamped in a jaw horse and ripped 3 feet, 32 inches, whatever the max opening for the jaw horse was in 4 to 5 seconds tops. It was faster than I would cut a single sheet, but they were demonstrating for power. The DeWALT rep said that in testing using the gravity sled set up they have it would beat the DeWALT corded 7 1/4 saw. Seeing what I saw, I believe him. They had one of the chargers/ power supplies and the 7 1/4 circular saw they had hooked up had no hesitation to get up to full speed unlike saws hooked to an auto-idle generator. Prices and deals were around to be found with extra batteries for this or that and the one that will make a few early order folks cry a little, the DHS790AT2 sliding miter saw for $800 with a free DWX726 rolling stand.

It is not from today, but Friday and the first chance to post with pictures. I picked them up at Rocking R's fall tool sale. Karcher 1800 PSI pressure washer was $20 off, but will be easy enough to carry in and out of basement when needed and the blower came with an extra 5 Ah battery, not spectacular, but decent deals.

Most of the world seems to know this, it is no secret, but it does make it easier to send the wife or a secretary to go pick a battery pack up and get the right thing, unlike some other brands. It is marketing but it is also idiot- proofing, because no matter how smart you think you are, somebody can outstupid you...

Aces are a franchise. The Rocking R Ace in Harrisonburg, VA , they are also an authorized DeWALT service center. They have had FlexVolts for a few weeks. Something sticks in my mind it was $319 for the reciprocating saw, I can't remember whether it was the one or two battery kits. The had a smallish display, looking similar in size to the pallet photo somebody showed from Home Depot. This Friday and Saturday are the fall tool sale and demo, I might have to look and see what all they are demoing this time around. I know the last one they had a couple of beasts for nail guns, they had one that was a fence stapler and another that was huge beast that drove 6 inch spikes for the folks who built pole barns.

They have adjusted the Lithium Ion batteries slightly and it wouldn't surprise me if they only have the DC9182s after every thing else is sold. At this point the only batteries they are showing on their website are the DC9182s and the DC9096s, I guess the only other batteries in the line come in kits at this point. Don't write off the the adapter, I had the opportunity to handle an impact with one and the old DCD950 hammer drill and it was about as bulky as the old NiCad batteries with less weight. Where it deserves a look is how you purchase it at about $50 for a bare adapter or $150 for and adapter and 2 2.0 Amp hour batteries plus a charger, it is more cost effective than buying one DC9182 and a new charger that works with lithium batteries, plus the 20V MAX batteries are less expensive from there on out at $100 an 18V battery or $130 for 2 20V 3.0 Ah batteries. It also allows the opportunity to slide into the 20V max tools as old tools wear out instead of just jumping into them with a big purchase. If it is a tool that you are going to use once and a while and can't justify replacing it until it is worn out, the adapter might be the route to go. The negatives to getting the adapter is it won't work with the 4 and 5 Ah batteries and it won't work in some of the compact drills and pretty much anything that has a cover type battery retainer like the vacuums.

And if you look for just the AC adapter, the price is..... $49 http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-FLEXVOLT-120-Volt-AC-Adapter-DCA120/207164710

It would probably work fine for a few cuts for a job like trimming out a window or door, but I wouldn't try it for flooring or cutting a bunch of 2 X 4 studs.

You would be relying on the idea that the return could happen in time (are you sure your discounted tool will be to you in 30 days?) and that a Home Depot employee at the customer service desk is not going to notice a shipping sticker and address on the side of your return from "Discounts 'R' Us". If they say no, how angry will you be at that point? and who's fault will it really be? Bargains are great but so is timeliness. This goes bac to that old proverb about a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.

DeWALT has the ability to produce X number of tools and divides that pie up to the various folks who sell their tools. They are going to allocate more tools to the folks who sell more. Just like Home Depot is going to send more of the FlexVolt tools to northern Virginia in the DC suburbs than they are going to send to the stores in the western, more rural part of the state. The question is did the big discounters know how many tools they were going to get? If they knew they were going to get only a handful, maybe they should have offered them at full price - $10 or $25 instead of the huge discount, free extra tool, free battery route. Another option would have been for them to offer them to some of their more frequent purchasers first. It sounds like DeWALT has a bigger winner than they imagined they would have. They will also have to deal with the animosity that these vendors have created for them. It is even worse for them if they have parts and components floating offshore because of the Hanjim bankruptcy, waiting to be unloaded and can't build more tools because of it.

Congrats on your education! As far as using an oscillating tool, it has many uses depending on what blade/ sander is mounted. Some folks think they are better than a rotozip for cutting in for electrical boxes. I know they are great for sanding in corners and hard to get places and the saw blades are great for getting in tight spots like toe kicks and inside cabinets.

My suggestion is to take a battery with you to compare it with the DeWALT. I know the older 18V batteries could charge on the DeWALT NiCad chargers.

It is all about the "red" auger that makes it possible. Oh wait a minute, if it was snapped off laying on the ground it would be a Milwaukee impact bit. That must make it a Diablo then....

Buy a blade with a 5/8" arbor hole is the easiest solution. I just took a quick look at homedepot.com, 60 tooth, 10 inch sawblade with a 5/8" arbor hole should be in stock at stores.

If it is something you want, have you gone on to Home Depot's web site to see if your store has it in stock? Usually when I look for something on the web site it tells me what aisle, bay and bin it is in. Right now it is showing sold out on everything at my local store, so apparently they sold 2 of everything today. I am glad I didn't have my heart set on anything. They also have the option to check nearby store inventories and there are some still available in Virginia, they seem to concentrated in the DC suburbs and Richmond area.

You know if you absolutely have to have it, you could check Home Depot. My local store is showing table saws @ $499, miter saws @ $799, reciprocating and circular saws @ $299. I realize you don't get the bargains and the free tools this way, but you do get them in your hands, no wait involved. With bargains come the requirement for patience. If a company is allotted ten tools in an initial shipment and they sell thirty, twenty people are going to be disappointed. It won't be DeWALT's fault, it will be the company who took your money, knowing they weren't going to be able to deliver that tool in the anticipated time. Get mad at the right people. They could have been honest and told the folks after they sold the first ten, there would be a later ship date, but they didn't and kept taking people's money.

There have been a couple of threads in the past few months about them, I suggest you look for them. They both run a self cleaning double filter set up and both can be used as a tool activated vacuum. The tanks on both extractors take different hoses, so they are not interchangeable. The primary hose that comes with both vacuums feature a quick coupler (DWV9000) There are about 8 different adapters that can be used with the coupler and it will hook directly to bag adapter on the newer DeWALT miter saws. If you decide to go with the DWV010 look for the DWV010X kit, it comes with 2 hoses, the smaller diameter one with the quick coupler and a larger which works with 2 1/4" accessories. The DWV012 does have variable suction while the DWV010 does not. The DWV012 features 2 larger wheels and 2 casters as well as a collapsible handle that would make rolling it around a job site and up and down stairs easier, while the DWV010 comes with 4 casters that are similar to those on a mop bucket. The DWV010X can be found fairly easily for $299, even Home Depot has that price at the moment. The DWV012, new or reconditioned can be found on Ebay for closer to $400, just factor for shipping costs. It is all about what you want from it, if you are going to hook it to various sanders and tools the DWV012's variable suction would help, If it is on a job site the edge again goes to the DWV012 for it's mobility set up, but if it is in the shop hooked to a miter saw or a Dust Deputy and a table saw and then used for general shop clean up, I think the advantage goes to the DWV010 with the X's extra hose.

It depends what you are going to be doing. If you have a couple of projects a year, any brand will do. If you have one in your hand several hours a week, Festool would probably cost twice what others cost, but be worth it.

Lots of their stuff is "Assembled in the USA" (with components made in other countries). It is not perfect, but I am sure that DeWALT isn't the only company affected by the bankruptcy of the shipping company. I bet their are thousands of containers involved.

Look at the gearbox portion of any grinder you would like to change, measure the spacing between the bolts and see if they are evenly spaced. Remove all four rotate 1/4 turn and put bolts back in. I am not going to tell you that you can't turn it one direction, you can learn that all on your own. You can eat all the grinding dust/ sparks you want if you insist it be on the side that throws it toward you instead of away...

Nobody is even mentioning the newer smaller miter saws. Lugging a 56 pound saw into a job site for cutting big wood might be a great idea, but for those who are just doing trim work carrying in a 30 pound DCS361 and a DWX723 stand at 35 pounds or DWX724 stand at 30 pounds might be a better option for the same weight especially if you are lugging it up and down stairs. It is not like you need tons of power to cut most trim and you can use one of the Flex Volt batteries to make it last a good long time. On a job site cutting big wood, the big saws are nice, but for trim they are overkill and overweight.