DEWALT Scroll Saw, 1.3 Amp, 20 in Steel Blade, With Variable-Speed Trigger, For Precise Cuts (DW788)

I had purchased a Ryobi toy scroll saw about 7 years ago, and I was amazed at the level of detail I could create with it. I had been wanting to upgrade for years, and had done due diligence on every model offered. I read all the reviews and comparisons. I couldn't afford a Hegner, (upwards of $1700), nor an Excalibur or an RBI Hawk ($700-$800 range). Being as how the DeWalt DW788 offered a lot of features of the higher-priced models, but at considerably less cost, I focused on finding as much info on it as possible. After months of searching for info, I couldn't really find anyone that had a bad thing to say about it. From rank amateurs to professional woodworking shops, everyone seemed to praise it. Sure I found one or two people that weren't completely satisfied, but their complaints seemed trivial at best. So I went ahead and purchased one. Right here from Amazon.com. Amazon had the lowest price I could find. Sears will be happy to sell you one for $600 via their catalog, and I found a lot of places with similar pricing, but here is where I found the best deal. It qualified for the Super Saver Shipping, in which there is no shipping fee, but you'll have to wait a couple extra days for it, so they say. Mine arrived within 5 days, and it saved me $47 in shipping costs. Now, after playing with it for a few days, my primary reaction was WOW! Quite a marvel of engineering and workmanship. Shipped halfway around the world and most of the Southeastern U.S., punted from UPS truck to UPS truck, I installed the table (the only assembly you need to do, two screws), and chucked a blade in it. I set about the task of squaring the table to the blade (a daunting and frequently necessary task with my old Ryobi), and the blade was dead square side to side and front to back, right out of the box! At the slower speeds, you actually have to visually look to see if the thing is on, it's dead quiet and almost vibration-free. And boy-o-boy does it cut well. It has already allowed me to finish up a couple of projects I deemed too difficult for my old saw. I love the up-front controls, as my old saw had the blade tension adjustment at the back of the saw. Some of the projects I cut can have several hundred interior cuts, each requiring me to stand up and reach to the back of the saw, sometimes more than once to get the exact tension I want, so believe me when I tell you that up-front tension control is a nice feature. Another nice thing about the tension control is that it has an indexed scale, and you can always return to the exact tension setting. Oh, and I have yet to break a blade, I've even tried to. That was a regular occurrence with my old saw. My only complaint is completely trivial, and I'll learn to adjust my cutting style to it, but the upper blade holders thumb screw can beat your right index finger to a pulp if you get your hand in too close. I haven't yet had it long enough to judge how it will do over the long haul, but I am very impressed with the quality and workmanship. I have already been able to discover that this saw will allow me to take my skills to the next level, and perhaps beyond. Bottom line, if you're thinking about a mid-level srollsaw, then this is the one you've been looking for.

This is one awesome machine! I upgraded from another brand and what a difference, I should have spent the extra dollars to start with, and highly recommend seriously considering this scroll saw for anybody wanting to get into scrolling, or even for those with any experience at any level. First and foremost - blade insertion is easy and simple with just a little practice, insert the blade top first and snug the thumb screw, and if you are at 90 degrees with the table the bottom fits right in, tighten both blade screws. The machine I moved up from had adapters for the blades, and it was a very frustrating procedure when having to poke the blade through a hole, attaching the adapter to the blade, then hooking the adapters. With the DEWALT all it takes is turning the tension lever to the off position, releasing the top blade screw, poking the blade through the hole, then resetting the top blade, and resetting the tension. Once you get used to it, it only takes about 5 - 10 seconds to accomplish this. The machine is HEAVY, the table probably weighs about 50% of the total weight, and when bolted down produces very little vibration. The instructions for putting it together are very clear, and unless you are into power lifting I recommend getting help to get it out of the box and onto the work surface. I've been cutting out patterns in both 1/4" and 1/2" wood, and running at a slow speed (real curvy lines) on both thicknesses, and the machine does not bog down at all. Overall this is one outstanding saw, and well worth the investment. I've found that working with it is much less frustrating than my old one, and I actually enjoy working on it. I almost forgot to add something about the articulated dust blower, it's great! You can set it to whatever position you need to blow the dust away from where you are cutting, and due to the low vibration of the machine there is no or extremely little movement. UPDATE: I've been using this machine for five months now and couldn't be happier. I added the light and the easy lifter, both worth the expense. I do a lot of intricate work, and inserting the blades for inside cuts is very easy, and quick. I've had no problems whatsoever with the machine and have no problem recommending it. The only drawback to the machine is the lack of dust collection/control. There are third parties that have devices that you can install, I just keep my vacuum close by.

I was told the saw would be received in a week and I got it in about 4 days which was really nice. I also bought the stand that goes with the saw for an extra $46 and it was money well spent. The stand was very easy to assemble. I unpacked the saw (I bought a Used but New one) and could tell the saw had been openned and then repacked. The saw was in perfect condition, no scratches or blemishes at all. I picked the saw up and placed it on the stand and put the teardrop table on which was a snap. I looked for the 2 bolts to mount the table to the saw and found they were missing. These were M8 Hexhead machine screws so my local hardware store carried them, costing about $.86 a piece. When I went to insert the blades I noticed the thumbscrews were also missing. These are M6 screws so I went to the hardware store and bought 2 M6 hexhead machine screws and these worked. I superglued a allen wrench into the hexheads for a better handel to tighten the screws with. Another part, the foot which holds the material down was also missing (yes I was upset at this point but trudged on). This piece I could not purchase locally so I called Amazon and told hem via Chat what my situation was. They offered me a $25 refund but I wanted to see what all these parts would cost me, which was around $40 with shipping. So I contacted Amazon the following night via chat and expalined my situation and they gave me a %20 refund which was very nice, no questions asked etc. So even though I was missing a few parts I was still able to use the saw which cost me $400 with free shipping. Now on how the saw perfromed. I previously owned a Hitachi scrollsaw and this thing vibrated like there was no tomorrow. Hard to control and the blades kept popping out. The DW788 does not accept pin-in blades but thats fine with me. When I turned on the DW788, it was so smooth and so easy to use, I wondered why I ever bouht anything else. So easy to change and tighten the blade, you can slow the speed down very easly, I was like a kid in a candy shop. Heck I didn't want to go to bed it worked so nice. I had read about a guy who did a vobration test by balancing a nickle on his work bench to see it the vibration would knock it over. I didn't have a coin so I placed my beer on the saw table and it did not budge. WOW! an excellent saw plus a beer holder. Anyways, I would definetly repeat the purchase even with the minor hiccups, Great customer service and a wonderful saw.

I’ve used a few scroll saws over the years, but the DEWALT DW788 is on a whole different level. Right out of the box, you can tell this thing is built solid. It’s quiet, smooth as butter, and crazy accurate. The variable-speed control is perfect for switching between delicate cuts and thicker materials. And I can’t say enough good things about the tool-free blade changes — makes life SO much easier when you’re deep into a project and need to swap out. Also love how the arm lifts up, which is a small detail that makes a big difference when feeding your work through the blade. Vibration is minimal, and it just feels great to use. I’ve been using it for intricate woodwork, signs, and even some fretwork — no complaints at all. If you're even thinking about upgrading your scroll saw setup, do yourself a favor and grab this one. DEWALT knocked it out of the park.

I bought this DeWalt scroll saw to replace my five-year-old Porter-Cable scroll saw because it is quieter, more accurate and easier to use. The saw isn't perfect, but it almost is. First, the good points, especially compared with the Porter-Cable saw: 1. The saw arrived in perfect condition. It was well-packed and there was even a clear plastic cover shrink-wrapped around the yellow-and-black DeWalt box. Removing the saw from the box wasn't difficult. It is heavy, so take that into account. Also, never attempt to lift the saw by the upper arm, as that will damage the saw. Always lift it from the base. And there was no Styrofoam packing, either; all cardboard inserts and braces that kept the scroll saw securely in place in the box. A plus for the environment. 2. The DeWalt saw actually fits the Porter-Cable stand that I was previously using. The only problem was the holes in the stand didn't line up exactly with the DeWalt saw's, but that was an easy fix. I simply drilled a hole in the upper rear support of the Porter-Cable stand to accommodate the rear fixation bolt. I secured the left-hand front bolt in the existing hole and didn't put a bolt into the right-hand hole because that didn't line up. But just having those two fixation bolts is all you really need to hold the saw securely to the base. So that saved me from having to shell out another roughly $90 for a DeWalt scroll saw stand. 3. The saw arrived basically fully assembled. I did have to install the two wing screws that hold the blade in place. The saw comes with a couple of general purpose blades (but I recommend using something like the Flying Dutchman Ultra-Reverse blades (I use the #5 for almost everything) because every third tooth is pointed upwards. That causes a very smooth cut with no tear-out. But I digress. See https://a.co/d/0A7LR4L 4. This is a super quiet saw! Virtually no vibration at all, especially compared with the Porter-Cable. Also, the blade travels perfectly up and down with virtually no forward/backward or sideways motion. So it is really easy to make very accurate cuts with this saw. And tensioning the blade is simple with the front-facing lever control. 5. The sawdust blower tube is much longer than that on the Porter-Cable saw, so you can easily position it to blow the sawdust away from you and the blade as you are working. 6. The saw has an included miter gauge with an indent at 90 degrees, so you can easily tilt the table right or left up to 45 degrees. I checked for accuracy at the 90 degree position and it was perfect. That was not the case with the Porter-Cable saw that I would have to constantly re-adjust to keep the blade and table at perfect 90 degrees with each other. 7. The table on this saw is longer and heavier than that of the Porter-Cable saw. It arrived in perfect condition with no scratches or defects. I polished it before using with some Johnson's Paste Wax to protect it and keep it slippery-smooth. The table does NOT contain a removable throat plate. The Porter-Cable saw does have a plastic removable throat plate that makes accessing the lower blade clamp easier but it tends to get chewed up by the blade over time and really gets in the way more than it helps. The DeWalt table just has a small cut-out for the blade, which is nice. It really isn't much more difficult accessing the lower blade clamp. You just have to do it completely from the side. 8. Making inside cuts with this saw is so much easier than with the Porter-Cable scroll saw because you can lift up the upper arm to insert the blade through pre-drilled holes in your workpiece. The upper arm on the Porter-Cable (and most other scroll saws) is fixed. The only thing DeWalt didn't do was include a mechanism to lock the arm in the up position. You have to either hold it up with one hand or put a block of wood under the arm to keep it in the upper position. I did add a device called "The Lifter" that easily adds a simple locking device to the upper arm. Highly recommend that. See https://a.co/d/1EI04jD 9. This is a very sturdy, well-made saw with very little plastic or skimpy components. Keep in mind that it is made for pin-less blades, which is all most of us serious scrollers ever use anyhow. The On-Off switch and speed control knob sit on the top front of the saw where they are easily accessible. But do yourself a favor: purchase a foot switch to control the saw if you plan on using it a lot. So much easier to just press the foot pedal down to turn on the saw and then lift your foot off it to stop the saw, without having to take your hands off your workpiece to reach up to hit the saw's power switch. I find the pedal foot switch to be invaluable. See https://a.co/d/73jr8rK Now for the slight dings against this saw (hence a four-star rating instead of five-stars): 1. The saw does NOT include a work light, as the Porter-Cable scroll saw does. This is a minor detraction though, as I added an inexpensive small plug-in LED light that magnetically attaches to the upper arm and has a long goose neck making it easy to position the work light wherever you want it. See https://a.co/d/57xwfN0 2. There is no dust collection port or even a dust collection area at the bottom of the saw. Granted most of the dust comes from the top of the table and gets blown everywhere by the blower, but a significant amount also drops down through the bottom of the table. Since the saw is on a stand and I sit and straddle the stand while using the saw, I get saw dust all over my legs and lap, necessitating wearing a shop apron. I'm going to fashion some type of collection basin to fit under the saw to help collect the saw dust. The Porter-Cable does have a dust port connection beneath the table, although to be honest it was never super effective but better than nothing. I typically never connected it to my dust collector, but used my cyclonic shop vacuum to suck out the dust from it periodically. Still, having something to catch the dust was better than nothing. 3. Expensive scroll saw. There are definitely some cheaper scroll saws out there. But you get what you pay for. This is a well-built saw that should serve me well for many years with all the features that are important to me. So I guess my purchase was worth the money, since I do a lot of scroll saw work. In summary, I'm very happy with this saw so far. If you like to do scroll saw work, this saw should satisfy your needs. If you are in the market for a great scroll saw and can afford it, buy this saw.

Well worth the money. Never had a DeWalt that wasn't. Good instructions and easy to operate. Glad I read all the reviews on Google. You thinking of buying a scroll saw? This is the one to buy and Amazon is the place to get it at a better price. It came extremely well packaged both by the manufacturer and again by Amazon. Thanks Amazon! P.S. The Amazon driver delivered it with the shipping arrows UP, how bout that? Thanks to that driver, he/she understands.

I have been waiting to acquire a decent scroll saw for ten years. Previously, I used a Delta 16" two-speed scroll saw. That saw offered basic scroll saw capabilities; however, it was very inaccurate, with excessive blade side-to-side and front-to-back blade movement. It was **O.K.** but not great for delicate work. The DeWalt is a solid performer, with very little vibration (almost none, actually), very low noise, and a great tension adjuster that allows one to adjust tension while the machine is running. I also like the generous-sized table. The blades are relatively easy to change (it is just a bit of work to load the blade into the bottom blade holder--I just clamp the blade into the top holder, then load it into the bottom holder). The manual is not available at the DeWalt site--I had to visit one of their ServiceNet sites to download an exploded view of the machine. I am still not sure how to adjust the table position in relation to the blade--the side of the blade runs through the hole in the table very close to side of the hole. It would be nice to be able to adjust the blade so that it runs through the center of the hole!!! All-in-all, the machine is a joy to use. I would definitely recommend this scroll saw above any others even close to the price range. July 2008 UPDATE: Still performing very well! The first link of the blower hose did crack where it connects to the spherical connector. I just removed the broken link and microwaved the hose to get it warmed up; it popped right back on. Also, for those who want info on tuneups for this saw, go to this link: [...]

This is my first scroll saw. I like DeWalt tools and this one is of the quality I now expect. I did struggle with some aspects of it, though. First, attaching the table is not as easy as it looks. You push the table, which has a hole in its narrow end, onto a mating pin. The instructions tell you to push it all the way onto the pin, but when I did that, the holes mounting it onto the angle bevel would not line up. I had to nearly pull the table off its pin to get the screws in. And, being under the table, those screws are awkward to manipulate. Next, the assembly instructions advise you to insert the blades (the saw ships with two very small ones) into the slot in the bottom arm and then into the top arm. Again, working beneath the table is difficult. I ended up inserting the blade into the top arm first. Finally, I made the thoughtless mistake of following the herd. When I purchased this saw, I figured I would need blades, too. It is an Amazon feature to offer accessories (like blades) that you can include in your purchase. Presumably, those accessories were purchased by lots of other people (that's why they are there). So, I thoughtlessly added the blades I saw as accessories frequently purchased by people who purchased this saw. Lo and behold, they are the wrong blades! This saw requires plain end blades and the blades offered by Amazon as accessories for this saw have pins. They won't work. It was the first time that had happened to me. I guess now I will have to examine accessories presented by Amazon as routinely purchased by other people to see if they are actually appropriate for the item I want.

This is a gem of a machine. I bought this to replace an older *** saw that bounced all over the table and consistently dropped blades no matter how tight I secured them; the table was very small, making large projects difficult; blade changing was a real pain; it was very noisy... all of these things the Dewalt is not! It's quiet and just hums along as you push the material into its blade. With a bit of practice ( not much), blade change is easy and fast. The table is a large solid steel plate with a deep throat that easily accommodates large projects. Making small tight turns is easy, which was a real problem with my old saw. The tension adjustment is easy and right at hand with the off/on switch, making management of the tool convenient. The air blast tube is long, so you can use it from various directions or positions. Overall, I agree with the many online reviews claiming this unit to be one of the best, if not the best, scroll saw. Construction appears to be solid, well made and tight-fitting all around. It isn't cheap, but its well worth the cost.

Es una excelente máquina

構造がしっかりしているためか、重量が30ｋｇ近くありますが、評判通りに動静かで静かで、振動も非常に少なく大変満足しています。

綺麗な状態で予定通りに届きました。ずっと欲しかったので、こちらで購入出来て良かったです。ありがとうございました。

SIMPLEMENTE LA MEJOR SCROLL SAW QUE PUEDES COMPRAR EN MEXICO, LO MEJOR DE LO MEJOR