DeWalt DWE7491rs vs Bosch 4100-09

[wptski]

Other than revive a thread 2-3 years old, starting a new one.

I've read numerous posts about the crappy fence on the Bosch and many posts on Amazon which are recent about the table not being flat on the DeWalt.  One guy has had three purchased locally, all tables were bad so his forth was purchased from Amazon which isn't perfect with a low spot at the blade insert but then discovered that the fence was bowed but replaced by DeWalt.

Some have no problems with either saw.  Is this just bad QC where some are good, some are bad or is this expected for a job site class saw?

 

[jeh]

I have owned the Bosch 4100 and the fence is awful. The overall reviews are 4 1/2 stars, so I would completely ignore his review. He is probably someone who expects a portable tablesaw to be the same quality as a tablesaw with a cast iron top. Keep in mind that it is not a cast iron top so there is some potential for not being completely flat which means something different to everybody. His idea of not flat might have been 1/16" or1/32" of inch across the table.

I have the smaller version of the DeWalt tablesaw and have never had any issues with it. The fence alone makes it worth it. There is no portable tablesaw fence that can compare to it. The fence is fixed in place and the rails are geared to the base which when locked in place cannot move (deflect).

 

[rostyvyg]

I have a  DeWalt DWE7491rs for a year now. It is built to high tolerances, has plenty of power, the table and the fence are straight. Love the power switch (turns itself completely off on loss of power so that when power is restored the blade does not start spinning immediately). The fence system is the best out there, period. Would not trade it for anything else. BTW, bought it from HD, mail-order, - arrived via UPS, no damage in transport.

For someone with a shop in a garage where cars are kept this table saw is the best substitute for a stationary cabinet saw.

 

[wptski]

I have owned the Bosch 4100 and the fence is awful. The overall reviews are 4 1/2 stars, so I would completely ignore his review. He is probably someone who expects a portable tablesaw to be the same quality as a tablesaw with a cast iron top. Keep in mind that it is not a cast iron top so there is some potential for not being completely flat which means something different to everybody. His idea of not flat might have been 1/16" or1/32" of inch across the table.

I have the smaller version of the DeWalt tablesaw and have never had any issues with it. The fence alone makes it worth it. There is no portable tablesaw fence that can compare to it. The fence is fixed in place and the rails are geared to the base which when locked in place cannot move (deflect).

So what do you call not flat or out what/how much?

I remember some time ago reading one where the fence was rubbing on the table because of being out of flat, don't know how much that would have to be.

 

[Peter_C]

For someone with a shop in a garage where cars are kept this table saw is the best substitute for a stationary cabinet saw.

Here I would say the Mafell Erika is the best portable saw, with the Festool CMS being second. The CMS though also makes an awesome router table, which scores it major points. Both cost thousands of money pieces though.

The Bosch table saw works, especially since I only paid $426 out the door, but the fence does leave something to be desired. I used some scrap Corian to lengthen my fence (All portable saws have too small of a fence), and screwed a piece of Corian to the miter insert. The biggest issue with the Bosch is getting the fence straight. I've found the Woodpeckers square to come in very handy for helping with squareness. Where I really need the table saw is for longer thin rips, and small pieces for which a table saw sled is used and it works great for that. Dust collection is pretty sucky but a few modifications can help. Since I modified the fence the digital fence gauge is nice to have as it is accurate, and allows both imperial and metric measurements to be used.

I don't have enough experience with the Dewalt to really say anything, but people do seem to rave about the fences. The Ridgid on Super Sale is another option (Ridgid does off the best warranty).

Festool can fix the fence on a Bosch though
[attachimg=1]

This is the saw in travel mode. Almost everything gets stored on the saw, except I have a Ridgid box loaded with some of the accessories. On all the portable miter saws I have seen the miter fence needs to be lengthened, and a sled is the single most useful accessory. [attachimg=2]

 

[chrisrosenb]

I have a Bosch 4100 that I bought in mid December. I have been very happy with the the table saw, including the fence. I have never wished it had a different style of fence. The Bosch fence is not as nice as the Biesemeyer or Unifences on my shop Unisaws. But it is a 1000 times better than the fence on the old Porter Cable jobsite saw that the Bosch saw replaced.   

 

[nclemmons]

i have a DWE7491rs and my son liked it so much that he bought one.  It's a really nice saw for a job site style.  Neither had any quality problems.  Both had flat tables and straight fences.

Likes:
- Easy to setup/break down, really good power for a contractor saw.
- Power switch is readily available and easy to hit with your leg if you need to kill power quickly
- The stand is really sturdy.  It does take up a good floor footprint.  Saw stands about 36" high when in use.
- I've used it with the dado insert and blade as well as the standard blade and both work well.  I was surprised the standard blade cut as well as it does.
- It really rocks with a zero clearance insert and a cabinet blade, with amazing cuts.
- The fence is excellent and enables a 30" cut to the right of the blade.  That was a key consideration for me. 
- The rack and pinion extension really does work well and keeps the fence parallel to the blade. 
- They have done a nice job of enabling on-saw storage of accessories - riving knife, cord wrap, over blade guard, even wrenches. 
- It stores in an upright position and does not take up much room if that is a consideration in a garage or smaller shop.

I did adjust it for parallel and squareness following the youtube videos and owners manual.  I'd suggest you check it as both saws I've worked with needed some tweaking to deliver cabinet-grade quality.  As it ships, it's fine for more rough cutting, but it's dialed in now with excellent accuracy.

I have not used the Bosch 4100 but did consider it when purchasing.

Downsides
- dust collection is not great but probably pretty good for a job site saw.  I use it on my farm and grab a leaf blower to clean up.
- it includes an overarm dust port as well as an under saw dust port.  You'll need to make an adapter box if you want to connect both to your vacuum, which we did for my son and that enables top and bottom collection without the effort of finding a lot of extra hose fittings.
- the top has a painted finish on it that will wear over time.  Does not affect the performance but it does show wear.
- the included miter gauge is sub-par.  I'd plan to buy an Incra gauge if you go with this saw.  Probably consistent with any lower-end job site saw

Purchased from Amazon.  I'd buy one again. 

 

[jeh]

I have owned the Bosch 4100 and the fence is awful. The overall reviews are 4 1/2 stars, so I would completely ignore his review. He is probably someone who expects a portable tablesaw to be the same quality as a tablesaw with a cast iron top. Keep in mind that it is not a cast iron top so there is some potential for not being completely flat which means something different to everybody. His idea of not flat might have been 1/16" or1/32" of inch across the table.

I have the smaller version of the DeWalt tablesaw and have never had any issues with it. The fence alone makes it worth it. There is no portable tablesaw fence that can compare to it. The fence is fixed in place and the rails are geared to the base which when locked in place cannot move (deflect).

So what do you call not flat or out what/how much?

I remember some time ago reading one where the fence was rubbing on the table because of being out of flat, don't know how much that would have to be.

Agree on the rubbing that is probably that flat enough.

 

[jeh]

Here I would say the Mafell Erika is the best portable saw, with the Festool CMS being second. The CMS though also makes an awesome router table, which scores it major points. Both cost thousands of money pieces though.

Agree on the Mafell Erika, but price wise a cheaper portable tablesaw and decent cabinet saw for the shop would be a better use of funds. The CMS tablesaw module is a jury rig at best unless you have a dedicated saw for it. It would be far better to buy a dedicate portable table saw. I think even the smallest ones have more table space. The smaller tablesaws can be setup in less than a minute which is a lot quicker than futzing the CMS module.

 

[wptski]

I did some research and found out that PowerMatic table saw's specs are within 0.010".  How does that play when one is using a square against the saw blade?

I have a Bosch 10" Glide miter saw which I have to square the blade on the right side, not the left side to produce a square cut.  Cuts from the right side are a bit off but not as bad as from the right were.  Here's a split picture showing both sides using a Starrett solid square.

 

[wptski]

How is the squareness to the blade adjusted on either table saw?  Looked at both today at Lowe's and really didn't see four fasteners like that's on a large cabinet table saw.  I assume the whole motor/gearbox must be moved??

 

[nclemmons]

How is the squareness to the blade adjusted on either table saw?  Looked at both today at Lowe's and really didn't see four fasteners like that's on a large cabinet table saw.  I assume the whole motor/gearbox must be moved??

On the Dewalt, blade adjustment to be square to the miter slots is under the table with four bolts as I recall.  I seem to recall they are allen head.  Fence is adjusted to be square to the blade/slots with two bolts on the rack and pinion rails.  Blade squareness to the table (90 degrees) uses a rotating cam and screw.

I found all the adjustments to be really easy.

 

[wptski]

On the Dewalt, blade adjustment to be square to the miter slots is under the table with four bolts as I recall.  I seem to recall they are allen head.  Fence is adjusted to be square to the blade/slots with two bolts on the rack and pinion rails.  Blade squareness to the table (90 degrees) uses a rotating cam and screw.

I found all the adjustments to be really easy.

Thanks!  Found two posts on DeWalt's site about out of flatness on the table.  They mentioned squaring the blade to the table from one side but on the other side it was off.  There is way too many of these reports to be ignored.

 

[wptski]

I ended up buying a DeWalt DWE7491RS today as there is a current drop in price.  Like mentioned above and some others have found, the table isn't flat near the throat plate more so on the right.  Square the blade on left and the right side is way off.  The throat plate is sprung as well.

A 3" and 12" Wixey digital protractors show the right side off .8 degree but is this considered within specs for this class of table saw?? [unsure]

At this point I'm undecided if I should return this and try another.

 

[jeh]

The rack and pinion fence put the DeWalt ahead of every other portable tablesaw. Considering the price a deviation of .3 or less is reasonable, but not so much on .8, which is enough that in some cases you would have square up the edge to 90 degrees before you use the left over for something else and end up with a whole bunch of lumber that is close to 1 degree off. Ok for rough work, but not for trim. As for the people writing Amazon reviews there will always be outliers who are never satisfied and who use the reviews as a way to show off.

 

[wptski]

On the Dewalt, blade adjustment to be square to the miter slots is under the table with four bolts as I recall.  I seem to recall they are allen head.  Fence is adjusted to be square to the blade/slots with two bolts on the rack and pinion rails.  Blade squareness to the table (90 degrees) uses a rotating cam and screw.

I found all the adjustments to be really easy.

Yes, four Allen heads screws hold the trunnion in place, not mentioned in manual unless I missed it.  I wouldn't call that part easy though!  First forgot to loosen the blade bevel lock which keeps one side from moving plus one must push/pull on mounting bracket as any place else, blade will swivel/tilt.  Not mentioned in many videos is to check miter slot to blade at 45 degrees where table/trunnion may need to be shimmed up but luckily that check was good for me.

Must now prefab dust collection adapter for dual ports of different sizes.

 

[wptski]

The rack and pinion fence put the DeWalt ahead of every other portable tablesaw. Considering the price a deviation of .3 or less is reasonable, but not so much on .8, which is enough that in some cases you would have square up the edge to 90 degrees before you use the left over for something else and end up with a whole bunch of lumber that is close to 1 degree off. Ok for rough work, but not for trim. As for the people writing Amazon reviews there will always be outliers who are never satisfied and who use the reviews as a way to show off.

After tweaking all, down to .5 degrees off on right side of the blade.