Portable Tablesaw (Dewalt vs Bosch)

[John1102]

I am needing to purchase a portable table saw and wondered what some of the FOG owners have used and would recommend.  I have a festool TS55 tracksaw so this will be a compliment to that tool. 

I have narrowed my choices down to the Dewalt DW745 (compact) and the Bosch 4100-09 (w/stand).  Of these two choices what would you recommend and why.  Thanks !

 

[afish]

I love my Bosch table saw for what it is.  The stand is great too Ive had both for probably a good 10 years not a lick of trouble from either its actually the only Bosch tool I own and everything else is dewalt as far as "construction" tools.  It will never be a Unisaw but its my jobsite/portable saw.  I havent looked at that class of saw in a long time so I dont know if there is anything better now but if I had to replace it tomorrow it would be #1 on my list.

 

[Martin Johnson]

I'm with afish...I love the Bosch...put a freud 80 tooth blade on it, and have another for ripping...never been a fan of combination blades...good, but not great at either.

Haven't tried the sawstop portable...Festool bought them, so I suspect it will be good....might want to check that one as well...especially if you have any concerns about losing a finger.

 

[pixelated]

I too have the Bosch, and mine is probably 10 years old, or so, as well. It's done everything I've needed it to do. The gravity stand works quite well, though I currently have mine set up on a stand I made to save some space, and sized to accommodate a CT26 under the saw.
A lot of people prefer the DeWalt because of the micro-adjust fence. Back when I was shopping for it, I chose the Bosch because of the availability of a dado throat plate, there is also a zero-clearance throat plate available.
I think that performance-wise they are near equals, so it may boil down to which one you think is the easiest to work with. I like the guard on the Bosch, it's very easy to work with and is almost never "in the way". The major thing I don't like about mine is that the top is aluminum, so there is no easy way to use things like a magnetic featherboard. But that's true for all of the small jobsite saws.

 

[Cheese]

I have a Bosch 4000 (basically the same as the 4100) that I purchased 14 years ago. Works great, I like the fence a lot as it locks squarely in place. I use it with a Forrest cross cut, Forrest rip & a Forrest dado along with a Forrest blade dampener. I also use Leecraft ZC inserts on the saw. I'd purchase it again, it has plenty of power especially using the Forrest narrow kerf blades.

 

[rst]

Just to throw an alternative into the discussion, I recently bought the Metabo 36/18 and it is great.  First real test was splitting twelve 2x6 for purlins.  When I bought it I got a free battery and the power transformer.  I bought a charger and two battery combo and a two battery set at a great price off Amazon.  So when I was ripping I thought I would try out the transformer.  Trouble soon showed up as I was running the tranny off my Honda 2200 generator which immediately tripped.  No wonder as the tranny was rated at 25 amp!!  Went back to battery power and finished off the job.  I traded out batteries before they drained to keep the heat down and finished with two batteries with power left.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I traded out batteries before they drained to keep the heat down and finished with two batteries with power left.

How many cuts can you make with one battery?

 

[Svar]

Trouble soon showed up as I was running the tranny off my Honda 2200 generator which immediately tripped.  No wonder as the tranny was rated at 25 amp!!  Went back to battery power and finished off the job. 

I'm confused. Are you suggesting that the saw pulls up to 25 amp at 120V through its transformer? Hence, it can't run from a regular 15 amp outlet?

 

[rst]

I haven't tried it on regular current, I do not have power to my building yet.  As far as how many cuts...I did not track that either...just tring to get done.

 

[mkasdin]

I’ve had my Bosch 4100-10 for three years. I’m buying the sawstop jobsite pro and selling my Bosch. It was a good investment when I paid $400. Currently at $600 it’s not a buy. The Dewalt is fine for casual rips. The Bosch has a better motor. The fence is a bit of a kludge on the lower end saws. The Bosch is only slightly better, but in no way perfect. Your not building kitchen cabinets with it as a contractor or getting professional results. It will except a full kerf blade and you can get a zero tolerance insert and add a Forrest 5” stiffener. I installed a 80 tooth Crosscut Freud premier fusion,  their knock-off of the Forrest blade - wood worker 2.

 

[John1102]

Looks like Bosch users are pretty happy.  Thanks for the input, I think I will try to find an online sale in the future for that saw. 

 

[jeh]

I have the Dewalt DCS7485B FlexVolt 60V MAX and am very satisfied with it. Of course it is not suitable for ripping large sheets of plywood, but for smaller stuff it works great. I have a SawStop in the shop, but that does not travel well.

I had to revise this post to add that they Dewalt fence cannot be beat. The gear mechanism controlled by hand is a very creative design. I think it is on all of their tablesaws. The Bosch fence (I had a 4100 and the smaller model) leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Svar]

I had to revise this post to add that they Dewalt fence cannot be beat. The gear mechanism controlled by hand is a very creative design. I think it is on all of their tablesaws. The Bosch fence (I had a 4100 and the smaller model) leaves a lot to be desired.

That is a good point. For a traditional T-style fence to work well it has to be massive. Hence, on portable saws t-fences are all junk because of weight compromises. Dewalt found a great solution - rack and pinion on both sides.
Lately Metabo and Milwaukee started to install rack and pinion fence same as Dewalt. Probably the patent has expired.

 

[Lbob131]

I have  the Metabo  TS  254.  240 volt.  And  wouldn't change  it  for  anything.
The  folding  legs  are  what  sold  it  for  me. Sturdy, strong  and  compact  when  folded  up.
And  wheels  along  like  a suitcase.
Its a saw  and  stand  all in one  package.

 

[rst]

The Metabo also have very accurate rack and pinion gear fences

 

[Peter_C]

I have a Bosch 4100, and am not a fan of it. The stand is one of the best on the market, but the fence absolutely sucks! Very easy to cock the fence just a little sideways. My friend has one too, so it is not just mine. The fence isn't long enough but none of the portable saws are, but a piece of aluminum extrusion can fix the length issue. Power is good, the miter attachment is easily upgraded with a piece of Corian or wood. The collapsing extensions are nice to have. A small portable sled works great on it. The digital gauge is okay as it can swap from standard to metric easily, but once it turns off you can't move the fence without first turning it back on, or it looses it's zero setup. Wished the digital gauge stayed on for 20 minutes before auto cycling off (It's battery powered).

For site work I would be taking a hard look at the cordless Milwaukee tablesaw. The Dewalt fence is positively raved about.

Awhile ago I started using a TS75 in a CMS insert with a sliding table. It is okay, but not even close to a cabinet saw.

 

[jeh]

I had to revise this post to add that they Dewalt fence cannot be beat. The gear mechanism controlled by hand is a very creative design. I think it is on all of their tablesaws. The Bosch fence (I had a 4100 and the smaller model) leaves a lot to be desired.

That is a good point. For a traditional T-style fence to work well it has to be massive. Hence, on portable saws t-fences are all junk because of weight compromises. Dewalt found a great solution - rack and pinion on both sides.
Lately Metabo and Milwaukee started to install rack and pinion fence same as Dewalt. Probably the patent has expired.

I have not see the Metabo, but did see the Milwaukee and it is all close enough to the Dewalt to be called a copycat. Probably assembled using the same parts as the Dewalt or possibly in the same factory. Does not matter because they both now have great fences.

 

[rst]

Another thing to note is that the Metabo has a 10" blade and can take a dado blade, also has the larges table available and can use astadard miter gauge although the included gauge is a joke