Dremel Chain Saw Sharpening Attachment Kit #1453
SUMMARY: Does a great job fast and easily once you figure it out. But directions are confusing.
Having just ordered a new wood stove with plans of heating my house, I was out on my tree covered property cutting up dead or fallen trees. I have had the chain saw for a year or two and have never sharpened it. But as I was using yesterday, it was cutting kind of slowly, and seeming to burn the wood some instead of cutting it. I had bought the attachment for my Dremel tool a while back, but have never used it. I had never even opened it. So last night I decided to give it a try. I have never sharpened a chain saw before so I had no clue what I doing. The instructions that came with the attachment were a single double sided page. The instructions were difficult to follow. It would have benefitted to have more pictures, and maybe more and simpler instructions for those of us who have never sharpened a chain saw before (I put my own instructions online with pictures here). The kit includes three different size sharpening stones, two spacers, a gauge, and a tool. All of this can be confusing.
I went through the instructions, put the attachment together and proceded to sharpen my chain saw. I took it out and try to cut some wood, but it didn’t seem to cut any faster. I bought the saw in and went though the instructions again, and found I missed some instructions. I had been sharpening the wrong part of the teeth. I found I needed to adjust the attachment sharpen the inside part of the teeth. I wasn’t sure which stone to use. I did a google search, and thought I needed the pink 3/8ths inch stone, but it wouldn’t fit on the inside of the teeth. On the other hand, the orange .325 stone fit perfectly, so I figured that was the one I need. I put the attachment together. I adjusted the attachment using the little gauge that came with the kit. I set about sharpening the saw teeth again. It took only a minute to sharpen all the teeth. This morning I took my chain saw out, and I was cutting through 18 inch logs in seconds. Awesome!
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Dewalt DW703 Heavy Duty 10″ Compound Miter Saw
SUMMARY: Kicks butt over a miter box!
I have been using a miter box, but lets face it, a miter box sucks! I needed to cut dowels with nearly perfectly flat ends. The miter box wasn’t working worth a snot. The regular saw that came with it did a lousy job. I switched over, and started using a hacksaw which gave me cleaner cuts, but still not straight. I was looking at the Delta unit which was half the cost, but after reading reviews, I decided to spend a little more…okay twice as much, and get a better tool. I love this thing! Lots of power, and nice clean cuts. If I lower the saw slowly, I get reasonbly clean cuts with the stock blade. Love it, and I am sure I am going to get a ton of use out it! GOTTA LOVE DEWALT TOOLS!
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Dewalt DW756 6 inch Heavy Duty Bench Grinder
SUMMARY: Loads of power! Wish it had a light though.
This grinder is great! I just love Dewalt tools! I was very suprised how heavy it was when it came. I got a Dewalt compound miter saw the same day, and this was heavier! I have been grinding steel bolts, and it does a great job. The sparks are flying, and the little shields work great. Makes quick work of the grinding. I was considering a Delta unit but decided I would pay just a little more get a much better quality tool, with more power! Well worth it. I wish it had a work light though. And steel tool rests might have been nice too.
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DeWalt DW680K 3-1/4 inch Heavy-Duty Planer
SUMMARY: This thing really sends the shavings flying!
I bought this planer with a couple projects in mind. The first was build a stand for my lathe. The second was for remove the stain from the beams in my house. It worked great for flatening the edges in the 2x6s and 2x10s that I had laminated. I haven’t yet tried it on the beams. It removes wood so quickly that I am almost hesitant to try it. I have been using belt sanders with 50 grit sandpaper belts. If I do try this planer on the beams, it will be on the lowest setting to start with. I still can’t believe how fast it can shave wood. It didn’t even slow down. Within minutes it created a mound of shavings that filled my Shop Vac. DeWalt makes a dust catcher for it, but I can’t imagine it would be very useful as it seems it would get filled in no time. And like all the DeWalt tools I have bought, it is very solid. If you are looking for a power planer, this is a good one.
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