While Dan doesn’t like circular saws, I love them. Something about being able to rip through wood, the sound, the feel. Yeah I am a little weird, I guess you could say I have a saw fetish. When Dan told me we were going to do an overview of the Dewalt saw which is a 7-1/4″, I have to saw I was rather excited because the only saws I have are either cordless or wormdrive saws. Since this is an inline saw and Dan hates saws, I knew I was getting a new saw I could keep and use.
Before we get started lets cover two important topics about this saw. First this saw is a work horse for Dewalt. It has been around many years. I am not sure the first year of production for this model, but I do know it goes back at least to 2002. Second if you already own this model and your’s from 2002, you might have a recall. During 2002 the Dewalt DW368 was recalled for spindle slips. The second item to note is Dewalt has a couple of these saws available. There is also a DW368K has a case and has an electric brake.
As noted this saw has been a work horse for Dewalt. It is one of their most popular models. The saw weighs about 9.5 lbs. One thing this saw has is power. The motor is a 15 amp motor with a max watt output of 2,200. This motor moves the blade at 5,800 rpms. The guard and shoe are both made from Magnesium, so you get durability, but don’t add weight like steel would.
You can make bevel cuts on this saw up to 56 degrees with positive stops at 22.5 and 45. The max cutting depth of this saw is 2-3/8″ @ 90 and 1-3/4″ @ 45.
OK lets hit some of the cons to this saw. First no case. Sorry, but I like a case. I like having a place I can store my tools when not in use. I also like having my blades in one place. I like being able to move from a framing blade to plywood blade and knowing where I have them. Second is the brake. Just wish this version had an electronic brake. This saw because of the speed tends to say in motion a while after your finger is removed from the trigger. Another small con is the depth numbers are a little hard to see, but not to bad.
The saw ran through the plywood with no problems, It had good power and felt solid. We felt like we had a lot of control with the saw and didn’t have to worry about binding and kick backs. The guard has a nice design where we didn’t have any problems of it getting caught up on the wood, even during bevel cuts. The angle of the guard is very nice to help prevent this. Seeing the blade when making cuts was also good. We were able to make more accurate cuts, well at least we thought they were accurate. If you are looking for an in-line circular saw, the Dewalt DW368 has been a workhorse for Dewalt and won’t let you down.
