Yesterday, the grotty little Trend T3 I've been using as my 1/4" machine became too much to put up with - the final straw was the idiot spring inside the collet assembly firing out a rebate cutter into my thumb as I struggled with the two spanners necessary to tighten the thing - and I decided it was time for a replacement. After a certain amount of research, I decided on the DeWalt - the choice finally coming down to the innovative dust extractor.
Got one from Jewson - who very sportingly agreed to match the Axminster sale price - and I am very impressed. The extraction through the vertical slider bar makes the cutting process far more easy to see (especially when the inner disc of plastic is removed, which is no impediment to the extraction as far as I can tell). The spindle locking button is conveniently located above the spindle (which might make it harder in a table - but I have a 1/2" Trend T11 mounted permanently in the table anyway); the soft start really does live up to its name - the machine does not move a fraction when spooling up. My only quibble is the safety catch on the on switch; not really necessary for the experienced user, though of course being American and a new machine, perhaps they are afraid of being sued by Reg Prescott (or more likely Bubba-Joe Prescott III, Jr.).
I haven't used the fence yet, but it's a fairly standard micro-adjuster mechanism, though quite long and faced with some low-friction plastic. The plunge depth adjuster has the standard three-stop pre-setting base, and the dial seems reasonably sturdy. The general build quality is good, it has a solid and smooth feel to it. It isn't going to put Festool out of business, but for £200 it's as good as I hoped.
Got one from Jewson - who very sportingly agreed to match the Axminster sale price - and I am very impressed. The extraction through the vertical slider bar makes the cutting process far more easy to see (especially when the inner disc of plastic is removed, which is no impediment to the extraction as far as I can tell). The spindle locking button is conveniently located above the spindle (which might make it harder in a table - but I have a 1/2" Trend T11 mounted permanently in the table anyway); the soft start really does live up to its name - the machine does not move a fraction when spooling up. My only quibble is the safety catch on the on switch; not really necessary for the experienced user, though of course being American and a new machine, perhaps they are afraid of being sued by Reg Prescott (or more likely Bubba-Joe Prescott III, Jr.).
I haven't used the fence yet, but it's a fairly standard micro-adjuster mechanism, though quite long and faced with some low-friction plastic. The plunge depth adjuster has the standard three-stop pre-setting base, and the dial seems reasonably sturdy. The general build quality is good, it has a solid and smooth feel to it. It isn't going to put Festool out of business, but for £200 it's as good as I hoped.
