I just got the heads-up that in July Woodcraft is going to be offering my favorite scroll saw, the DeWalt DW788, for a couple hundred dollars off their regular price!
This blog (short for Web Log) features links to DeWalt woodworking tools and items that are related to DeWalt tools which are for sale on the web.
There have been quite a number of changes in the woodworking power tool industry in recent years, but perhaps the biggest change has been experienced by the folks who make the Delta line of tools. Started as the Delta Specialty Company in 1919 by the original designer of their tool line, Mr. Herbert Tautz. Mr. Tautz is credited with inventing the world’s first motorized scroll saw. The Delta Specialty Company grew and introduced such advanced tools as the Uni-Saw, as well as the ground-breaking publication for DIY woodworkers; DeltaGram. In the 1940’s Delta was purchased by Rockwell Manufacturing, and expanded to include industrial tools that were used to help build the USA’s was machine. In the early 1980’s Pentair purchased Delta (and Porter-Cable) from Rockwell and until the late 1990’s when they were merged they were run as two separate companies. In 2005 Delta was purchased by Black and Decker, who had purchased DeWalt many years earlier. Somewhere around this time Stanley Tool Works acquired Black and Decker and after a short time in 2011 sold off the Delta brand and most of the patents of the Delta and even some of the DeWalt line to a Taiwanese company, Chang Type Industrial Co., Ltd. Chang Type formed the company “DELTA Power Equipment Corporation” (AKA: DELTA PEC)
DeWalt and Porter-Cable (Both manufactured by B&D) recently introduced similar compact router sets. The motor is slightly larger than a traditional trim router, but what you get for the extra girth is a height adjustment that is second to none.
Another advantage of this unit wasn't obvious from a study of the manual: It's ambidextrous. The two access doors swing open on both the right and the left. Likewise, as you can see from the bottom photo, the lever handle can be mounted left or right. With the switchbox on the left I thought there might be a problem using it on the left, but nope, she worked just fine. 
The thing that really surprised me was that it comes with a full set of four chisels and bits and the mortiser has a full 5" depth of cut! Seeing this made me curious, so I measured my PowerMatic and learned that while it has a 6" stroke, all of my chisels are 5" long! 
The DeWalt DW788 20" Variable Speed Scroll Saw was the 17th scroll saw that my wife and I purchased! We’ve owned several Delta 16”, and C-Arm saws; Several Shopsmith 20” scroll saws, a Hegner 14” and even a couple pieces of trash from Dremel, Skill and Craftsman.
Around 1991 I was asked by my former employer Shopsmith, to spend a couple days in their lab testing a dozen saws. They were about to introduce a major improvement in their scroll saw and wanted an impartial opinion. This was the first time I had the opportunity to use an Excalibur scroll saw, which was made in 
on Amazon.com.
The DeWalt 13" DW735 Heavy-Duty 13-Inch Portable Planer is available for less than $700 and has features that rival stationary planers in a semi-portable design. I'll blog a bit more about this, but for now if you are in the market for an excellent planer at a great price, take a look at the DW735 at Tool King. Click the link below and search "DW735".
on Amazon.com
I was out of town last week, and because I had a heads-up from ToolKing that the planer would likely arrive on Tuesday I hung-around the house as long as I could; but eventually I had to get on the road, so off I went. Of course I was half way to Atlanta when my bride called to tell me that the UPS guy just left a HUGE box on the porch. The good news is that DeWalt packs their reconditioned tools in plain brown boxes with only a subtle DeWalt label, so it was able to rest safely on the porch until our son-in-law Nathan was able to stop by and move it to the garage. This sucker weighs-in at just a hair under 100lbs, so keep delivery in mind when you order yours.
Yes, I know this is a reconditioned tool, but wouldn’t you think that DeWalt would have ponied-up for a new nameplate if the original was damaged? I mean, seriously. They spend tens of thousands of dollars building brand recognition in that one name, and here it is, huge and prominent on the top of the plainer and it looks like a 9 year old boy touched it with his teenage sister’s Goth toenail polish!
After hanging around the house with the family all day I finally had to break-out and head to the shop. My shop is about a mile down the road in an old building that I rent just for woodworking and pipe smoking. I just had to get the planer out of the box, but before I could actually use it I knew it would need a stand. I had some 2x4's hanging around, so for now I figure they would do the job. After a few measurements, the chopsaw and Kreg jig made quick work of a simple stand. Probably the most unexpected thing about the measurements is the fact the the planer is wider than it is long. The stand is 21" wide, 15" deep and 32" tall. Depending on what I ultimately decide to do with the stand, if I end up planing anything long with it I will need to add some feet on the sides to extend the footprint a bit forward and back. the planer is almost 100lbs, so it might be overkill, but why chance it.
I worked for Shopsmith many years ago and it was there that I learned that tools that were returned with any amount of use on them at all could only be resold as "reconditioned", or as a "Demo" if it had actually been used in-house for demos. They would take the tools into a special section of the factory where a couple of the most experienced workers would give them the once-over. Labels, manuals and guards were always replaced, and once they got done with them they were literally better than new.
So how do you know if a tool that is for sale on eBay is reconditioned? Most tool manufacturers will add the letter "R" somewhere in the model number to let you know that the tool is reconditioned. I've talked to a number of people over the years who unwittingly wound-up with a reconditioned tool because the model # was the only place in the description that even hinted at the tool's origins. Yeah, I think we can all agree that that's bad form. In the case of DeWalt tools they not only add the "R" to the model #, but they even go to the added step of branding the tool with a permanent "R" somewhere prominently on the tool. The top photo is of the "R" on my new DW735R planer, while the lower photo is from my DW788R DeWalt scrollsaw. Note that I added the red ring on the planer photo to make the letter stand out.
