DW788 Made in Canada and China

[azbison]

In another thread I mentioned how I got a DW788 saw. I checked the label and sure enough the saw was made in Canada, not China. When did the manufacturing move and what maintenance things should I be looking to do?

Any advice from the 788 experts would be welcome.

[lucky788scroller]

Congrats on getting a Type 1 saw.The Canada made ones are the preferred ones, even though pretty much all of the bugs are worked out of the manufacturing of the Type 2 saws. All of mine are Type 1 saws, and havent really did much in the way of maintenance on them. I do have to sand the end of a blade clamp screw periodically, and on one of the switches I have a connection thats really touchy, and have had to reconnect it twice, but otherwise, just dust it off ocasionally, and good to go! Oh, yes! One thing, after you get all the rust off the tabletop, clean the top surface good with mineral spirits, then clean it with rubbing alcohol, and apply a coat of Johnsons paste Wax on the tabletop.Then every now and then, rewax it to heep it looking good. Happy scrolling. Dale

[azbison]

Thanks, THe first thing I did when I brought it home was hit the table top with 220 grit sandpaper on a palm sander, wipe it off, hit it with mineral spirits, and then went to the paste wax. Things are sliding like a champ.

[Ramjet]

Hi Dale . How do you tell the difference between type 1 and 2 ? I have to sand the top blade clamp also and keep adjusting blade tension . Roger

[lucky788scroller]

o the motor it should say type 1 or type 2. Also, the numbers stamped on the label right after the serial number will tell you the month and year the saw was produced.Odd thing, sometimes the year comes before the month, sometimes the month comes first.Dale

[Janette]

Originally Posted by lucky788scroller

o the motor it should say type 1 or type 2. Also, the numbers stamped on the label right after the serial number will tell you the month and year the saw was produced.Odd thing, sometimes the year comes before the month, sometimes the month comes first.Dale

Probably because in Canada it's common to put the day first then the month.

I have trouble with the blade slipping too. I sanded the clamp thingy a few times and finally ordered a couple new ones last week Should be here any day now. They're inexpensive and I figure it's a good idea to have a couple on hand.

[Ramjet]

Hi Jannette .
I looked at my Dewalt and it is a type one manufactured SQ 21 01 . Not sure what the SQ stands for . I'm wondering if the blade slippage is sypmtamatic with that year / model or month ? Would Dewalt have the answer ? Roger

[lucky788scroller]

My blade slipping problem is caused by use. After tightening them a gazillion and three times the steel gets work hardened.No biggy, just sand it a little bit and its good again for a while. Dale

[Daryl185]

as everyone above has mentioned, the DeWalt needs little maintenance just basic common sence cleaning, keep dust out of the switch I vacume my saw after each session, I also keep a piece of 220 grit sand paper close by to sand my clamps I also go one step further and sand the ends of each blade as I use them, I seldomely have blade slippage, as for the table top I live in Florida where humidity is quite a problem and I find I am sanding my table at least once a month and polishing it