Classic Saw?

In the world of cars or furniture new doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’s an accepted fact that an older model can turn into a ‘classic’. That will mean it is worth more than it originally cost or would cost to replace with new. The same, oddly enough, is true in the world of mitre saws. And that brings me to a very special cordless saw – DeWalt’s legendary compound cordless – the DW017.

Think of an Aston Martin DB7 for a moment, or a finely drawn Queen Anne dressing table… think of all those things which, in their field, are simply a cut above the rest. You have the DW017. Only, to be more accurate, you haven’t – because they stopped making them.

If you want one you need to go on eBay. This saw is so brilliant, so useful, so powerful that bashed up four year old models are, right now, making significantly more money than they were originally sold for. All across the country chippies cannot get hold of these work-beasts. It’s cordless, but it has still got guts. You can’t break it. If the broad-shouldered woodsmen who tamed the Canadian Rockies could have selected just one thing to bring back in time for their log cabins, it would be this. You can mitre on the top of a roof with it, you could work in a rainforest, in a desert, on Antarctica. The 017 is a classic, and they discontinued it.

In itself, that’s interesting. But it’s the reason behind what’s happened which is really interesting. DeWalt – massive, awesome, power tool-tastic DeWalt – lost their bottle. A few years ago, when the budget models were coming out cheaper and cheaper and cheaper they wobbled. They looked at their manufacturing costs, and they made things worse. Sorry, but that’s the accepted wisdom. Stuff got cheaper, because it got worse.

The same thing happened at about the same time to Mercedes, where the C class models suddenly started breaking down all the time, although they left the E class alone. It’s natural enough, but it must be ghastly, it must be gutting for them, to know that they have been found out. All they need to do is look on eBay and there it is – staring them in the face. Their customers know that it’s better to fork out for a four year old, second hand, scratched and soiled decent mitre saw, than a shiny new one that isn’t as good.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Come on DeWalt – you’re one of the big boys. Professionals look to you to deliver high quality machines, not cheap ones. Have the courage to get your original compound cordless mitre saw back on the market.