Features And Controls - DeWalt DCS781 Original Instructions Manual

Installing a Blade (Fig. A, G)
1. Remove battery pack from the saw.
3
2. Raise the saw head to the upper position and raise the lower guard
Place the blade on the spindle, following by the blade adaptor
39
washer 57 . Make sure to match arrow direction on blade with the arrow direction on
guard plate.
3. Depress the spindle lock button 36
the lock engages.
4. Using your finger, push back the blade bolt plate
head 40 .
5. Keeping the spindle lock button depressed and blade bolt plate pushed out of the way,
use the blade wrench 37 provided to firmly tighten the blade screw. (Turn anti‑clockwise,
left‑hand threads.)
Kerf Plate Replacement (Fig. A)
1. To remove the kerf plate 26 , remove the screws holding the kerf plate in place and
replace with a new one.
2. Assemble the screws back in by following this sequence: First through the round holes
located halfway from the ends, then through the slots at the ends. No adjustment
is necessary.
Mitre Scale Adjustment (Fig. A, H)
Unlock the mitre lock handle 7 and swing the mitre arm until the mitre latch
the 0 ° mitre position. Do not lock the mitre lock handle. Place a square against the saw's
fence and blade, as shown. (Do not touch the tips of the blade teeth with the square. To do
so will cause an inaccurate measure ment.) If the saw blade is not exactly perpendicular to
the fence , loosen the four mitre scale screws
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mitre lock handle and the scale left or right until the blade is perpendicular to the fence, as
measured with the square. Retighten the four screws. Pay no attention to the reading of the
mitre pointer at this time.
Mitre Pointer Adjustment (Fig. A)
Unlock the mitre lock handle 7 to move the mitre arm to the zero position. With the mitre
lock handle unlocked, squeeze the mitre detent latch
place as you rotate the mitre arm to zero. Observe the mitre pointer
shown in Figure A. If the pointer does not indicate exactly zero, loosen the mitre pointer
screw 27 holding the pointer in place, reposition the pointer and tighten the screw.
Bevel Square to Table (Fig. A, I, J)
To align the blade square to the table 18
down pin 19 . Place a square against the blade, ensuring the square is not on top of a tooth.
Loosen the bevel lock knob 13 and ensure the arm is firmly against the 0 ° bevel stop. Rotate
the 0 ° bevel adjustment screw 42 with the 6 mm blade wrench as necessary so that the
blade is at 0 ° bevel to the table.
Bevel Pointer (Fig. J)
If the bevel pointer does not indicate zero, loosen the screw
43
move the pointer as necessary. Ensure the 0 ° bevel is correct and the bevel pointers are set
before adjusting any other bevel angle screws.
Adjusting the Bevel Stop to 45 ° Left or Right (Fig. A, J)
To adjust the right 45 ° bevel angle, loosen the bevel lock knob
and rotate 90 ° to override the 0 ° bevel stop. When the saw is fully to the right, if the bevel
pointer does not indicate exactly 45 °, turn the left 45 ° bevel adjustment screw
6 mm blade wrench until the bevel pointer indicates 45 °.
To adjust the left 45 ° bevel stop, first loosen the bevel lock knob and tilt the head to the left. If
the bevel pointer does not indicate exactly 45 °, turn the right 45 ° bevel adjustment screw
until the bevel pointer 43 reads 45 °.
Adjusting the Bevel Stop to 22.5 ° (or 33.9 °)
nOTE: Adjust the bevel angles only after performing the 0 ° bevel angle and bevel
pointer adjustment.
• To set the left 22.5 ° bevel angle, flip out the left 22.5 ° bevel pawl
lock knob 13 and tilt the head fully to the left. If the bevel pointer does not indicate
exactly 22.5 °, turn the crown adjustment screw
wrench until the bevel pointer reads 22.5 °.
• To adjust the right 22.5 ° bevel angle, flip out the right 22.5 ° bevel pawl. Loosen the bevel
lock knob and pull the 0 ° bevel stop and rotate 90 degrees to override the 0 ° bevel stop.
When the saw is fully to the right, if the bevel pointer does not indicate exactly 22.5 °, turn
the crown adjustment screw contacting the pawl with a 10 mm wrench until the bevel
pointer indicates exactly 22.5 °.
Fence Adjustment (Fig. A)
In order that the saw can bevel to many bevel positions, one of the fences may have to be
adjusted to provide clearance. To adjust each fence, loosen the fence adjustment knob
and slide the fence outward. Make a dry run with the saw turned off and check for clearance.
Adjust the fence to be as close to the blade as practical to provide max imum workpiece
support, without interfering with arm up and down movement. Tighten the fence adjustment
knob securely. When the bevel operations are complete, don't forget to relocate the fence.
For certain cuts, it may be desirable to bring the fences closer to the blade. To use this feature,
back the fence adjustment knobs out two turns and move the fences closer to the blade past
6 as far as possible.
then outer clamp
59
while carefully rotating the saw blade by hand until
to gain access to blade bolt
38
8
that hold the mitre scale and move the
10
8 and allow the mitre latch to snap into
31 and mitre scale
, lock the arm in the down position with the lock
that holds it in place and
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13 and pull the 0 ° bevel stop
(Fig. A, J)
47 . Loosen the bevel
46 contacting the pawl with a 10 mm
the normal limit, then tighten the fence adjustment knobs to keep the fences in this location.
When using this feature, make a dry cut first to ensure the blade does not contact the fences.
nOTE: The tracks of the fences can become clogged with sawdust. If you notice that they are
becoming clogged, use a brush or some low pressure air to clear the guide grooves.
Guard Actuation and Visibility (Fig. A, Z)

CAUTION: Pinch Hazard. To reduce the risk of injury, keep thumb underneath the handle
when pulling the handle down. The lower guard will move up as the handle is pulled
down which could cause pinching.
The lower guard 6
the arm is brought down and to cover the blade when the arm is raised.
The guard can be raised by hand when installing or removing saw blades or for inspection of
the saw. NEVER RAISE THE LOWER GUARD MANUALLY UN LESS THE BLADE IS STOPPED.
nOTE: Certain special cuts of large material will require that you manually raise the guard.
Refer to Cutting large Material under Special Cuts.
The front section of the guard is louvered for visibility while cutting. Although the louvers
dramatically reduce flying debris, they are openings in the guard and safety glasses should be
worn at all times when viewing through the louvers.
Rail Guide Adjustment (Fig. A, F)
Periodically check the rails
rail set screw 33 shown in Figure F. To reduce clearance, use a 4 mm hex wrench and rotate
the rail set screw clockwise gradually while sliding the saw head back and forth. Reduce play
locks it at
while maintaining minimum slide force.
Mitre Lock Adjustment (Fig. A, K)
The mitre lock rod 48
mitre lock handle 7
in the unlocked (up) position. Using a slotted screwdriver, adjust the lock rod in 1/8 clockwise
turn increments to increase the lock force. To ensure the mitre lock is functioning properly,
re‑lock the mitre lock handle to a non‑detent mitre angle – for example , 34 ° ‑ and make sure
the table will not rotate.
Transporting the Saw (Fig. A)

9 WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, turn tool off, remove the
battery pack, and place lock lever in the transport position before transporting,
making any adjustments, cleaning, repairing, or removing/installing
attachments or accessories. An accidental start‑up can cause injury.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, ALWAYS lock the rail lock
knob 30 , mitre lock lever
adjustment knobs
In order to conveniently carry the mitre saw from place to place, a lifting handle
included on the top of the saw arm and hand indentations
Head Lock Knob (Fig. A)

WARNING: The head lock knob should be used ONLY when carrying or storing the
saw. NEVER use the headlock knob for any cutting operation.
To lock the saw head in the down position, push the head down, rotate head lock knob
90 ° and the spring loaded pin will lock in and release the saw head. This will hold the saw
head safely down for moving the saw from place to place.
To release, press the saw head down, pull out the head lock knob and rotate 90 °.

FEATURES AND CONTROLS


45 with the
WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, turn tool off, remove the
battery pack, and place lock lever in the transport position before transporting,
making any adjustments, cleaning, repairing, or removing/installing
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attachments or accessories. An accidental start‑up can cause injury.
Bevel Lock Knob (Fig. A)
The bevel lock knob
setting, turn the knob counterclockwise. The saw head bevels easily to the left or to the right
once in the 0 ° bevel override knob
bevel lock knob clockwise.
0 ° Bevel Override (Fig. A)
The bevel stop overrideallows you to bevel the saw to the right past the 0 ° mark.
When engaged, the saw will automatically stop at 0 ° when brought up from the left. To
temporarily move past 0 ° to the right, pull the 0 ° bevel stop
or counterclockwise) and let go for the spring loaded pin to lock in.
To return the bevel to 0 ° bevel stop, pull the bevel lock knob, rotate 90 ° (either clockwise or
counterclockwise) and let go for the spring loaded pin will lock in.
45 ° Bevel Stop Override (Fig. J)
There are two bevel stop override levers
left or right, past 45 °, push the 45 ° bevel override lever rearward. When in the rearward
position, the saw can bevel past these stops. When the 45 ° stops are needed, pull the 45 °
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bevel override lever forward.
Crown Bevel Pawls (Fig. J)
When cutting crown molding laying flat, your saw is equipped to accurately and rapidly set
a crown stop, left or right (refer to Instructions for Cutting Crown Molding Laying Flat
and Using the Compound Features). The crown bevel pawl
the crown adjustment screw
America (52/38), but can be reversed to cut non‑typical (45/45) crown. To reverse the crown
on your saw has been designed to automatically uncover the blade when
24 for any play or clearance. The right rail can be adjusted with the
should be adjusted if the table of the saw can be moved when the
is locked (down). To adjust the mitre lock
7 , bevel lock knob 13
, before transporting saw.
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allows you to bevel the saw 49 ° left or right. To adjust the bevel
13
28 is in the 0 ° bevel override position. To tighten, turn the
50 , one on each side of the saw. To bevel the saw,
46 . The saw is factory set to be used for typical crown in North
English
49 , put the mitre lock handle
, head lock knob 19 and fence
15 has been
in the base.
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19
, rotate 90 ° (either clockwise
28
51 can be rotated to contact
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