DEWALT DW682K Biscuit Joiner, 6.5 Amp - Corded

I replaced all our home's windows and so had to build all new window casings. My house has 13 windows, but I built casings for only 12 because we're remodeling that last room. Each window has four corners requiring 2 cuts each corner. So I made 12 times 4 times 2 cuts. That's 96 cuts not including test cuts when I set the thing up. It's made a horrible racket since the first time I pulled the trigger, but it's the first biscuit cutter I've owned so I assumed that was normal. WRONG ! But it worked great for me and I made every casing totally without incident. I was completely happy. After several other unrelated projects I dusted it off to make some decorative panels. It made the usual racket for the first 2 cuts then the blade stopped turning with the motor. The motor sounded fine and the blade spins, but not with the motor. I took it apart and found the large bevel gear was half stripped. Half stripped after less than 100 cuts. Obviously I was shipped a unit with a defective gear right up front. Thus all the noise. The gear appears to be made of less than metal although it is magnetic. I'd guess some kind of pressed metallic stuff. Apparently this is a problem because most online sources are saying the replacement part - the entire case with the gear pressed in - is "out of stock". I bet. The tool is out of warranty, but I called DeWalt anyway to see what they'll do for me. After a long wait (with highly over-amped noise some might call music), giving all my information, being placed on hold several times (oh yay - more "music") I was promised an email that I could submit a warranty claim providing a copy of my receipt. It's been over half an hour since we hung up. No email yet. They have my information. I registered the thing when I bought it. I offered him my serial# so he look it up. He didn't want it. I'll update this if/when I see what happens. UPDATE: After several hours of calls/chats I finally finished a warranty process. The person gave me an order# and confirmed to me that although the replacement part is out of stock (with an expected date of "00/00/0000") I can expect it to ship within 8 to 10 business days. We will see. Then I will update this post again. I might even give them a star. UPDATE (Part Deux): I unexpectedly received a delivery today from DeWalt. Yup. They didn't just send me a replacement part. They sent me an entire new jointer (and carrying bag) ! I guess I should have expected that since we live in a throw away economy, but I was surprised none the less. Of course the first thing I did was open the box, plug it in and give it a spin. Clearly my original unit was trash from the start. This one sounds so much better. I told my daughter about the replacement jointer and she said I could now sell the old one and let someone else figure how to get the replacement part. I told her "No way". I'm keeping this one for parts since it's exactly the same as my old one. She accused me of being a hoarder. Fair enough. But I come from a time when we t least attempted to fix things before we threw them away. Plus I have entire shop to keep it in. (The land of the misfit tools !) So I changed the title and upped the stars to 4. If I had received non-defective unit from the start I would have given them 5 stars. I really do like this tool. Now I'm gonna head out to the shop, check that it's square, set it up for the cuts I need to make in the current (interrupted) project and get back to it. I'm happy with my choice of DeWalt again. UPDATE (Part III) What a difference ! This tool is great ! It cuts clean and fast. I've only used it for a few dozen cuts, but it's way better than I expected having dealt with the first unit. I'm so happy I changed my 4 stars to 5.