After a month getting to know the "green machine".(it's painted sort of a bright green), I like it.I Still have trouble getting to the lower blade chuck with my thick fingers but it holds the blade well. I've been using the t-handle hex wrench to get at it to loosen and tighten the lower blade chuck and that takes care of the problem. Doing fretwork isn't a problem - blade changing wise: Theupper blade chuck is pretty easy to work with so I just unhook the blade from the upper chuck,stickthe blade through the workpiece and re-chuck-up. I've gotten to the point I can do it rapidly. I finally just removed the hold down foot. I Really wasn't using it and I have better lines of sight without it I also re-oriented the blower tube and it keeps the cut line more visible.It's still notideal but it IS definitely better. I'm looking for an aquarium air pump which seems to be a pretty common fix to the blower situation. Woodcraft has a sale on an LCD work light in July (just got thesales flyer) and I think I'll order one to illuminate the workpiece well. The saw is reasonably quiet and there's not much vibration. Overall after some time with the saw, I am a happy camper. It's not a top of the line machine but it does very well for an entry-level machine. BTW I've been using Flying Dutchman TC (2-way cut) blades and am very pleased with their performance.