Godet Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 I'm fairly new to the woodworking world, but love every minute I spend in my shop. Lately, though, it seems I spend more and more time fixing mistakes...all part of the learning process, I suppose. Anyway, I have a Makita 12" compound, sliding miter saw. It works great, but too often, it seems, my cuts are just not square. Despite careful attention to making sure the boards are jointed and fully flush with the fence on the saw, wide boards (10+ inches) will sometimes be as much as 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch out of square. Should I just plan on this and make cuts knowing I'll be spending time with the shooting board? Is there a way to adjust the fence on the saw I just haven't found? Or, am I just a silly noob missing a simple solution? Any help is greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 This seems like quite a bit of error to adjust for. It sounds like you need to make some adjustments on your saw. Make sure you have a good square, then get your owners manual and go through all the steps it gives for aligning your saw. You should be able to get it spot on square. If you are still having difficulites give there support number a call, they maybe bable to assist you further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 On my DeWalt CMS, you don't align the fence, you align the plate that has the V's that lock the blade into 90, 45, etc. Like Mike said, find the manual and figure out how to adjust yours. A good way to test is to make a 90 cut, flip one side over, put the two pieces together and compare with a straight edge. If the cut was 1/2 degree off, you'll have a 1 degree bend, so it's easy to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godet Posted September 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 Thanks, guys. I just spent some time with the manual and the saw...I think I've got it lined-up. Seems to be the same type of mechanism you described with the DeWalt...I'll try your testing method in the morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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