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Miter Saw Tune-Up

If your miters aren’t as tight as they used to be, here’s how to get your saw singing on pitch again!

Every carpenter should know that when you buy a new chisel or hand plane it’s not razor sharp out of the box — you have to sharpen it before using it. Well, the same is true for miter saws. They don’t come from the factory in perfect tune.

Besides, after you’ve dragged your saw in and out of the truck a few dozen times, or jammed heavy stock against the fence, or maybe even had it flip off the back of a saw stand — or a tailgate — all those precise adjustments can get seriously out of whack. If you’ve noticed joints not quite closing up for you lately, it’s probably time to tune up your saw. Here are a few tricks to get that big investment dialed in just right.

Blade considerations

Setting up a saw properly isn’t possible with a dull or bent blade. Deal with that first. If you don’t have a fresh blade, get a new one and install it before going any further. But which blade should you buy?

Do not use the same blade in your miter saw that you use in your table saw. Ripping and crosscutting blades have different grinds. For the miter saw, I prefer a thin kerf crosscutting blade with 60 teeth or less. This type of blade often comes on new saws. My reasons for this preference are:

  1. They produce less friction, requiring less motor power.
  2. These blades cut just as straight and flat as a 500-tooth Hackaboard. (Straight and flat are the most important requirements in finish work. I rarely need glassy smooth end grain that a 90-tooth blade might produce.)

Next, I frequently use both the chop saw and the sliding saw to cut with the grain, and these blades do that job best. And last, when these blades are sharp, they don’t flutter on a plunge cut any more than a 1/8-in. thick blade with 100 teeth. However, many carpenters choose thicker miter saw blades with the maximum number of teeth, 80 or more for a 10 in. or a 12 in. blade.

Manufacturers that seem to dominate the field of blade making are Forrest, Tenryu, Freud, Amana, and Ridge, to name a few. Plus, nearly all saw manufacturers offer their own brand of upgraded industrial blades. Once you’ve put a good blade on the saw, do some basic checks before you cut into that walnut mantle shelf.

Check the table

(Note: Click any image to see a larger version. Hit “back” button to return to article.)

A machine shop checks a surface for straight and flat with a machinist’s straight edge or surface plate, and those tools can be expensive. However, a good framing square is adequate for checking the table and fence of a miter saw. Put the framing square edge down on the saw table to make sure it’s flat. You can use various types of paper to measure for irregularities. An index card is eight thousandths (.008) of an inch thick; notebook paper is .004 in. thick; and paper from the phone book is .002 in. thick.

I should mention that it’s unlikely that your saw table is out of flat, because modern saws are well supported at their centers. But if a strip of notebook paper can slide under the framing square blade, you may need to make some adjustments so that vertical cuts can be dialed in perfectly later on. If a piece of cardboard fits under the blade, then adjusting the saw head to cut square on either side of the table will be impossible.

There are two possible ways to flatten a sway back table. You either scrape it flat, or flip the saw over onto parallels and straighten the table on a press. Scraping is a job that requires special tools and skills. Pressing to flatten a saw table should be done in very small increments and with great care. Cast aluminum will break. If the space under the straight edge is more than .010 in. (thicker than an index card), you may just want to take the saw to a repair shop and have them flatten it.

Straighten the fence next

After confirming that the saw table is flat, check the fence next. A bowed fence is the most common reason that a miter saw doesn’t make accurate cuts.

Using a framing square and a piece of telephone book paper as a feeler gauge, press the paper against the fence with the square. You shouldn’t be able to withdraw the paper anywhere from one side to the other (see video, below). If there is a gap, you need to adjust the fence. I shoot for perfect with this operation.

To straighten a two-piece fence, loosen the screw closest to the gap and tap or pry the fence lightly towards the framing square. Stop when the two sides of the fence align, and snug the screw. Check the entire fence again as before, and then tighten the screw firmly.

To straighten a one-piece fence, loosen the screws closest to the gap and use a pry bar to straighten the fence. Keep tension on the pry bar as you tighten the screws. An extra person is a big help with this procedure. By yourself, you have to hold the bar in position, drop the straight edge, pick up the wrench and tighten the screw. It can be a real juggling act and you may have to do it two or three times to get it right.

A word about calipers

Calipers are very inexpensive these days, both dial and digital. Whether you are working with metal or wood, calipers can help you do very fine work. When you’re sizing the depth and width of dados and grooves, nothing works as well as calipers. Working in “thousandths of an inch” may sound funny to some carpenters, but it can save a lot of frustration and time in the long run. Besides, most routers have micro-fine adjustment knobs that operate in those tolerances. For miter saw adjustment, calipers can tell you precisely how much tweaking you need to do. You don’t have to own calipers to adjust your miter saw — unless you want it to be dead accurate.

Calibrating the miter gauge

Many carpenters make their living with miter saws that don’t cut accurately. While the “keep cutting ‘til it fits” method might work, it can waste a lot of time and produce a lot of sawdust. If a saw is adjusted perfectly, assembly time is reduced, and the enjoyment and pride of our craft is increased. Most of us chose the finish carpentry profession because of the pleasure of tightly fitting pieces together to beautify and complete a living space. Working with tools that don’t perform accurately can frustrate that process. To adjust a miter saw for precise miters, begin by squaring the blade to the fence.

A quick check

To check if your saw is cutting square to the fence, start with the widest piece of stock you can crosscut with your saw. The longer the cut, the greater the accuracy of the measurement. Plywood or MDF will work just fine for this test.

For a quick rough check, hold the piece snug against the fence on one side of the saw, and trim a little off (see photo, left). Then, with the same edge against the fence, flip the piece over to the opposite side so that the bottom is facing up. Lock the saw head down so that the teeth are below the saw base. You’ll probably have to use a bungee cord to pull the saw down far enough. Then slide the cut edge of the board up to the blade. It should touch the blade along its entire length.

If there is a gap in the front or the back of the cut, the adjustment you need to make to square the saw is only half of that space. So be conservative as you make the adjustment. What may seem to be a tiny adjustment can send the cut past square in the opposite direction.

A closer examination

To find out exactly how much the saw is off, you have to use calipers. Start by making the same initial cut described above, but when you flip the stock to the opposite side, cut off a piece about 1/2 in. wide.
Keeping the cutoff correctly oriented to the saw fence, measure the width of the cutoff closest to the fence, which is .479 in. in this example.
Next, measure the other end of the cut, which is .436 in. The difference equals .043 in. Divide that sum by 2 (because two cuts were made), and the resulting .022 in. represents the error in the saw of over 1/64 in.

My DeWalt produced a piece that was off by .010 in., meaning that each cut would be out of square by .005 in. in a full length cut. Five thousandths of an inch might not sound like much, but a gap that size in a mitered casing joint is visible from four feet away.

Four-cut calculation

For those of you who are after even greater readings, Festool describes a four-cut calculation method in the instructional PDF for testing the accuracy of their Kapex saw. Instead of the two cuts used above, four cuts are made on a piece of stock.

The final cutoff is measured, and the difference is divided by 4 instead of 2, hypothetically quadrupling the accuracy of the measurement. Festool also has a mathematical formula in their online instruction manual. You can plug in the measurements from your final cut, hit the ‘Calculate’ button, the find out exactly how much to adjust the angle and in what direction. But here’s a bit of irony: All of these careful measurements and formulas only determine the amount of error in the saw. Adjusting a saw (even the pricey Festool) is far less precise than these testing methods!

Adjustment is trial and error

Now that you know exactly how much to adjust your saw, it’s time for a little or a lot of trial-and-error — how much depends on your idea of perfection. Like I said earlier: the testing method is a lot more accurate than the adjustment system. No manufacturer yet that has come out with a mechanically controlled method for adjusting the miter cut on their saw. In other words, we can measure tolerances all day long, but no saw that I’ve ever seen has a micro-fine adjustment knob or screw to dial in those tolerances. Tight-tolerance adjustments just aren’t easy.

When it comes to adjusting the miter gauge on a saw, I know of only two types of miter saws: those that have movable fences, and those that have movable miter scales — move the scale and you move the saw head in relation to the fence.

Movable fence adjustment

The miter gauge on the Bosch miter saw doesn’t move — it’s cast into the base of the saw, along with the detent positions (see photo, right). To calibrate the angle, you have to move the fence. A good machinist’s square can make fence adjustments easier. In fact, some saw manufacturers, such as Milwaukee, say that a square gets the saw as precise as it needs to be. Still, a machinist’s square can get you close enough for making initial test cuts.

First, make sure the saw is secured in the 90° detent, then lock the head down with the teeth on the blade below the base of the saw. If the transport position isn’t low enough, use a bungee cord to pull the saw head down (see photo, left).

Fig. 10

Fig. 10 (Click to enlarge)

Slightly loosen the screws securing the fence, but leave them snug, so that the fence won’t move with your fingers. Press the square tight to the fence and place your feeler gauge (a piece of phone book paper) between the back side of the blade and the square (see Fig. 10).

Fig. 11

Fig. 11 (Click to enlarge)

Without moving the square, check the front side. Adjust the fence by tapping it lightly with a rubber mallet so that the feeler gauge rubs the same at both the front and back of the blade (see Fig. 11). When you’ve squared the blade to the fence, lift the saw head and check to make sure the fence hasn’t bowed from the squaring process. If it has, re-straighten the fence, and adjust the miter angle again. Repeat the process until the fence is straight, as well as square, to the saw blade.

Miter scale adjustment

For a saw with a movable miter scale, swing the saw head until the it clicks into the 90° detent. But don’t lock the handle down, or the scale might not move. With this type of system, the actual scale has the detents that hold the saw head in position. So moving the scale moves the saw head in relation to fence.

Any movement of the miter scale must be incremental and controlled. The slots for the screws that secure the miter scale are elongated to allow for a lot of adjustment parallel to the fence. But with many saws, there is enough play for the scale to move perpendicular to the fence as well. It doesn’t take much movement to throw off the 45° miter even when the 90° miter is right on.

To keep track of the scale position, stick a piece of masking tape on the saw at both ends of the scale, then index the scale to the tape with a fine line.
Once the screws are loose, move the scale by tapping the miter handle gently with a soft mallet.

With my DeWalt miter saw, I loosened the scale plate just enough to pry it over with a screwdriver (see below).

Then I made another test cut using the two-cut method. It took me 6 tries before I could get the error down to a .004 in. difference, near perfect for an 8-in. crosscut in wood. That meant that each cut was out of square by only .002 in 8 in., or .001 in 4 in. — more accurate than a framing square.

45° Miters

After adjusting your scale plate, always check that the saw is cutting perfect 45° miters, too. To check for perfect 45s, rip a piece of 1/4 plywood or MDF. You could use thicker stock, but it will offer more resistance as it’s being cut. The ripping should be perfectly straight, and as wide as you can miter.

Lock the miter at 45° to the right, and cut four pieces long enough to allow for a left hand miter. Set the saw at 45° to the left, then stack and cut the pieces in the same order as you cut the left hand miters. When the pieces are assembled you should have no gaps.

If you do have gaps in the miters, and if your saw has an adjustable miter scale, loosen the outer mounting screws and push or pull the scale toward or away from the fence to adjust the 45° miter without messing with the 90° cut. If the plate doesn’t have enough wiggle room, you can file the screw slot, but personally, I don’t care enough to do that.

If your saw doesn’t have an adjustable scale, you may have to adjust the miter each time you cut. This only matters when you are doing broad miters such as big casings, or landing treads, or any other wide pieces mitered on the flat.

Calibrating the bevel

Adjusting the bevel angle can be a little tricky on some saws, while on others, it’s actually easier than calibrating the miter. Like the miter adjustment, I start by squaring the bevel to the table. For some carpenters, and some manufacturers such as Milwaukee, that’s perfection enough. But for others, that’s just the beginning. The two-cut and four-cut testing methods work just as well in the vertical for checking the bevel as they did on the flat for the miter.

First, lock the saw head down, so the teeth of the blade are beneath the saw base. Then hold a good square against the saw table, just touching the blade so it doesn’t deflect. (Remember, the table must be flat.) Use a sheet of phone book paper as a feeler gauge to ensure that the blade is parallel to the square, and adjust the bevel as necessary.

Each saw has a slightly different mechanism for calibrating the bevel. Here are a few of them, but you should check the manual that came with your saw for precise instructions. If you threw away the manual, most tool companies provide manuals you can download from their websites.

DEWALT

Fig. 15

Of all the miter saws I’ve used, DeWalt seems to have the most pragmatic and intuitive adjustment features. To adjust the bevel on the model 706 DeWalt saw in this article, I worked with three separate bolts: one for the 90° detent, and one for each of the 45° stops on either side of the saw. The bolts are very easy to access and the process is straightforward.

The 90° adjustment bolt is located on the top of the bevel hub. Simply turn that bolt clockwise and the blade tips to the left; turn that bolt counter clockwise, and the blade tips to the right (see Fig. 15). To adjust the 45° degree stops, just back out the stop bolts, or thread them in deeper.

MILWAUKEE

On the Milwaukee saw, first remove the dust chute.

Next, move the bevel adjustment lever to the middle position and wedge the lever in place with a screwdriver or small prybar.
Loosen the two screws on the front of the bevel arm. The wrench supplied with the saw fits these torx-head screws, but the handle doesn’t have enough leverage, so you’ll need a socket set. You’ll also need a T25 torx wrench for the bevel adjustment screw.
Once the screws are loose, use the T25 wrench to adjust the bevel setting: Clockwise tilts the blade to the right, counterclockwise tilts the blade to the left.

Here’s something to consider: if a screw has 20 threads per inch, it advances .012 in. for every quarter turn. So a little goes a long way with these adjustments.

BOSCH

Adjusting the Bosch saw is similar to the first two. Before you start, back out the main depth-stop screw so the blade can drop below the throat guard, then remove the back cover to view all the adjustment bolts — and the adjustment tools.

Before touching any of the adjustment bolts, lift the bevel lock lever and set the saw in the 90° detent. Now loosen the bolts labeled A and B in the photo below.

The wrench supplied with the saw works, but it’s easier with a 10-mm socket.

Next, loosen the set screw labeled D using the 4-mm Allen wrench supplied with the saw. Back out the screw at least three full turns.
Now rotating bolt C clockwise tips the top of the blade to the left.
When the blade aligns with your square, tighten set screw D, and go back and tighten bolts A and B.
Finally, adjust the right bevel stop at 45° using the Allen wrench supplied with the saw. That adjustment screw is on the lower end of the saw arm.

FESTOOL KAPEX

Adjusting Festool’s Kapex saw is a bit different. The Kapex isn’t equipped with a micro-fine bevel adjustment bolt or screw, which means that dialing in the tool isn’t nearly as accurate as the 4-cut calibration test they suggest. But there is a work around.

Start by locking down the bevel in the 90° detent. Next, loosen the two adjustment screws at the back of the motor. I found it easiest to remove the cord reel. You can even use the wrench supplied with the saw (see photo, left). Festool suggests two ways to adjust the saw: You can move the entire head or just the bevel plate. To move the entire head, keep the bevel locked in the 90° detent. To move just the plate, release the bevel lock lever.

Because there is no micro-fine adjustment bolt on this saw, the head and plate move freely, making it very tough to dial in a fine adjustment. But here’s a solution: Before loosening the two adjustment screws, cut two perfectly square pieces of stock. If you’ve adjusted the miter angle first, you can cut those blocks on the flat.

Clamp one block against the miter saw fence while sliding it snugly against the blade. Get the other block and clamp ready for the opposite side. Then loosen the two adjustment screws. Wiggle the saw head a little until the blade is flat against the first block. Now clamp the second block against the opposite side of the blade, tapping it gently to trap the blade between the blocks. When the blade is secured in a perfectly square position, tighten the two adjustment screws, then check your cuts again using the two-cut or four-cut testing method. Once more, trial and error is the only way to further refine the adjustments. With patience, you can dial in the bevel angle even closer.

Know your saw

When it comes to miter saws, the best piece of advice I can offer any carpenter is: Know Your Saw. When the saw cuts a perfectly square bevel, but the miters aren’t perfect, you may have to make miter adjustments each time you use the saw. Knowing your saw means practicing and perfecting your miter saw tune-up procedure.

One additional problem you may encounter with a miter saw — and especially a sliding saw — is blade tracking. The saw blade must be perfectly parallel with the rods. If not, the trailing edge of a saw blade will cut a little more wood as it passes through the kerf. The same type of problem can show up while doing tall plunge cuts with a standard miter saw. If the blade plate rubs and burns wood at the top of the cut, then the blade is not in the same plane as the arc of the saw head. But professional saws are machined on CNC equipment that maintains tolerances within .0005 (five ten thousandths!) of an inch. If your saw isn’t tracking perfectly, then it’s likely something happened to the saw after you bought it. The blade arbor may be a little out of whack from a sawing accident. The head may even be bent. Or maybe you didn’t see it fall out of the truck before your helper stuck it back in there real quick.

There are no adjustments for blade tracking problems. You either have to replace parts or buy a new saw. But before you send your saw to the junkyard, consider this:

When my Hitachi was brand new, a handrail fitting slipped out of its clamp and twisted the blade as it slammed between the fences. The head was bent so badly that the blade was out of perpendicular to the hinge pin 1/8 in. across its diameter. That brand new saw sat in my garage for a year before I decided that I had to figure out how to fix it.

I clamped the head in a vise, clamped a bar near the blade arbor and bounced on the bar — I mean, with all my weight — well, a lot of weight. It made a loud popping sound. I rechecked the blade/pin relationship and found that the error was only .010 in. over the radius of the blade. I guess I was lucky to get it that close. I’ve been using that saw for six years now, and I’m satisfied with it. I have never had the blade plate rub on a fresh cut, though I’m sure there must be cracks in the casting. You can’t bend aluminum castings much at all. Of course, the right way to fix that problem would have been to buy a new head casting. But, it wouldn’t have cost much more just to buy a new saw!

I hope these ramblings have been useful. I was glad for the opportunity to write this article because it pushed me to tune up my own saws. These modern miter saws are amazing. But just as that proverbial little girl who had a little curl: When they’re good, they’re very, very good; but when they’re bad, they’re horrid! Inaccurate cuts are rarely the fault of the saw, and most often they’re something that can be corrected with a little attention.

Read this article in its original format at TiC Issue 2!

. . .

THISisSafety

Please don’t try anything you see in THISisCarpentry, or anywhere else for that matter, unless you’re completely certain that you can do it safely.

. . .

AUTHOR BIO

David Collins has been making stuff all his life. At age seven, he carved swords, canoes, and all sorts of things with his own pocket knives. At age eight, he made popsicle-stick fences to go around the Christmas tree — he painted them silver. David’s first entrepreneurial endeavor was trying to sell those silver fences. His 81-year-old mother still keeps some of those things in her cedar chest.

David’s first construction jobs were in the summers of his 14th and 15th years, working for a roofer.

David always took things apart to look inside and “make improvements.” He dismantled mini-bikes, old pieces of motorcycles, and a Victoria Bergmeister, which he bought at age 15. His most ambitious teenage project was rebuilding his parents ’57 Ford, although he did have plenty of help with that. After graduation, David and a couple friends drove that car to California to see what the “Height Ashbury” thing was all about—didn’t figure it out, but it sure was interesting.

While David messed with all of those things, he was also captured by music. His mother recognized the talent in David and his siblings early on, and she faithfully drove them to their weekly piano lessons. He didn’t like to practice, but the threat of mom’s pancake turner crackin’ his butt kept him at it. He thanks her for that discipline today.

In his early 20s David worked as a framer, and soon decided that he was going to need a college education. But music was his first love, so he signed up for the music program at OSU. He couldn’t take very much of it — he’d go to school for a while and then work for a while. After seven years, David finally graduated with a B.M. from Capital University.

In 1973 David married Kathryn Hartley. She endured about half of David’s education and a great deal of other stuff since. After graduation, the church where he was pianist hired him to teach choral music at their school. Never having considered the financial implications of a music degree, the ’70s and early ’80s turned out to be lean years. Construction work in the summers got them by. He worked for the great Dave Porter of Columbus every summer through the ’80s, trimming high-end houses. The work was always interesting and satisfying.

In 1983 and in 1986 Kathy and David adopted Hannah and Emily. In 1989, David became disillusioned with teaching. Students do what they want to do, and a piece of wood does what he wants it to do. David handed in his resignation at school and went into finish carpentry full time, a move he has never regretted.

A few years later David was running some 8-in. crown on a big job. He couldn’t cope that molding with a coping saw and got a little desperate. He’d always used the saber saw from the back side (right side up) and started figuring out a way to cope that large crown molding without banging around on the face of it. He needed to freehand the saw without the restrictions of the flat base. David hammered out sheet metal bases, and after 6 or 8 tries, he produced what is now called the Collins Coping Foot. That thing worked so well that he figured everyone would want one. David spent a lot of borrowed money on lawyers and tool and die makers and started the Collins Tool Company.

David hasn’t done any finish carpentry for-hire since 2006. He spends his early mornings with the Good Book, and writing music at his music work station. The rest of the day is spent in tool production, and tooling up for a new product called Mitertite.

Comments/Discussion

43 Responses to “Miter Saw Tune-Up”

  1. Mike Hawkins

    Good article Dave. I check my saws occasionally, depending on how much they get banged around. It pays to keep them in tune. I check my stationary equipment also. It usually stays in tune longer, but every once in awhile you find something amiss.
    Mike Hawkins

    Reply
  2. John Graybill

    I remember in Chem 1A about not creating accuracy with your instruments, measuring to four decimals does not translate back to the saw. My Kapex was out of wack from being rolled in the back of the van. I re-squared it using the online calculator mentioned in the article. It took about two hours of over smacking and under smacking to get it back.

    Thanks for the article and the coping foot.

    My good book is the Praire Home Companions Pretty good Joke Book. Start the day with a laugh.

    Reply
  3. Kreg mcmahon

    Dave. Really enjoyed the article and your bio thanks for taking the time to write this

    Reply
  4. Joe Stoddard

    Good article Dave – I’ve been hearing more and more that saws are totally out of whack right out of the box.. I’m guessing this corresponds to moving manufacturing to China. Any thoughts about that? If every brand is equally poorly built – what are our options?

    Reply
  5. Frank Rogers

    Very informative article, but I have to add that not all whacked out saws are from China. I always thought my DeWalt was a sorry piece of equipment on till a bought a Kapex. Talk about being being out of whack. I could never get good cuts no matter what I did. Some times I just get so frustrated that I just use the DeWalt. I put a straight edge on the table and measured the distance. The right side of the swivel table reads .005 and the left of the swivel reads.017. Talk about being whacked, and this saw as never dropped or banged. I dread calling festool because I sent other other tools back to them and they came back worse than they were. I guess what I am saying is that you could spend a fortune on what is supposed to be a great only to find out that it is no better than any other saw.

    Reply
    • tillamookguy

      You hit that one right on the head, spent $750 on the new Hitachi 10″ about twenty-five years ago, it had just come out and was listed as the best compound sliding miter saw on the market. I never could get that saw to cut perfectly and went back to my old Delta Rockwell motorized miter box it was American made and what a joy to use.

      Reply
  6. Kobus Schmidt

    Thanks for this article Dave it was very helpful. I own a Bosch saw like the one you used for this article and was wondering if you know how to (if at all possible) re-tension the pivot coil/spring. My saw doesn’t return to the maximum open position after a cut, thus leaving the blade guard in a half drawn position and the spinning blade exposed. I had a little incident – lucky for me the work piece was the only thing damaged.
    Any ideas?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Gary Katz

      Kobus,
      I’ll answer for Dave…No. Take the saw in for repair!
      Gary

      Reply
  7. Bruce Thompson

    David Collins says that “there is no adjustment for blade tracking problems.”

    For Bosch there is. The head is attached to the rails by two set screws. Loosen one, tap the head mounting knuckle in or out as needed, re-tighten the set screw and you’re good to go.

    Reply
  8. Utah stair builder

    One thing that can affect the bevel stops it sawdust. On my DeWalt I have to check it periodically and blow the sawdust away. Saws riding around in a trailer take a lot off abuse and need to be checked often. Great article, I had not considered drift.

    Reply
  9. Joe in North Georgia

    A fine article that I wished I had seen before I undertook my miter saw tune up last week. Seems like I’ve still got work to do.

    My only question was why you never mentioned the grandaddy saw of them all (at least around here)–the Hitachi 10 in. slider, which is very popular and sets the standard for the others. (I must admit I haven’t used the Milwaukee or Festool). I’m not saying which is better, just that it still remains a “go to” saw that would be interesting to compare with the others for its adjustment features (which I admit, are a little behind the times).

    Reply
  10. Rick Carpenter

    I use a similar method of squaring the fence at 90 degrees. I take a thin piece of trued stock, cut it in half, then stack the halves and saw through close to one end. (Throw away the cut-offs!) Take the top piece and flip end for end and check the joint. Adjust fence to square as necessary. Like I said, similar.

    Reply
  11. Vikki

    Thank you for the great article! I am very new @ all of this & have been learning as I go. When I bought my little miter saw my father adjusted it for me & it stayed in tune from a single location & light use. He has passed away & I am noticing that it is out of tune (probably from me hauling it all over the house & whacking it into things as I go. I am small & it is heavy) So your article was wonderful, especially with the vids! I always learn better with pictures. I love the detail because my limited knowledge often leaves me confused when I read articles that are written just for the pros. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to come across a term or procedure that is assumed as common knowledge but that I don’t understand. Have a wonderful day!

    Reply
  12. Tired

    I’ve purchased 3 brand new saws this week, 2 DeWalt and 1 Milwaukee. The turn table on all 3 of them is lower than the sides. It looks level but it’s just not co-planar with the sides. It’s 1/16 lower! Is there an adjustment for that?

    Reply
  13. Jay

    Sounds like I’m in a similar situation as “Tired” above. My wife bought me a refurbished Skil miter saw for Christmas. I’ve used it a lot for several projects already, but have noticed the swivel base is visibly lower than the two sides. I haven’t looked for an adjustment for that yet, but if there isn’t one, I can’t imagine spending less for a machine shop to level it out than it would cost for a new saw. I’m surprised the saw made it through quality checks when it is obviously not squared up.

    This article has been a terrific resource, and I will use it while trying to square up my miter saw. If it’s just too out of whack, hopefully I can still return it through Amazon and go pick up that Hitachi model.

    Reply
  14. Mark

    I own a similar Bosch to the one shown. I believe you have the wrong bolt “B” called out for the bevel adjustment. The correct bolt is the one directly above bolt “A”.

    Reply
  15. Joe

    I have a Hiatchi C12RSH that I just bought a couple of weeks ago. The fence is a split fence so my first task was I made sure they were both square to the table. One side required me to put a single piece of blue tape under the front half of the fence.

    Once I made sure that one side was square to the blade I used a large framing square to make sure both fences were in line. I then used the 4 cut method on the left fence and it was off just a hair. Instead of messing with the fence adjustment I decided to use blue tape instead. Two pieces thick on the last 4 inches got me to within .004 difference over a 10.5″ cut. I then moved over to the right fence and did the same. Three pieces on the first 4″ got me to within the same tolerance.

    So my question is this. Why is it really necessary to move the fence if it’s very close? Wouldn’t it be better to just add some tape shims like I did to either side? My reasoning is this:

    1. Much faster to adjust especially if your miter saw is moved a lot (in and out of vehicle for example).

    2. Even though there might now be a slight gap if you crosscut a piece that is resting against both fences, the only time I do that is in rough cutting stock or framing. Either of which 1/64″ or less shouldn’t be that much of an issue

    3. When cutting final miters or trim I’m usually on one fence or the other cutting just a bit off. So if both sides are nice and square to the blade based on this setup, wouldn’t this then fix issues of sliders whose rails aren’t dead on accurate?

    Does any of my logic make sense or should I just move the fences? I just think moving a fence so slightly is difficult and I would end up over correcting and battling this for awhile as opposed to taking like 10 minutes.

    Reply
  16. John

    Very helpful article.

    Naive me I assume out of the box these things come calibrated, but am still skeptical why vendors don’t make micro adjustment knobs. Maybe the carpentry community don’t want to make it too easy for newbies. Want a power tool, must do long divisions by hand!

    Reply
  17. joe

    HI
    I notice that you have a saw helper set up on that miter saw
    Do you have idea why I could get another one
    I have 2 stands and set ups for 2 miter saw but only 1 set of leafs I am looking for leafs
    they have worked for me for years I was about to have a metal shop fab one for me

    Thanks

    Joe

    Reply
  18. Jim Slosson

    David–what’s a guy to do? I set the saw bevel for a perfectly square cut in the center position, but when I swing it left or right the cut isn’t square. Ideas? thanks for your help.

    jim

    Reply
    • Dave Smith

      I second this request for help. I have the same problem as Jim on my Milwaukee. Bevel cuts on mouldings are pretty sad.

      Reply
  19. Jordan

    I have a question, what if my bosch compound sliding miter saw has a gap on the fence in the middle extending out to both sides? Lately it has been kicking back on almost every cut. I have had the saw for about 7 years and have only experienced this problem lately. I use the saw sever times a month for work and take good care of it. When I did the framing square test against the fence though I noticed a 1/4″ gap that ran from the center (where the blade passes) that tapered out almost to the end of each fence. I’m not sure how to fix this without grinding down the fence to make it true again. I also don’t see how it could have gotten warped this bad. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you,
    Jordan.

    Reply
  20. Bruce

    David,

    Has to be the best read on Mitre saws…..Almost too much info to take in initially ……I have saved in favorites

    thanks, Bruce

    Reply
  21. Dean Collins

    Thanks for a very interesting article, but I have a different problem with my Metabo KGS305 mitre saw. Recently the blade brake, while operating properly, has been very noisy. Any suggestions?
    Thank you.

    Reply
  22. Ron

    I found this article very informative, though I have a problem still after following all of the recommendations. I have a 7 1/4″ Sliding Compound Miter Saw and I’ve yet to find a blade that will give me a cut without excessive tearout on both the upper and lower edges. I’ve tried using a backup fence along with a scrap piece under the cut to no avail.

    I’d be open to any suggestions on this matter.

    Reply
  23. BobboMax

    @ Ron,

    Sounds like you may have some heeling- that is, the blade isn’t parallel to the slide rails. That means the leading edge of the blade, which is going down, tears out the side it’s heeled to, while the trailing edge tears out the other side of the cut as it spins upward. To correct that, the part that rides the rails would have to be separate from the motor/blade assembly so the relationship could be adjusted- I’ve never looked for that detail on a slider.

    @ Jordan,

    If I understand, it sounds like your fence is bent (gotta either buy a new one or try to straighten yours- kinda chancy) OR, it may be that you have a 2-piece fence (2 bolts on either side) and you need to loosen all four bolts and get the 2 pieces in one plane (clamp them both to something you know is straight) and then square them to the blade.

    I’d bet your kickback is because the dip in the fence lets the kerf close up as you finish the cut- the board is supported at the ends and the center of it acts like a hinge, letting the board move back into the dip, closing the kerf and pinching the blade.

    Reply
  24. Safari

    If the Frame Board is 8 inches wide ?

    I find at the inside of a Frame the 45 is good
    but at the end of the Board the 45 is a bit wide
    after all the sides are screwed together
    the last one has a 1/16 inch gap.

    But they are all exactly 45. What can I do to eliminate that
    16th of an inch.

    Reply
  25. Bruce

    Great article and I think it may save me some time and money. I have a Kapex and finally got the 90 correct but the 45 is off. I have a question, is the lock on the handle on or off when adjusting the 45 aluminum miter scale? I wish I had found this article before I started my adjustments.

    Reply
  26. tillamookguy

    I have to say I loved that article. Currently own three miter saws and need to do a tune up. I will keep this in my bookmarks for future reference.

    Reply
  27. Anne Coleman

    David,

    I have a question about a malfunctioning mitre saw. I am cutting solid wood (red oak) unfinished treads, about 3/4 inch thick and 11.5 inch wide, with a Hitachi Mitre Saw C12LDH, which I purchased a couple weeks ago. It worked fine at the beginning but after 10 cuts or so, it started ripping the treads badly and damaging the noses. After looking at the blade (which came with the saw), we discovered it was defective. So, we replaced it. Now with the new blade in, the same problem persists. I am really puzzled by what is going on and appreciate your advice.

    I just want to add that I am by no means a professional nor can even call myself a DIYer. About a year ago my son was diagnosed with a severe dust mite allergy and the solution was to replace all the carpets and lay down wood flooring. I did this work on weekends and holidays. I taught myself using Youtube videos and articles like yours. I used a Skil flooring saw and it worked great. I am happy to say that I completed everything but the stairs. I could not have done it if it weren’t for people like you posting great articles and videos and teaching the how to’s to people like me. I am truly grateful for it.

    Reply
  28. Christian

    Bought a Dewalt DWS 780 a week ago. Wonderful saw except the fact that the rotating part of the base where 1/64 inch lower than the “wings” of the table.

    Dewalt is going to give me a new saw and the first one is going to to their tech staff to see how this have happend. If they have some bad batch or some problem with the manufacturing.

    Ther shop did some fun out of me of those 1/64 inch but I told them I payd 1000 dollar ( in Sweden this saw cost about 1000 american dollar ) so I want a saw with a straight base.

    I´m to fussy or what do you guys think?

    Reply
    • Gary Katz

      Hey, you are paying for it, it should meet your satisfaction. Personally, I have a Dewalt miter saw that’s off more that 1/64″ and have been cutting molding with it at shows for about 4 or 5 years, and have never had a problem. If you’re cutting long lengths of molding, they are rarely straight (I mean, molding is often out by more than 1/6″), and there’s no way you can ‘straighten’ a long piece of alder or oak or cherry or even poplar perfectly at your miter saw. So you have to work with what you have. Using continuous wings, good crown setup, etc., is probably more important than that 1/64″. But it’s YOUR MONEY and your saw.
      Gary

      Reply
      • Christian

        I understand that 99 out of 100 those 1/64 will probably not matter. Not sure about the 1/64 but it was 0.38 mm and the gap was very visible.

        Long pieces will not be affected but if you are cutting a short piece of wood that will just be an inch after the blade but long enough to just be on the wing that piece of wood will “drop” down on the rotating part.

        And it was not only that, first the gliders was not smooth and too hard to glide. A tech looked at that and reassembled the rails and put some new grease and after that they were smoother but still too much starting inertia.

        Not only that, the blade also was not in the center of the kerfs. At maximum bevel the blade went into the kerfs on the left side.

        Funny thing was that the saw indeed was square in all settings.

        Bought a square today at the shop and there was several mitersaws there to look at. All where perfect in the table and the blades where in the middle. One of the saws was a Dewalt dw 717 xps. If I understand correct that it the same saw but smaller with a 250 mm blade instead of 305 mm. That Dewalt was perfect everywhere. Also the Makita and Bosch where also perfect in the table.

        I hope my new DWS 780 xps will be assembled as good as the others I looked at today. Hopefully it is not only the smaller 10 inch and 8 inch saws that are straight. The big 12 inch saws should also be as good as the smaller ones.

        Reply
  29. Tom

    David:
    My Festool Kapec saw is very tight to move from one miter cut to another. I push down on the lever and it will turn but it turns very hard. Could you let me know how to adjust this problem.

    Tom

    Reply
  30. Mike Dwyer

    Hello David,

    I’ve had the Bosch 5312 for 5 years now and usually made several cuts in scrap to tweak the miter. It’s been visibly off by just under 1 degree on the miter scale. I read your article today. After adjusting the miter per the Bosch manual using a square, it was still off but not as much. I did the 2 cuts and using calipers, had a 0.010″ difference across the ends. Using some masking tape, I marked an alibi under part of the fence, drew a thin line and tapped the fence slightly with a small plastic mallet until the line just disappeared. Two more cuts and the difference was now 0.001″. Dividing by 2 the error across the width of the cut should be 0.0005″ (5 1/2″ board.) Close enough for my deck boards. I checked the bevel first and found only the pointers were off. Took a total of 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Worth the time and effort. Thanks for the informative article and I hope my experience helps someone.

    Mike

    Reply
  31. judith

    Tips and Test. for miter saw
    Very important if you would like to saw with precision. (avoid torsion as much as possible)!
    Always choose a Miter saw with a handle positioned in a vertical line above the saw blade.
    Everything must be aligned, slide rails, handle, and saw blade,it is much better this way the blade will not tilt.
    Because there is some torsion in the aluminum housing .
    And choose an engine with softstart on it to prevent wear of the gear and worm shaft.
    It is very important that everything is aligned.
    Here are some examples to show how the handle must be positioned above the blade.
    Bosch gcm 800 sj / Bosch gcm 8 sjl / Evolution rage 3 / FESTOOL KS 60 / HITACHI C12RSH2 / FESTOOL KS 60 E KAPEX / Metabo KGSV 72 Xact / Bosch GCM 8 SDE

    (This also is the case with the Miter saw without the slide rails).
    If you want you can test it yourself at home if there is torsion in the aluminum housing.

    Step-1. First you make a saw cut from +-5 mm deep in to a flat piece of wood about +- 20 mm thick. To this with the normal handle positioned on the right side of the Miter saw.

    Step-2. Then repeat this by pushing the saw blade down with your hand (finger) on the aluminum protective cover were the saw blade is cased in. Just now only do this without the running engine.

    Step-3. Now you can see if the saw blade will be positioned in or next to the saw cut. If the saw blade is (+- 0,2 / 0,5 mm) next to the saw cut then there is torsion in the aluminum housing.

    Step-4. therefor it is much better to choose a Miter saw with the handle positioned vertical in line above the saw blade.

    Conclusion: how further away the handle is from the saw blade how more chance of torsion in the aluminum housing.(don’t go for that).

    P.S. Also with a cheap slide miter saw it is still better the handgriff a above the saw blade than on the right side. Maybe they will make it someday then we have a winner…

    Reply

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