This Is Why My SCMS Is A Bitch!

CarpenterMatt

So I read the Mitre saw accuracy story in "This Is Carpentry" online magazine. Apart from the general tuning which is all pretty easy to achieve on the Dewalt, I found a serious problem in the flatness of the base. I have struggled to achieve good results with this saw, & lulled into a false sense of security by all those nice convincing milling patterns on the table, it never occured to me to look further. I'm not happy that I now have to pull my saw apart & get a machine shop to re-machine the base flat. Is it really that hard to get this right from the factory?

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CarpenterMatt

So I cut two test pieces & holding them in the vertical position against the fence I made a cut from each side.

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CarpenterMatt

This is how far out held against a straight edge. Now if I just had that Bosch angle measure........

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genecarp

Unless you are building a piano, the minor imperfections that you are describing are common in most of the tools we use, and should not cause us to much difficulty for most carpentry tasks.

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Leo G

Seems to be the nature of the beast. My Hitatchi 12" will cut perfect 90* x 90*. But when you slide it over to 45* the vertical is no longer 90*. Doesn't seem like much but it makes it a big difference in quality of the joint. Trying to cut a simple flat picture frame with 45* angles becomes a chore instead of 8 simple cuts.

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KentWhitten

My DeWalt looks like that too. Fence in back is out front to back also.

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CarpenterMatt

True, but you do tend to have accuracy pushed when doing finish/custom work, & it helps if the saw in itself is working with not against you. General duties though, yep it wouldn't be an issue.

KMac

After reading that article I went out and bought a digital caliper and spent some time tuning up my miter last week - I have been obsessing over it quite a bit myself - maybe too much.

john5mt

I have the same prob with my hitachi 12"

I read that (since it was manf in china) the tolerances arent real tight on the slide mechanism so the bevel doesnt stay true

I have way less problems with my older style Hitachi (made in japan). The 12" has basically stayed in the shop in a corner for the past year since i made this discovery.

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mmike032

my dewalt is the same, I've learned to live with it.
I took one dewalt back b/c there was a full 1/8" difference from the stationary bottom plate to the part that swings. Material would catch it and get hung up when sliding it across.