I have beat up my Delta 36-220 miter saw over the years. I have cut everyth ing from vinyl stock to hardwoods to 3/4" steel rod to 1/2" steel plates.
I am starting my first project in many years that will require precision sq uare cuts and while attempting to square up the miter saw, I found that I c ould only square the blade to one side of the fence or the other but never both.
It turns out that my fence is concave. If I lay the 18" fence face down on a flat surface, a business card will just begin to slip under the fence sta rting about 2" from each end. At about 4", the card will slip fully under t he fence with just a little bit of drag.
I contacted a local milling shop, sent then some pictures and they quoted m e $50 to clamp the fence to their table and use a horizontal milling machin e to flatten the face.
I'll be dropping it off tonight and probably get it back in a day or two. I 'd like it back before the long weekend, but I doubt that will happen.
My Rigid had the same problem, but there was not enough aluminum on the face to to this. I glued a piece of quarter inch board to each side, then flattened it on the jointer. So far it is doing fine.
I think I had the same saw. When I got it back from a friend I had loaned it to, the fence was concave. I don't think he abused it. He was not very experienced with power tools - I suspect he bound the blade somehow while sawing. I bought a new fence for $21. I sold the saw the same year and bought a Makita slider. I have since replaced its fence too.
I have searched for a replacement fence but apparently it has been disconti nued. Aside from the usual on-line tool parts sites, I tried eBay and Craig slist. The closest I could get to a replacement fence was a guy selling the same saw for $50. While it sounds like a good deal, the guy is at least 1.
5 hours away from where I live and even though he said the fence is straigh t, that's a long ride to find out that it is not.
If the local machine shop can flatten my fence for $50, I'll be satisfied. I dropped it off last night. The guy gave me a tour of the shop area and sh owed me the machine he plans to use. This is no small time operation. You c ould mill the side of a refrigerator on the machine he going to use for my little fence. It was just one of the many large machines in the shop. It wa s a cool tour.
Besides dropping off the fence at the machine shop, I also took a pair of s kis to guy that does ski tune-ups in his garage. He used to own a ski-shop so he has all the equipment and now does it on the side. It turned out his place is just a few miles from the machine shop, so yesterday afternoon was kind of an adventure. I met 2 really nice guys and toured 2 interesting lo cations.
I got my miter saw fence back Friday afternoon and couldn't be happier. Whe n I brought the fence to the machine shop the face was concave to the exten t that you could slip a business card under the center. When the guy was do ne with it, I tested it with a brand new $20 bill and it wouldn't go under the fence at any point.
The guy originally quoted me $50, but only charged me $40. He said he mille d the fence with a one day turnaround because "I figured you would want it for the weekend." He was right! I cut all the parts for my kitchen drawers on Saturday with each part being as square as I could possibly want.
There are still a lot of nice people in this world and I like it when I stu mble across one.
thing from vinyl stock to hardwoods to 3/4" steel rod to 1/2" steel plates.
square cuts and while attempting to square up the miter saw, I found that I could only square the blade to one side of the fence or the other but neve r both.
n a flat surface, a business card will just begin to slip under the fence s tarting about 2" from each end. At about 4", the card will slip fully under the fence with just a little bit of drag.
me $50 to clamp the fence to their table and use a horizontal milling mach ine to flatten the face.
I'd like it back before the long weekend, but I doubt that will happen.
When I brought the fence to the machine shop the face was concave to the e xtent that you could slip a business card under the center. When the guy wa s done with it, I tested it with a brand new $20 bill and it wouldn't go un der the fence at any point.
illed the fence with a one day turnaround because "I figured you would want it for the weekend." He was right! I cut all the parts for my kitchen draw ers on Saturday with each part being as square as I could possibly want.
stumble across one.
erything from vinyl stock to hardwoods to 3/4" steel rod to 1/2" steel plat es.
on square cuts and while attempting to square up the miter saw, I found tha t I could only square the blade to one side of the fence or the other but n ever both.
n on a flat surface, a business card will just begin to slip under the fenc e starting about 2" from each end. At about 4", the card will slip fully un der the fence with just a little bit of drag.
ted me $50 to clamp the fence to their table and use a horizontal milling m achine to flatten the face.
wo. I'd like it back before the long weekend, but I doubt that will happen.
CMS? I'm sure the fence on it is bad.
I did a Google search for machine shops in my local area. I then tried to n arrow it down to smaller shops since I figured I had a better chance of fin ding someone willing to take on this one-off job.
I called three places. I left a message at one place but never got a call b ack. Another place gave me the number of the guy that runs the machinist pr ogram at the local community college. I left him a message but never got a call back. The third place listened to my tale of woe and asked me to email a picture of the fence mainly to make that they could clamp it down withou t too much trouble. Once he looked at the picture, he said bring it over an d the next day it was done.
I don't know if you have a piece of granite around, but you might be able to do that yourself. I did it with a jointer fence that was a bit warped.
You need a perfectly flat surface or something really darn close. Granite is usually extremely flat. If you have a workbench and can check for a good flat section, it could work as well. You can build a flat-table quickly by screwing down 3/4" sheet material to strong-backs that have been jointed flat or run through a properly set-up table saw.
Basically you stick a sheet of sandpaper to the flat surface and run the fence face over the sandpaper by hand, over and over. The first run would use a very course grit like 80 grit or even 60. You sand until the surface sheen looks even everywhere, then check with your reference straight-edge. Every shop should have a real straight-edge, IMO. You can check the width flatness with an engineer's square (another must-have) and the length flatness with the straight-edge.
Once it's flat in both directions, switch to a finer grit to sand out the course scratches, always using your flat sanding surface. Keep going to finer grits until it's as smooth as you like. You can actually get a decent glossy buff using this technique.
You can attach the sandpaper to your flat surface with double backed tape or spray adhesive. For spray adhesive, use the directions for a temporary bond. The paper will peel back off like a heavy-duty Post-It note.
If you don't have granite or a real straight-edge to make a flat surface, it may not be worth the effort to do it yourself. I have granite and a couple other flat surfaces because I use them to flatten the bearing edges or drum shells. I also found that the sandpaper doesn't have to be as long or longer than the surface you're sanding. On objects that are longer than the sandpaper, it sort of averages out from multiple passes. On a SCMS split fence, one sheet should work well.
$50 is a very fair price for a job like that. Its not excessively difficult, but it does take a little time.
That being said, I've seen a number of miter saws with the same problem. Sometimes brand new out of the box. Others twist the moment you tighten down the bolts that hold them to the saw. You may want to see if you can lay a good straight edge across the areas where the fence rests and spend some time with a file taking off the high spots and making it flat.
Not a whole lot. These saws were never designed to be precise instruments so much as a tool that can survive bounding around in the back of a pick up. I have a Delta CMS that I thought was pretty good after I tweaked it. I quit using it 15 years ago when I stepped up to a Cabinet saw and found that I got superior repeated accuracy from the TS.
No doubt these saws are better than they used to be but the fences still tend to have a potential for problems. I am not quite sure why fences are not indexed to lock flat in place.
Now the Festool on the other hand may not have these issues but you are paying for 3 saws. IIRC even the Bosch articulating SCMS has issues with accuracy, especially if carried to a job site.
My Makita LS1013, locked down for travel but obviously not fastened properly to the stand, took a tumble off said stand, hit the driveway, flipped end over end, bounced twice on the concrete and landed, upside down, in a flowerbed.
It was one of those rare jobs that don't go well from start to finish, mainly because of ignorance and indecision on the part of the client. By now, operating on a thin margin due to that ignorance and indecision but still trying to please the client, I sighed, resigned that it was just more of the same and it was new saw time ... c'est la vie.
Put the damned thing back on the stand, plugged it in, and it went right back to doing its business with its usual spot on accuracy.
Yeah! If I were to buy another miter saw it most likely will be Makita. Their tools still seem to have a very consistent quality and are reasonably priced. But you have to admit, you were lucky! LOL
I have searched for a replacement fence but apparently it has been discontinued. Aside from the usual on-line tool parts sites, I tried eBay and Craigslist. The closest I could get to a replacement fence was a guy selling the same saw for $50. While it sounds like a good deal, the guy is at least 1.5 hours away from where I live and even though he said the fence is straight, that's a long ride to find out that it is not.
If the local machine shop can flatten my fence for $50, I'll be satisfied. I dropped it off last night. The guy gave me a tour of the shop area and showed me the machine he plans to use. This is no small time operation. You could mill the side of a refrigerator on the machine he going to use for my little fence. It was just one of the many large machines in the shop. It was a cool tour.
Besides dropping off the fence at the machine shop, I also took a pair of skis to guy that does ski tune-ups in his garage. He used to own a ski-shop so he has all the equipment and now does it on the side. It turned out his place is just a few miles from the machine shop, so yesterday afternoon was kind of an adventure. I met 2 really nice guys and toured 2 interesting locations.
I am such a kid sometimes. ;-)
So, when the guy does a tune up on your skis, what's he do? plugs and points? A new carb kit? Sorry. I couldn't resist.
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