makita LS1013 fence

[habbi]

I had a piece of hardwood flooring "kick" into the fence and it is now slightly bent. Can this be straightened. I tried adjusting it but with no luck. Is there a proper sequence to adjust it.

[hikinandbikin]

Well I don't know about the problem with the bent fence, may not be fixable. But as to aligning the miter fence it is very tempermental. Here are the steps I used.

1. As always move the saws angle and return it to the 0 degree detent, wiggle it to make sure it is really seated.
2. Get yourself a good carpenters/framing square short side at least 12 inches long. Verify that it is truly 90 degrees and that it has two straight edges. google "tuning carpenter square" for more info.
3. Verify that the fence is straight from one side to the other. It does not have to be perfect prior to starting but, if one side is curved or bowed you will never get a square cut. The two sides do not have to be square to each other prior to starting as this can be corrected in the alignment. It is notable that the fence is usually very straight and you should not have to straighten it.
4. More or less center and snug one side of the fence the bolt should not be tight but not easily moved either. (I will assume bolt 1 in diagram 1. below (This is how Makita recommends)) Because of the system of adjusting the fence in sloppy holes it is critical to start with one side and move toward the other.
5. Use a carpenter/framing square, place the long end of the square against the fence on the side you have snugged down. Adjust the opposite end (near bolt 4) of the fence until the blade just barely touches the square both near the fence and fully extended (This adjustment should result in the number 4 bolt being close to centered in its hole). At this point you should snug down the number 2 bolt.
6. Reverse your square as in diagram 2 so the long side is now on the left side of the fence. At this point the fence should be close to aligned and you should not have to adjust much to make the blade lightly touch the square front and back (if it does require significant change you either did not do the first side correctly or your fence is not flat). Once you have it aligned snug down 3 recheck and snug 4.
7. Move the square back to the right and verify that nothing got mucked up and tighten 1 then 2.
8. Again recheck the left side and tighten 3 and 4. This should result in a very square saw.

I tried to draw some diagrams.

1. 2.

4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 _o____o____-----____o____o_ _o____o____-----____o____o_ |============= =============| ||| ||| ||| Square Square ||| ||| Right Left ||| ||| Side Side ||| ||| |||

H> I had a piece of hardwood flooring "kick" into the fence and it is now

[hikinandbikin]

Sorry my little pictures did not turn out (at least not in google groups). They are dependent on fixed width font. W

[Steve Knight]

take it off and bend it back using a straight flat surface to judge the flatness. or screw on a wood face and joint it. this is my only complaint about the saw the fence bends with a kickback.