My New Bosch Miter Saw Is Defective. :-(

On 2/4/2017 1:08 PM, snipped-for-privacy@notreal.com wrote: > I have a Harbor Freight 10" for outside and construction jobs. I'll > have to reside one side of my house this spring but the Bosch will > stay in the basement.

Exactly ... picked up a Ridgid at the Borg, for under $200, Section 179, expendable bucks.

OK, so I set the new saw up and tested it.

As far as I can tell, it's fine. No groove as the blade comes to a rest. When I cut a piece of 1 x 12 pine, the cut looks the same from start to finish. When I cut a piece 1/2 x 12 MDF, I can see a slight difference in the cut in the area where the blade is stationary (parked?) as it spins to a stop. It is slightly darker and maybe a tad bit smoother.

This could be because that section of the board only sees the teeth "once". What I mean by that is that when the "slide" is in motion, the portion of the board that extends beyond the front of the parked blade always has a point that is contact with the teeth on the back of the blade as it cuts though and another point that is contact with - or very close to - the teeth on the front of the blade. That doesn't happen to the portion of the board nearer the fence. All that portion ever sees is the teeth on back of the blade as it cuts through.

Like I said, I don't even see that minuscule difference on the pine, just the MDF.

This saw took a little bit more adjustment to get the blade square to the fence, but the adjustment is so damn easy it doesn't matter. 1/32" off or

I'll play some more tomorrow and change out the blade a few times just to make sure that nothing crops up after some more use.

MDF is so fuzzy on the edge that the fibers probably rub the blade all the way through and shows up differently where you stop the blade. Sounds like your problem is solved. ;~)

UPS can be a pain!

I set it up with Amazon so that UPS would pick up the defective saw. Turns out UPS only picks up on weekdays during normal business hours and that someone must be there to hand over the package. They'll *leave* a $600 saw based on a note on the front door, but they won't take one away.

Since there is never going to be anyone home on weekdays during normal business hours, I decided to bring the 78 lb package to a nearby UPS Store. I called them first and told that the only tracking number I had was the "pick-up" tracking number, having been told by Amazon that the driver would create the shipping label when he picked up the box.

The nice lady at the UPS store said they could not create a shipping label from the pick-up tracking number, only one of the 2 "Customer Centers" in my area could. Guess when the Customer Centers are open. Yep, weekdays, during normal business hours. (Actually, one of them is open until 8PM, but still, no Saturday hours.)

So I called Amazon, explained the situation and they emailed me a return shipping label and cancelled the pick-up request. This is one of the reasons I bought a mini-van even though the kids moved out years ago. I tossed (more or less) the huge box in the back of the van, took it over to the UPS store and sent it on it's way.

DerbyDad03 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

I can understand that, kinda. If the driver picks up the wrong box at the minimum it can be a hassle to get back. In some areas it could be considered theft and UPS and the driver might be liable.

I'm not sure if the UPS Store is actually part of UPS or just affiliated with them. My sister used to work at Mailboxes, Etc. before they turned into The UPS Store.

Good on them to make this work. They earned the next sale.

Puckdropper

I never looked 8^)

I don't use my saw for finish work, just to chop down the 16 footers.

No shims to speak of, just a thrust washer, which may gave been "selective", but appears to not have been.

-BR

I bought one of those cement siding specific blades (Hardie board) for my Skill saw. Widely spaced carbide tipped teeth. Kinda spendy and the teeth came off after maybe 20 linear feet of cuts. I went back to a dirt cheap HF carbide blade, they last a long time and certainly a better cost/benefit that the expensive blade.

-BR

I have cut a lot of Hardie with a dedicated Sears circular saw and with a diamond blade, no teeth. It works well but stirs a lot of dust.

You want dust? I cut this stone riser with a POS Craftsman circular saw using one of those diamond blades.

Luckily, that job killed the saw (my first one). My next, and current saw, is a PC 743 left blade.

A veteran framer introduced me to left blade circular saws. As a right handed person, I don't have to lean over the saw to see the cut line.

IOW, I don't have to do this:

Left blade saws have been around for a while, for left handed people. FWIW the saw is intended to be used so that you do not see the blade, seeing the blade typically means more dust in your face.

I am the only one here that uses a shear? I can't imagine using a saw on c ementitious board, regardless of manufacturer. I bought my shear about 15

- 18 years ago and it still has the same blades. A small learning curve, b ut no dust, nothing but little curly strips to clean up, much faster than a saw, more accurate, much safer (no dust mask needed)and very quiet, too.

I saw 1x4 trims, and that's it.

Leon... you have always been a "right tool for the job guy", so if another cement board job comes along, I can't recommend a shear enough.

Robert

I'll certainly look in to that, but geez I hope I never have to do siding again..

So do they work on the 3/4" stuff too?

I have a Porter Cable fiber cement shear... Cutting siding with no dust is wonderful! The fiber cement trim still requires a diamond blade though as it is too thick for the shear. I don't think P-C offers that tool any more but there are certainly others on the market.

With the right tools and a couple of homemade jigs, it isn't really harder than any other siding. I have installed a lot of Hardie and its relatives on the rear elevation of 3/4 masonry houses when the home owners finally ge t tired of upkeep. I like it because I can put on the planking by myself i f I need to, even in full lengths.

The shear will gnaw through siding up to 7/16", and actually has replaceabl e blades. I have a fair amount of use on mine and it still cuts very well.

I tried the diamond wheel you referenced, and waaaay too much dust for me s ince it is literally grinding its way through the material. I found that a 12-14 tooth carbide wood blade (big teeth,NOT small like the Freuds) chewe d through the trims easily and quickly, and will last a full job.

Robert

Isn't it the truth? I still see guys out there with cheap miter saws, jig saws, circular saws and even small grinders standing in clouds of dust whi le cutting, breathing in all the silica, and coating everything within a 10

I am actually no innovator on using the shear, although I was the first one I know to have one. It was desperation. I sided LARGE house on three sid es with Hardie and used a saw for all the cuts. I had to power wash patios , pay for car washes, replant delicate plants, etc. Immediately behind the cutting area there was a fence, and behind the fence was the neighbor's re ally nice little garden. Well tended and very pretty, I killed the whole t hing with the silica dust.

I paid their gardener about a 600 bucks to dig up the top layer of soil, ad d new, then replace all her plants (garden was about 50'X8')to her specs.

By the time I counted up all the extra expense from the dust to clean every thing up and included the fact that no one else in that neighborhood wanted that done to their house (too messy!) I went found the shear and have stay ed with it ever since. It is useful enough that I have rented it to a coupl e of fellow contractors to use for a couple of days at a time, and they alw ays come back telling me they are going to buy their own. So far, no sign o f that, though.

Robert

I've had my P-C shear for about 12 years... I keep it on a short leash so it doesn't walk off. ;~)

I have to reside one side of my house this summer and some other repair work. What short of shear are we talking about?

Something like this?

Or this:

Definetly not the laminate flooring unit.

More like (this is the small one)