I recently picked up an old Makita miter saw, and I'm having issues with it making poor quality cuts. Even when I'm cutting a 1x2, part of the cut is deeper than the other by about a 1/16th of an inch. Plus, the saw is chipping the bottom corner of my cuts nearest to me. I'm using a cross/rip blade with around half an inch between teeth. What can I do to improve the quality of my cuts?
3 Answers
Uneven cuts can stem from a couple of issues. It might be due to flex in the saw's arm or the blade not aligning correctly with the fence. A quick fix is to use a spacer piece between the fence and your workpiece. To reduce chipping, use a sacrificial piece against the edge that’s chipping off.
First off, check if the depth stop is set correctly. It might have shifted slightly and could be preventing a full depth cut. Adjusting that can sometimes fix your issue.
Consider getting a higher quality cross-cut blade, like an 80-tooth, and making a zero-clearance throat plate and fence. This can help massively with accuracy. Don't forget to keep all moving parts clean and functioning well. If these changes don’t improve things, you might want to look into upgrading your saw.
What's a zero-clearance exactly?
If I make zero clearance parts from wood, would that also act as a sacrificial piece?
Where do you suggest I place the sacrificial piece? Should it go below my workpiece? I'm getting chipping from the bottom.