Miter saw acting weird (re-titled thread)

[Handplanesandmore]

Cutting a fence in half isn't rocket science, nor is it  major surgery.

If I didn't tell you what I did on mine, you would never know it.....make the cuts so you leave a cast wall on each side, clean up with a file, done.

You can clamp, pull, tighten and adjust all you want, it won't hold long term.

Ed

The fence is relatively tall and trying to fix that by forcing it flat/straight and holding it with a couple screws at the back will prove futile in the long run, my opinion too. The fix may appear to work, but over time I suspect the out-of-squareness will come back as it is soft metal after all.

Cutting a major part of a new machine apart is a major surgery nonetheless. Such action would immediately void any warranty or return privilege. Although the experiment would cost just a few hundred bucks (not counting the labor cost) if it failed, I am not the kind of woodworker who would attempt to fix what is a manufacturing defect. Even if I had the skill and time.

Simon

[Stwood_]

The fence is relatively tall and trying to fix that by forcing it flat/straight and holding it with a couple screws at the back will prove futile in the long run, my opinion too. The fix may appear to work, but over time  I suspect the out-of-squareness will come back as it is soft metal after all.

Cutting a major part of a new machine apart is a major surgery nonetheless. Such action would immediately void any warranty or return privilege. Although the experiment would cost just a few hundred bucks (not counting the labor cost) if it failed, I am not the kind of woodworker who would attempt to fix what is a manufacturing defect. Even if I had the skill and time.

Simon

If ya'll
 would do just a dab of research/looking, the defective part of his fence is ***1-1/8" tall***.
It's the fence base that is crooked/curved, whatever.
The fence upper slide *wings* that make the fence an additional height of approximately 4-1/4" tall, is not the problem.

As I said before, you can push the fence into square with your thumb, no more than it's out.
If any of you actually have one of these saws, you can see what I am typing about.
Look at post 54 and you can see the fence base, wing is removed.

[Handplanesandmore]

If ya'll
 would do just a dab of research/looking, the defective part of his fence is ***1-1/8" tall***.
It's the fence base that is crooked/curved, whatever.
The fence upper slide *wings* that make the fence an additional height of approximately 4-1/4" tall, is not the problem.

That may be true about the base, but when you cut, the stock is NOT held only against the base, but against the whole fence which is not 1-1/8" tall. In other words, the true square test should be based on the FULL height of the fence, not just the top or bottom part.

In addition, every saw including the mix of material can be different from batch to batch of production, and your fixing experience might work for your saw(s), but could prove futile for others.

In the end, my point has been clear: as a woodworker (not as a repairman or learner of how to fix a new machine to make it work), the kind of fix given in this thread is not something I will attempt at risk of voiding my right to return my purchase.

Simon

[Stwood_]

When..you..move..the..crooked..base..back..into..square..the..wing..moves..with..it. No need to grind it.
 
The wing is separate. It slides...it glides...it moves...no not like a gal walking down the street.



Houston, we are attempting to correct the fence base, not the wings.


Correction.Temporary fix until he gets a new fence *base*

My version of man drama?? Lol

[EdL]

Here is what I had to do....

Ed

[Stwood_]

  Great fix Ed, but Mr. King probably can't do that due to warranty.
Dewaly may call up and say, send us the old fence, we'll pay the postage.
We want to evaluate that 1 millionth fence we've produced and we're wondering why it has warped.

[Steve in Nova Scotia]

  Great fix Ed, but Mr. King probably can't do that due to warranty.
Dewaly may call up and say, send us the old fence, we'll pay the postage.
We want to evaluate that 1 millionth fence we've produced and we're wondering why it has warped.

I wonder if it would be possible to slot the countersink in the fence just enough that the fence wouldn't spring back after the bolts are tightened with the c-clamp trick? I agree now, that grinding is not a great idea, as the wings would need to be done as well...

[Stwood_]

There is no countersink, nor countersink screws.
I've compared fence bases with my oldest saw, to the new 709 here. The bases are identical.
There's enough room in the base holes to move the base a 1/16" or more.

[KingwoodFan1989]

Hahaha, took me a few seconds to figure out that Stwood meant me when he said "Mr. King". Has a good ring to it, I gotta admit. 


To make a short story even shorter, I had DeWalt send me a new fence...they said the holidays could slow down the shipping process (something I wasn't surprised at in the least), but hopefully it'll be flat like the various other ones I've heard about on here and elsewhere.

As a last note, they didn't actually ask me to return the old fence. I just hope this process ends up fixing the problem permanently rather than simply delaying the a bad outcome (having to return the saw and look into other ones) like what happened when I bought Bosch's cheapest sander.

As for the whole "countersink" thing, I don't know if I was using the correct terminology. There is a slight chamfer at the top of the holes, though, and the underside of the screws conform to that. A couple pics below will show what I meant when I said "countersink".

[Steve in Nova Scotia]

There is no countersink, nor countersink screws.
I've compared fence bases with my oldest saw, to the new 709 here. The bases are identical.
There's enough room in the base holes to move the base a 1/16" or more.

Thanks for the clarification...then the c-clamp fix should work...problem solved!