Bob Feeser
07-25-2007, 07:02 PM
Re: Makita Compound sliding Mitre Saw
HELP!!! HELP!!! HELP!!! I am hoping someone will take the time to help me with this. I have a Makita LS10103FL Sliding saw that I cannot adjust square to the fence. It is cutting about 1/16 of an inch off. When I follow the manufactures recomendations, I cannot get it square. As a matter of fact, I don't think the fence or base moves at all when I losen the hex bolts. I must be doing something wrong. Does anyone have any pictures or can you give me any advice on how to make sure the blade and fence are square? I have tried 15 times and still get the exact same cuts. http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowupset.gif
Thanks for taking the time to help a fellow woodworker.
RC
***********************************************
RC,
I think I know what your problem is. I have both the 10" and the 12" Makita sliders. Several things worth mentioning. You can read my review at Amazon, which they chose as one of their featured, most helpful reviews. I titled it "Simply Put: It is the Best Compound Slider Out There Period" Here is the link to the page, just scroll down to the reviews. http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LS1013-Slid...2782&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LS1013-Slide-Compound-10-Inch/dp/B0000223I3/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7741126-4917516?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1185402782&sr=8-1)
Now onto your problem. There are a couple of possiblities as to why you could be having a problem. One is that the fence could be bent, and the other is that the range of alignment could be limited, requiring you to enlongate the hole that the bolt slides through on the fence.
If you look at the saw (regular LS1013 pictured)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51s%2BOxn1DQL._AA280_.jpg
you realize that the mechanics of creating a fence that will get out of the way in the middle where the blade travels, limits the amount of metal they can provide. They can not create a stronger fence by going below the table line, because that table has to be able to rotate. So they do the best that is possible in bulking up the center area behind the blade. If they went with cast iron for the fence, people would complain about how heavy the saw was. Considering it is a top pick amongst trim carpentars, that is a factor.
So how does all of this pertain to your fence being out of line? Namely this; The fence in the center can easily be bent. A common occurence, that I mentioned in my Amazon review, (and I did it twice myself, until I realized the effect it had on the fence, then I was careful not to repeat it) that is that I started my plunge for the cut, before the blade got a chance to really start spinning. The net result is that it grabbed the workpiece, and tried to fling it through the back of the saw. The workpiece with a bang, hit the weak center of the fence, causing a bend. Spin first, then plunge. I know we all get in a hurry sometimes, but this is a precision machine, worth caring for. The only way to fix that is to remove the fence, which is easy to do, and straighten it out, or loosen the bolts and straighten it in place.
The other possibliity is that it was shipped with the base being attached a little bit out. (Which I doubt because you mentioned 1/4" that it was off. My 1013 came with a couple of tenths of a degree being off. I immediately used a Bosch Digital Protractor to measure both the miter cut and bevel cuts on the saws right out of the box, the 12" saw was perfect, and the 1013 was off by only a couple tenths of a degree.
Just to get a perspective of how critical that is, when measuring degrees, their are 360 of them in a circle, as we all know, and when measuring in tenths of a degree, their are 3600 of them in a circle, no matter how small that circle is. If it passes that test it is really right on. Since my 1013 was off by only a few tenths, I wanted to adjust it, then I noticed that their isn't really any adjustment to it, but rather you can tweak the hold down bolt slots a little bit. Mine was already tweaked, so what I had to do was take a drill bit, against the soft aluminum fence material, and ream that hole out just a little bit.
I spoke to the factory rep from Makita, and he was interested in my suggestion that they could cast the fence portion only in such a way that their would be a small slot, instead of a fixed hole, which would then allow for any adjustment. He mentioned that the base is not adjustable from underneath either.
So if you true up both, of those things, you should have the most accurate saw on the planet once again.
I could not find reports of any of the other saws that came out of the box, totally accurate on both the miter cuts, and the bevel cuts. Like I said about the 12, it wasn't off by even a tenth of a degree on a compound cut.
HELP!!! HELP!!! HELP!!! I am hoping someone will take the time to help me with this. I have a Makita LS10103FL Sliding saw that I cannot adjust square to the fence. It is cutting about 1/16 of an inch off. When I follow the manufactures recomendations, I cannot get it square. As a matter of fact, I don't think the fence or base moves at all when I losen the hex bolts. I must be doing something wrong. Does anyone have any pictures or can you give me any advice on how to make sure the blade and fence are square? I have tried 15 times and still get the exact same cuts. http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowupset.gif
Thanks for taking the time to help a fellow woodworker.
RC
***********************************************
RC,
I think I know what your problem is. I have both the 10" and the 12" Makita sliders. Several things worth mentioning. You can read my review at Amazon, which they chose as one of their featured, most helpful reviews. I titled it "Simply Put: It is the Best Compound Slider Out There Period" Here is the link to the page, just scroll down to the reviews. http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LS1013-Slid...2782&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LS1013-Slide-Compound-10-Inch/dp/B0000223I3/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7741126-4917516?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1185402782&sr=8-1)
Now onto your problem. There are a couple of possiblities as to why you could be having a problem. One is that the fence could be bent, and the other is that the range of alignment could be limited, requiring you to enlongate the hole that the bolt slides through on the fence.
If you look at the saw (regular LS1013 pictured)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51s%2BOxn1DQL._AA280_.jpg
you realize that the mechanics of creating a fence that will get out of the way in the middle where the blade travels, limits the amount of metal they can provide. They can not create a stronger fence by going below the table line, because that table has to be able to rotate. So they do the best that is possible in bulking up the center area behind the blade. If they went with cast iron for the fence, people would complain about how heavy the saw was. Considering it is a top pick amongst trim carpentars, that is a factor.
So how does all of this pertain to your fence being out of line? Namely this; The fence in the center can easily be bent. A common occurence, that I mentioned in my Amazon review, (and I did it twice myself, until I realized the effect it had on the fence, then I was careful not to repeat it) that is that I started my plunge for the cut, before the blade got a chance to really start spinning. The net result is that it grabbed the workpiece, and tried to fling it through the back of the saw. The workpiece with a bang, hit the weak center of the fence, causing a bend. Spin first, then plunge. I know we all get in a hurry sometimes, but this is a precision machine, worth caring for. The only way to fix that is to remove the fence, which is easy to do, and straighten it out, or loosen the bolts and straighten it in place.
The other possibliity is that it was shipped with the base being attached a little bit out. (Which I doubt because you mentioned 1/4" that it was off. My 1013 came with a couple of tenths of a degree being off. I immediately used a Bosch Digital Protractor to measure both the miter cut and bevel cuts on the saws right out of the box, the 12" saw was perfect, and the 1013 was off by only a couple tenths of a degree.
Just to get a perspective of how critical that is, when measuring degrees, their are 360 of them in a circle, as we all know, and when measuring in tenths of a degree, their are 3600 of them in a circle, no matter how small that circle is. If it passes that test it is really right on. Since my 1013 was off by only a few tenths, I wanted to adjust it, then I noticed that their isn't really any adjustment to it, but rather you can tweak the hold down bolt slots a little bit. Mine was already tweaked, so what I had to do was take a drill bit, against the soft aluminum fence material, and ream that hole out just a little bit.
I spoke to the factory rep from Makita, and he was interested in my suggestion that they could cast the fence portion only in such a way that their would be a small slot, instead of a fixed hole, which would then allow for any adjustment. He mentioned that the base is not adjustable from underneath either.
So if you true up both, of those things, you should have the most accurate saw on the planet once again.
I could not find reports of any of the other saws that came out of the box, totally accurate on both the miter cuts, and the bevel cuts. Like I said about the 12, it wasn't off by even a tenth of a degree on a compound cut.