I unboxed my new Makita plunge saw yesterday and this doesn't seems quite right to me.? Nice it came with an Efficut blade though
Is this acceptable for new saw?
- Thread starter lostinthelight
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D
Deleted member 174758
To me it looks as though you need to loosen the screw on the orange pointer, adjust it very slightly and re-tighten.
TBH I have yet to buy any saw which was perfectly correct (accurate) out of the box and didn't require some adjustment, however minor. BTW that includes a Festool Kapex and a Mafell-built Hilti WSC85. Any tradesman who moves kit about in a van should be able to tell you that moving kit about, even when adequately secured, can make pointers move, cause stops to loosen, and generally play havoc with the accuracy of saws (especially mitre saws), so having a box slop around loose in the back of a delivery courier's van... ?.
I think that the most important thing to check is that at the 0° setting (i.e. when against the stop, not when reading 0° on the scale) the cut is actually square. This should be done by making an actual test cut in something like 18mm MDF and then checking the cut material with a square which has itself been verified. This is because no amount of fiddling about with a square on the saw will ever give you a meaningful result. If the cut isn't square, there are two little grub screws on the underside of the saw which can be turned to adjust the zero, if needs be. Another test cut is then made and checked and so on. Once you have the saw cutting square you can adjust the pointer (watching out for parallax error) and then you can check the other detents (again taking care to counter parallax error).
Similarly two 45° test cuts made on the rails should marry to a true 90° edge, but considering how rarely I need this function, as opposed to square cuts, I'd be prepared to accept this being maybe 0.5° out and having to make manual corrections. After all a plunging rail saw is not a £10ķ 1.5 tonne panel saw (but it can do a lot that the big saw does for a tiny fraction of the money)
TBH I have yet to buy any saw which was perfectly correct (accurate) out of the box and didn't require some adjustment, however minor. BTW that includes a Festool Kapex and a Mafell-built Hilti WSC85. Any tradesman who moves kit about in a van should be able to tell you that moving kit about, even when adequately secured, can make pointers move, cause stops to loosen, and generally play havoc with the accuracy of saws (especially mitre saws), so having a box slop around loose in the back of a delivery courier's van... ?.
I think that the most important thing to check is that at the 0° setting (i.e. when against the stop, not when reading 0° on the scale) the cut is actually square. This should be done by making an actual test cut in something like 18mm MDF and then checking the cut material with a square which has itself been verified. This is because no amount of fiddling about with a square on the saw will ever give you a meaningful result. If the cut isn't square, there are two little grub screws on the underside of the saw which can be turned to adjust the zero, if needs be. Another test cut is then made and checked and so on. Once you have the saw cutting square you can adjust the pointer (watching out for parallax error) and then you can check the other detents (again taking care to counter parallax error).
Similarly two 45° test cuts made on the rails should marry to a true 90° edge, but considering how rarely I need this function, as opposed to square cuts, I'd be prepared to accept this being maybe 0.5° out and having to make manual corrections. After all a plunging rail saw is not a £10ķ 1.5 tonne panel saw (but it can do a lot that the big saw does for a tiny fraction of the money)
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I haven't tried to make a cut yet as my rails don't arrive until tomorrow but on closer inspection the pointer will not line up past 44°unless the latch to allow movement to 48° is depressed.
D
Deleted member 174758
Will the pointer line up at 0°? That is the most important one. TBH until you can make test cuts to verify the 0° is correct you don't have a starting point
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Forget about that pointer.
That saw locks in automatically at 0 and 45 (as well as 15, 22.5 and 30).
So lock it on 0, cut a piece of timber and check that the angle is correct.
Same for the 45 degree.
If it's correct, you won't need the pointer to know that the angles are correct.
Whenever (if ever) you will need to join an odd angle, like all joiners, you will need to find the correct angle by using scrap wood first, then look at the pointer and read whatever it tells you.
If it says 36 but it's 38 in real life, you will still go with that reading because that's what works with your project.
I always use that pointer as a guide, not as gospel for angles.
As said, it's not a 50k machine.
That saw locks in automatically at 0 and 45 (as well as 15, 22.5 and 30).
So lock it on 0, cut a piece of timber and check that the angle is correct.
Same for the 45 degree.
If it's correct, you won't need the pointer to know that the angles are correct.
Whenever (if ever) you will need to join an odd angle, like all joiners, you will need to find the correct angle by using scrap wood first, then look at the pointer and read whatever it tells you.
If it says 36 but it's 38 in real life, you will still go with that reading because that's what works with your project.
I always use that pointer as a guide, not as gospel for angles.
As said, it's not a 50k machine.
At the mo the pointer is below 0°.
I know you mentioned measuring the angle between blade and bed was not to be relied on but when measured with my engineering square accross the two raised sections either side of the bed and blade,missing the carbide tips ,its over square. If I were to =ally adjust the two allen bolts to square the angle I reckon the pointer would be closer to Zero.
D
Deleted member 174758
Forget trying to check the saw with a square! Instead do the test cut and check that - it's the only way to truly validate if the blade is perpendicular. Back in the days when I ran a workshop with a £20k+ Altendorf F45 panel saw we used to do the weekly checks using pieces of MDF and a simple engineer's square - because it was more accurate. It was also the manufacturer's recommended procedure...
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