Miter saw problem

[Maurice Arney]

I have an older sears 10" compound saw (not a slider and only bevels one way). I haven't used it for years but it is compact and portable so I decided to clean it up and keep it in my shop. I put a new blade on it (one I had bought from sears way back) and squared it up with my woodpecker precision square. So it cuts perfectly square until about 1 1/2" from the end of the cut. The last inch and a half or so the cut sort of veers off to one side by probably 1 or 2 degrees! I tried different thickness of stock from 5/4 down to 1/2 inch thick as well as different widths and I always get the same results. Does anyone have any idea what could cause this behavior? Could it be the blade?

As always, Thanks for the great input!

[Joe O'Connor]

The only thing I can think of is blade run out. Meaning the arbor bearing is worn or damaged and allowing the blade to wobble as it spins. Try wiggling the blade side to side with the saw unplugged to see if there is any slop. I did warp a blade once and it did some really strange and scary things. That was a skill saw blade making a few hundred feet of 2x rips.

[Steve Baumgartner]

Another thought is wear in the pivot bearings. Again with it unplugged, try plunging it to various positions and see if you can detect any slop in the assembly.

[Maurice Arney]

Thanks, I'll check those out. I'll also try a different blade.