Mitre saw detent problem.

[keith micinski]

Let me say that without question my favorite tool I own is my Makita LS0714 mitre saw. It's small light accurate and I love it. I just found out though somehow my zero detent has some how gotten a little slop in it. It's the only slot on the saw that has any slop so unfortunately it's not the selector rod it has to be the actual slot itself. Anybody have any experience or any good ideas on how to take the slop out of the hole. The only thing I can come up with is to fill the slot in with JB cold weld and then file it out till the rod fits snugly. One problem I see with this is while the hole might be snug it has to be centered or the zero could end up being slightly off.

[keith micinski]

So no one seems to care but I did a little investigation and found that the rod that slides in and out has a slight cone shape to it to center itself in the slot. I was able to shave a little off of the lever that moves the rod in and out and this let the cone go in a little further snugging up the fit. For such a nice saw it really is a very poor design. My dewalt and Milwaukee have a metal plate that is seperate from the body that is adjustable and easily replaceable. This slot is going to continue to wear and the saw is going to be relegated to rough work unfortunately.

[Lee Schierer]

Any chance you could take it to a machine shop and have them accurately set it up and drill out the hole to fit in a drill bushing to fit the pin? You might have to disassemble the saw for them to do it. If you find a retired machinist with a good Bridgeport milling machine it wouldn't be that hard to set it up and drill it.

[keith micinski]

I think the next time it wears out a little more I might try and get a rod that's a little wider so the cone shape can be a little wider and it will work out pretty good.