wrecked my miter saw

[Brandon Speaks]

So I am going to need some advice on this one.

I had a 1.5 inch dowel that I wanted to cut some short sections off of to make vice handles before turning them on the lathe. To quickly make a nice square cut I went to the miter saw, first three cuts are fine, last one is only taking an inch or so off and the saw catches and throws the wood. Never seen that happen before. Ok fine that was weird but I find another small cut off from earlier and try to trim it (I know not the best idea to repeat but I thought it was a fluke) same thing happens, catches and shoots the piece out like a bullet.

Anyway I did not cut my hand, although it is rather bruised I guess I came out alright.

So later I go to break down a 2x4 and see the fence is way out of alignment. I pull it off and if I lay it flat on my bench it is so bent that when the ends touch the middle is an inch in the air. Apparently before the piece flew at me it hit the fence and bent the heck out of it.

I took it down to my hand tool bench and clamped it flat, I figured that maybe clamping it flat and leaving it for a bit might fix it but I am not optimistic.

Anyway, two questions.

1. What the heck happened that caused that kick back type reaction, can I not cut a dowel on that saw?
2. What is the best way to fix the fence?

[Jim Becker]

When you are doing particularly short cutoffs with the miter saw, it's extremely important that when you complete the cut you do NOT raise the blade until it stops turning. The small cutoff will inadvertently vibrate right into the blade and you'll get the thrown material just as you describe.

Can't help you with number two without seeing photos of the situation.

[Eric Schmid]

The short answer is the work piece or cut off likely rotated, causing the kick back. If you’re not using sub fences, the gap between the fences may be allowing the wood to rotate toward the opening. Not holding the workpiece securely and with confidence can lead to the piece moving. If your hands are uncomfortably close to the blade it’s difficult to hold it with confidence. Finally, don’t lift the blade before it’s through the cut and stops.

There are safer ways to cut round stock.

If it makes you feel any better, I broke one fence clean in half making a cut I knew better than to attempt.

[Brandon Speaks]

Ok makes sense, I think I understand what happened.

Big next question is how do I fix the fence? Its a kobalt so I dont think I can just buy one, not in proportion to the price of the tool anyway.

I suppose if clamping flat lead to still having a recess I can use a shim on the end and clamp the middle and get it to work?

[Bill Orbine]

You need zero clearance fence. Clamp or screw a board to your saw fence. Set your saw angle and make the cut into the fence. There you have a zero clearance fence. Of course, you'll have to rectify the fence every time you change the angle.

Still..... Cutting something round and very short has dangers even though you have zero clearance fence.

[glenn bradley]

Any off cut not supported by the fence, so really anything short, can become a projectile. People just get away with so often they stop thinking it is dangerous. As mentioned, a sac-fence is your answer. Clamping stock on both sides of the cut is even better. Here's a shot with the left hand side in place.

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[Phil Mueller]

Ok Brandon, not to be a smart aleck, but given your new interest in hand tools, a nice little hand saw would have done the trick without a lot of drama (sorry, couldn’t resist :D ).

[Brandon Speaks]

Ok Brandon, not to be a smart aleck, but given your new interest in hand tools, a nice little hand saw would have done the trick without a lot of drama (sorry, couldn’t resist :D ).

I know right! Its actually even funnier than that. I was in my basement shop practicing some angled cuts getting ready to build a saw bench (the type of cut that works well on a miter saw :)) and went to the garage to grab a coke. I see a dowel that I forgot I had and think great I can use that for the vice handles and the miter saw happened to be the first thing I passed on the way to the lathe that was capable (or so I thought) of cutting it. Two more steps and I would have been at the band saw and 3 more steps and I would have passed a had saw, either of which would have turned out better.

To make this comedy of errors even more amusing after putting the fist piece in the late I immediately got a catch and managed to launch another projectile. I guess my power tools are jealous of how much I am enjoying my hand planes :rolleyes:.

Anyway I did not realize the dangers of short cut offs or round stock in the miter saw. I am glad that I got the lesson with only a bruise and sore hand and still have all my fingers. After the next cup of coffee I will go see if my clamp job fixed the fence, although I doubt I get it perfectly square. I suppose some shims and a board could rectify that and give me a zero clearance sac fence in the process.

[Ted Phillips]

Not to pile on, but I got rid of my mitre saw for a similar reason - I didn't trust myself using it any longer. I sold it and used the funds to purchase a nice Nobex Proman mitre saw and a couple of other hand saws. Not a luddite, just someone who relishes a little peace and quiet in the shop.

TedP

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[David Eisenhauer]

The deeper you dive into hand tools, the more you begin to realize that often it is just quicker/easier/safer to just grab a hand tool and do it without worrying about jigs/guides/hold downs/etc. Quieter and no dust also.

[Jim Becker]

Anyway I did not realize the dangers of short cut offs or round stock in the miter saw.

Honestly, it's not just round stock. Squares and rectangles will behave exactly the same way if the blade is lifted before it stops turning and the piece vibrates into the spinning cutter. DAMHIKT!!!

[Lee Schierer]

Honestly, it's not just round stock. Squares and rectangles will behave exactly the same way if the blade is lifted before it stops turning and the piece vibrates into the spinning cutter. DAMHIKT!!!

If anything round stock is much worse, because it will want to spin in your hand as the blade comes in contact with the top of the dowel. Short pieces aslo want to rotate and jam between the blade and the open part of the fence usually accompanied by a really loud noise.

[Jim Becker]

I don't disagree, Lee...round stock poses greater risk for the reasons you mentioned. (Just cut some dowel two days ago and really clamped down on it for those same reasons) But it's also true that "short anything" on a miter saw can pose risk of material being thrown, so stopping that blade before disengaging from the material can really help reduce that from happening.

[James Pallas]

Brandon, Another caution for you as you mentioned round stock and passing the band saw. Don't cut round stock or anything that will end up unsupported on the trailing edge or you may end up with another surprise. The band saw blade will catch the trailing edge and throw the piece also. Hand saw or cradle for the band saw.
Jim

[Harry Hagan]

Ok makes sense, I think I understand what happened.

Big next question is how do I fix the fence? Its a kobalt so I dont think I can just buy one, not in proportion to the price of the tool anyway.

I suppose if clamping flat lead to still having a recess I can use a shim on the end and clamp the middle and get it to work?


It'll probably spring back from being compressed flat so that might be necessary. You might also try heating the bent area to relax the metal while it's compressed on a flat surface before shimming and if necessary while shimming.

[Roger Fournier]

I had the same thing happen once with my Dewalt miter saw. I tried clamping to the bench as you have done, but the fence would spring back. I shimmed up the ends of the fence about 1/2 inch above the bench and clamped the center beyond the point where it was straight. When the clamp was released, it was much closer. A couple of more tries, and I got it perfectly straight. I'm very much more careful with round stock now!

[julian abram]

That has probably happened to all of us at least once, a puckering moment. Kinda like a tablesaw kickback. As others have said, when cutting small pieces use a sub fence that fully supports the stock and leave the blade down until it stops spinning. I cut several small dowels (3/16") today for wife's craft project. Here is the sub fence I lay on my miter when cutting small parts. It is just a 2x8 on the bottom with a 2x4 attached on the back.


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[mike sato]

So I am going to need some advice on this one.

I had a 1.5 inch dowel that I wanted to cut some short sections off of to make vice handles before turning them on the lathe. To quickly make a nice square cut I went to the miter saw, first three cuts are fine, last one is only taking an inch or so off and the saw catches and throws the wood. Never seen that happen before. Ok fine that was weird but I find another small cut off from earlier and try to trim it (I know not the best idea to repeat but I thought it was a fluke) same thing happens, catches and shoots the piece out like a bullet.

Anyway I did not cut my hand, although it is rather bruised I guess I came out alright.

So later I go to break down a 2x4 and see the fence is way out of alignment. I pull it off and if I lay it flat on my bench it is so bent that when the ends touch the middle is an inch in the air. Apparently before the piece flew at me it hit the fence and bent the heck out of it.

I took it down to my hand tool bench and clamped it flat, I figured that maybe clamping it flat and leaving it for a bit might fix it but I am not optimistic.

Anyway, two questions.

1. What the heck happened that caused that kick back type reaction, can I not cut a dowel on that saw?
2. What is the best way to fix the fence?

Thank you for this thread. Hasn't happened to me yet but I can now see how that can happen. Sorta like trimming a short piece on a table saw using a miter gauge similar to this one:

Image from rockler.com
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Where the table saw's fence is used as the stop to get same size cut offs, without using a spacer block. The small piece gets caught between the blade and the fence at an angle and the blade flings the piece toward the user. In the miter saw's case, it's a little different in that there is no fence behind the short wooden dowel so the blade flings it away from the user and the piece gets caught between the blade and the OEM fence, bending the fence.

You probably saved me from a similar accident.
Thanks,
Mike

[Brandon Speaks]

I found the wood piece today and could clearly identify what happened from the markings.

The cut went in about 1/3 of the was and then you could see the piece rotated nearly one full turn pulling the piece from left to right toward the blade leaving a screw thread type pattern. It apparently then left my hand and you can see where one tooth caught and this must have been when it was thrown. Just glad my hand was not pulled into that blade.

Anyway lesson learned about not cutting round stock on that saw. I could have done it with a hand saw in about the same amount of time anyway.

Also I am glad I learned about the danger of short cuts offs. While trimming a dowel is not a particularly common operation for me I do regularly use that saw to break down 2x and 1x boards and occasionally trim a piece short enough for it to be unsupported. A zero clearance sacrificial fence seems like an easy nearly free solution.

On the current fence clamping it flat did not work but using shims to clamp past flat got it close enough. Its not perfect like it was before but really this saw is used for rough not precision cuts in my shop anyway so its not the end of the world.

Thanks everyone for your assistance.

[Peter Christensen]

Maybe you have already done so but if I saw the fence had been bent that much I would be looking to see what else was knocked out of alignment, or the saw blade or arbor shaft bent?

[Brandon Speaks]

Maybe you have already done so but if I saw the fence had been bent that much I would be looking to see what else was knocked out of alignment, or the saw blade or arbor shaft bent?

That is a good idea. Nothing seemed obvious, but I should do a full check. A test cut was a little further out of spec than I expected from just the fence so something else might be off.

[Rick Potter]

For small pieces, a simple sled for your band saw will work wonders.

[Curt Harms]

If you're so inclined, you might be able to buy a replacement fence as long as you're not in a hurry for it.
https://www.kobalttools.com/contact-us

[Benjimin Young]

Brandon, THANK-YOU for starting this great thread, being honest and sharing your experience. I often take my miter saw for granted and perform quick cuts without taking the same precautions I would do on other tools such as a table or radial saw. Your post and all the great responses reminded me to stop and always work safe with ALL my tools. Thanks!! ;-)