Need advice on Zero-ing in My Makita Chop Saw

[Ken Dahl]

Hi.. new to the board, looks like a great resouce.

I have a 12" Makita LS1211 Sliding compund Miter saw and I am having trouble zero-ing or getting it to cut dead on at 90*degrees. I am not off far but I'd like to get it closer for finish work. I know I may not get it perfect but it needs to be closer.

Is there any other adjustment other than the the back fence or guide rail?
( part number 93 in the link )
The only solution I see is to bore out the holes that hold the back fence ( guide rail) and re adjust to zero it in.

here is the saw and exploded view

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/makita-ls1211-miter-saw-parts-c-97_98_99_325.html (http://www.ereplacementparts.com/mak...98_95_325.html)

thanks

KEn

[Ken Dahl]

Sorry my link does not work.. can we not link?

this is my saw

[Jim Dunn]

Ken, first off let me be the first to welcome you to SMC. Now the bad part, I can't help you, but can't imagine that you would have to bore out holes in a new saw to "zero" it in.

[Ken Dahl]

Thanks for the reply Jim

It is not a new saw.. I believe it has been neglected. I am still hoping that there is an adjustment in the unit to get it spot on. I know the backstop/fence adjsutment redrill will work but I am holding out before I bore the holes a little larger. I can't find anything online about a pdf manual either.

Maybe there is a reason I got the saw and stand for $175??

[Frank Stolten]

Ken,

I had a similar problem with my Makita LS1013 SCMS. I bought it new and the first thing I did was to check all the adjustments. On mine there wasn't enough adjustment range to square the blade to the fence so I wound up drilling out the fence mounting holes. I can't believe this saw was ever fully checked out at the factory and I was more than a little PO'd to have to work on a brand new saw. Once I got everything adjusted the saw performed satisfactorily and I'm happy with it but that was a rough beginning. I've always been a Makita fan and have a lot of "M" tools but my confidence in their QC has been shaken a bit.

[Geoff Grant]

Ken, I've have that saw since it first came out and I like it well enough now. I had some problems getting an exactly square cut with the factory blade even after "squaring the saw to the fence" with a machinist square. The fix for me turned out to be pretty simple - buy a good quality aftermarket blade. I bought a very fine tooth Irwin blade at HD and my problem cleared up. In retrospect, I wonder if the thinner kerf Makita blade was flexing?

Geoff

[Richard Wolf]

I use Dewalt and Bosch saws, but there should be an adjustment to the dedent plate to reset it to 90 degrees. Your link is not working to see the parts layout.

Richard

[Jerry Allen]

I had the same problem when I first got my LS1013. I struggled to get it at 90 deg and had the back fence full counter clockwise. I left it that way for awhile and tried it again some months later. I thought I would drill out the holes, but for some reason, when I loosened the bolts and shifted the fence forward and back before I changed the angle, it easily adjust correctly and not all the way CCW. ???? Have no idea why, but drilling was not necessary.
I don't think drilling it out would hurt as long as it's not too much, but I think you need to mess with it some more because the method isn't what you would think is logical. I agree it's weird, but really considering all the other design sophistication, woulkd they really make a fence adjustment that won't work?
Side note:
I recently bought the Freud 10" Sliding miter saw blade. It has a negative hook. Clean, safe cuts. I still let the blade stop before I lift it, but the number of small pieces flying around the shop has been reduced. I think it's a LU91R010. Wait for 20% off at Amazon.

[Donald Hughes]

You may need to contact Makita for a new fence. I have a 10" Makita and I had the same issue and it ended up being a bad fence. Makita sent a new fence about a week later at no charge. good luck