I finally figured out why my miter saw fence was out of square after 3 hours of checking the blade

I was cutting some oak trim for a built-in and the joints kept showing a hairline gap, so I spent the morning adjusting the bevel and miter angles with a precision square. It turned out the factory bolt holding the fence to the base had worked slightly loose over the last year, letting the whole assembly shift a millimeter during cuts. Has anyone else had a similar issue with a portable saw's fence needing a full disassembly to re-seat it properly?

4 comments

4 Comments

seth_shah2mo ago

Oh man, that exact thing happened with my old saw. I was getting so mad at these tiny gaps in some pine casing, checked everything but the fence. The whole unit would just rock forward a bit on heavy cuts. Took it apart and found the mounting points were worn down from vibration. Had to shim it with some aluminum tape to get it solid again.

jasonallen2mo ago

Did you try checking the fence like @seth_shah, because mine was loose in the same spot?

laura_schmidt822mo ago

Check the blade itself for wobble first. I've had that cause gaps even with a perfect fence.

kimr741d ago

Last time I checked for wobble I realized I was the one wobbling, not the blade.