Quickly Calibrate a Brand New Miter Saw - Quick Accuracy Check Tutorial
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- Опубліковано 2 лип 2024
- Quick video on how to check your miter saw to see if it is properly calibrated out of the box.
My Favorite Square for Calibration - Woodpecker 4" & 6" - amzn.to/4000wRb (Amazon - Earns Commissions)
00:00 - Intro
00:13 - Check The Base
00:47 - Check the Fence Alignment
01:45 - Get An Accurate & Reliable Square
02:03 - Start with the Zero Degree Detent First
03:21 - Basic Calibration Test
04:22 - Check 45 Degree Detents
09:33 - Outro
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As a pro builder/carpenter for 30 plus years, and someone that has watched many of Spencer's videos, I have to say it is hard to overstate how good his videos are. Great instructions, tips and techniques in real world situations with zero ego. Great editing too. No rambling on or repeating himself. There is always more than one way to do things, and Spencer never preaches that his way is the best. We never stop learning in this business, and I have certainly learnt a lot from Spencer. Thank you and keep your videos coming.
Will do!
I have a 12"Flex Tool miter saw and the fence can surprisingly be adjusted. It's been a fantastic saw for such a new brand.
I had no idea why to check for calibration, I don't use my chop saw often. I'm a DIY around the house. I'm going to check it out now. Thanks for the heads up.
Doing all these things makes a tremendous difference in joint quality. I used a six year old company saw and took the 10-15 minutes to true it up and the results were the best work I’ve ever done. It earned me a nice gift from the customer. They were so impressed with it they decided to not put up blinds over the sliders and windows.
Thanks for all you do here for everyone.
Nice shootin' Tex
Nice tutorial. Instead of loosening the detention plate, moving, tightening and going through the whole process again, I like to loosen the screws once and move the table in small increments locking it down each time with the handle. Since the detent plate is loose it will automatically follow. Once the saw is cutting 90 degrees I’ll tighten the screws.
I've bought hundreds of miter saws in 18 yrs of running a crew of 14 trim guys and DeWalt saws r the best.
Thanks so much. I’m just a DIY guy and have always thought something was off with my saw but not enough to investigate. I recently decided to frame a stained glass window and the problem drove me crazy enough to do so research on calibrating the saw. Post calibration picture frame test proved the adjustments were right on. Of course the frame is not big enough and I need to start over but the lesson learned is well worth it. Thanks again for taking the time.
i had to build an elongated octagon tall shower curb with a gluelam milled down to 2.5in , i needed perfect joints so i had to calibrate for 22.5 where accuracy compounds even more , that was fun!
Just bought a DeWalt DWS779 with Miter Saw Stand on special so, I had to come back here to see how to calibrate it. Thanks for your video.
Great material, Spencer. I followed your more indepth calibration videos on my Makita LS1013 and after being hauled gobs of times in the bed of my truck to jobs it still cuts true. Thank you for your valuable time. This old finish carpenter appreciates it muchly, Sir.
Thanks Spencer. Based on your recommendation I bought the Festool Kapex. I have to say, mine was almost perfect out of the box. Only made a slight adjustment to the mitre angle gauge. I've never had a mitre saw I enjoy using as much as this one. Thanks for the videos. Please keep them coming.
Thanks for the video. I will definitely use some of these tips in the future as I get started in my woodworking hobby!
Fantastic video Spencer! Bought this saw based on your recommendation a year ago, and absolutely love it and could not imagine being without it on a production trim job. The blade shadow light is a must in production. Thanks again.
Great lesson Spencer. I am going to check mine tomorrow.
Between social media, youtube, competition for customers and return options manufacturers have no choice but to produce a good product. Most products seem to be "good to go" right out of the box these days or the product gets a 1 star review. Spencer is 100% right - If it does not meet your performance expectations then send it back. Great Video!
I don't know about that. there are serious price pressures in the tool market, and a lot of people have reasonable expectations. Spencer has been explicit in the past about returning 780s, because they were not good out of the box. Which is what I would expect when you are paying like 500 bucks for a miter saw. I couldn't even THINK about building one myself for that price.
At work, our last 780 was absolutely terrible. My boss doesn't Calibrate his equipment at all and it wasn't mine and wasn't riding around in my work vehicle, so I didn't check the fence for square or anything, but it had a bearing issue on the slider, causing massive friction when you tried to slide it in and out. My boss procrastinated about returning it until warranty expired, but when the thing was about 13 months old and we had some time, he sent it in JUST to get the slider to slide properly.
Anyway, they tore it apart, told him it would basically be the price of a new saw in parts to fix, sent it back to him in pieces, and specifically, it had MAJOR wear on the motor parts, in addition to a slider that didn't slide. And I know for the fact he returned one before he settled on this absolute winner that was in pieces before the 18 month mark.
Similarly, last time we got an air compressor, it was one of those porter cables (the formerly reputable company that got bought out by some multinational to trade on the reputation whlie shipping generic factory work with a porter cable decal stuck on it), and the 18 gauge nailgun didn't even work out of the box. came free with the compressor kit, but it went directly into a dumpster.
Starrett also used to be known as a decent miter gauge manufacturer, but try reading amazon reviews for their miter gauge. It's out in some cases by entire degrees.
Trying to to decide how much you need to spend to turn out accurate work is a constant concern for carpenters, and miter saws specifically, it's a major concern for, which is why you see guys on youtube rocking like 20 year old hitachis because they used to be amazing and are apparently the best miter saw you can get, only problem is that they haven't made them for decades.
At work, we were having a serious conversation a week ago about moving to the bosch axial glide, even with it's horrific stock dust collection, because we had such a bad experience with the last pair of dewalts. (the one that got returned and the one that SHOULD have got returned).
I was sent an axial glide to review years ago and it was the worst saw I ever touched. So loose in the slide movement I didn't even bother to use it. Terrible saw IMO.
Spencer, I’ve heard/read you say that in the past. I’ve been using a 10” for 2 years now. I build cabinets, doors, drawers etc. I’ve not experienced that slack. It might be worse with 12” axial but I worry about runout in a 12” in general.
I disagree. That'd be like tossing a new vice on a mill and getting upset with the manufacturer when your vice is holding a part off-square, when the vice really needed to be zero'd out. There are procedures required after purchase, and what he's doing is required in order to produce an acceptable product.
Great clear concise instruction. Thanks!
You are an excellent teacher, sir! To put this kind of work into videos just to help others, is just so awesome.
Can't thank you enough for making these vids ... learn sooo much. And being subbed for so long it's been a huge joy watching the continued success with the channel and allllll of your huge projects and glorious results. Hope ya have a wonderful weekend.
I appreciate that!
Very informative, thanks for going through this I expect this will realy help my DIY projects.
It's just basic common sense, the more accurate the saw is the better the outcome.... especially if your doing finish work on cabinets and trim. I even check my circular saws for accuracy, I've had the sled/plate on some saws that were off by a 1/4in so it's important. Great demonstration 👍
Awesome Spencer...thanks again!
I asked a retailer about the Festool Mitre Saw because I want precision and have had a gut full of having to grind, bend and mess with saws that are not manufactured with flat base/wings, warped fence and blade wobble etc.
His remark was that they are all perfect... but I'm confident that's not the case unless they have improved their QA since I last researched what to buy.
Thank you for doing this video - I am struggling to get my new sliding mitre saw to cut straight!! Trying everything.
Thanks once again Spencer 👊👊👍 A straightforward, easy to understand explanation.
I was lucky with my new cordless Dewalt. Fence was square and base was level. Detents had to be adjusted ever so slightly and the bevel as well. Other than that it was good to go out of the box.
BTW. Still working on my kit-bashed miter saw stand I told you about. It’s hard to stop and work on your own stuff while in the middle of a huge project.
That nice blade helps too. Great video Spencer.
Thank you ! Very helpful❤
Awesome video dude, appreciate it.
I just finally got the 780 last week so the timing is perfect! Can't wait to dive in.
This video is more like a wading pool.
Good information
Good info. Thanks.
Excellent (again!)
Great video. Mine was cutting perfect 90s out of the box but the 45s were both off about 1/4 of a degree. My solution was to lock it in at 0, loosen all the detent screws, and then pull the whole detent plate forwardjust a hair. Took a couple of tries as there’s quite a bit of play in the screw “holes”. Hope this helps someone
That's what has worked for me in the past also.
Great teaching tool
I know it's a poor carpenter who blames his tools. But I was trying to do quality trimwork with $100 miter saw. Looked up how to calibrate it, you couldn't calibrate it. Ended up buying a Dewalt. My work greatly improved in one day.
You can calibrate some fences. My fence is bolted on, so I was able to calibrate it by loosening them and making the adjustments before tightening the bolts again.
After you use your saw for a while, one thing to keep an eye on is checking the wear on your wear plate that the table pivots on. After time mine tend to wear unevenly and the saw will want to slightly tip one way to the other when going from 45 degree cut to a 45 degree cut the opposite way.
Thanks.................. It never hurts to check your cuts....
Thanks!
Good video. I enjoy your videos. Sad that I spent $600 on a new saw (DWS780) and the moveable fence portions are junk. There is so much slop in the castings that when you tighten them down they are .020 out of square to the table. I didn't really expect it to be perfect, but close would be nice. It appears this is the same design they've used for years, so Dewalt doesn't care, and or this isn't something customers are worried about enough to register a complaint.
Too late, last week I finished calibrating my 12" Dewalt. For square to the fence I used a piece of 3/4 x 12" by 36" MDF and a 26" woodpeckers square. I also made a quick and dirty picture frame out of 6" plywood, the miters were nicely closed.
Great woodpeckers triangle.
I had to return my first Ridgid 12" model b/c the Asian facilities that assemble the miter saw set the tension so high on the detent unlock button that you almost had to squeeze it with 2 hands to get it unlocked and after a full day of using it my hand felt like I had arthritis. The threaded rod, nut, plastic piece on the underside of the miter arm that adjusts the tension of the button are made of very thin threaded rod which bent and the plastic piece (don't know what it's called) snapped when I tried to adjust it per what the instruction manual said. I was furious and took it back to Home Depot to be sent off for repair, but they sent me a brand new one instead. The replacement they sent me was about 1-2 degrees out of square (could see it with your eyes without using a square) and I saw it on the first cut. I was boiling mad but read the manual on how to calibrate it and I'm actually glad I did b/c it's something that you really need to know how to do if you use one frequently. After I got it calibrated I will say the saw has been perfect ever since and haven't had any issues. I had heard that about 50% of miter saws are not square right out of the box but most of them are really easy to calibrate and once you do it, you probably won't have to do it again and you don't need specialty tools.
Hi Spencer, thanks for the video. Great learning! Just wondering when would you post the modern door and window trim episode? Cheers
It'll be coming up. That house is getting very close to being finished.
This video for being a crash course was very informative. One question, do you have any videos wrapping an existing pillar that is not trimmed its just dry walled. if not could you possible do one?
Thanks for the video! What zero clearance plate and aux fence are you using?
Well done as usual, simple and to the point. Any battery miter saws worth buying in your opinion? I have a 10" Makita but looking for a 12".
I have that problem with building our cabin which we have never done before. As a machinist I want things to be right on the money and keep tight tolerances which I'm finding out is just about impossible with wood which drives me nuts lol.
Just a heads up, if anyone is running the m18 cordless miter saw 10 or 12" either, the detent ring screws will strip incredibly easy during calibration. I only use mine for paint grade or decking now, sadly.
I hated the m18 10” miter saw. I used it for one job and realized it was horrible to calibrate and also never stayed calibrated. Sold it and got a 780 and I’ll never look back. If I need a battery miter saw again I’ll get the new dewalt 781
That's really good to know. I've been wanting to give the 781 a test.
Since you have auxiliary fences you could shim the top out with some playing cards or tape if you wanted to get it closer. You probably already figured that out.
Hi. Looking for plans for your former ( V 2.0) wings. Are they available? Thanks for the videos!
Great video as always. I have got your other video on calibration book marked as I bought the dws 780 at Christmas after watching a couple of reviews you did on it. Still to set it up and get it into my workshop. What model is your new saw?
Same,. 780
Another valuable lesson. Thanks Spencer. BTW, what are your thoughts on the zero clearance tape available for miter saws?
he likes zero clearance but he buys the zero clearance inserts from custom fabricating solutions (20 something bucks, ships from US, same place he gets his auxilliary fences from). He covered it a couple videos ago.
I haven't used it much. I haven't found a real need for it.
For furniture making yes ,installing trim work no one sees the back.😊
I agree with what you are saying to the extent that most "DIYers" aren't going to have the physical comprehension required to recalibrate the fence, bevel, or detents on a new chop saw. Therefore they should return the new saw for a "better" new saw. The saws were not manufactured in the store they were made in factories far away, boxed and shipped to the store. They can go out of calibration during freight no matter how good the factory did just depends on the journey to the store.... But that does not mean a finish or seasoned carpenter can't open the manual and read the calibration sequences.... It's usually a few bolts to loosen but only someone with the right tools and knowledge should attempt such a feat.
My back hurts thinking about installing those built ins behind you
Mine too... LOL
What would be an acceptable tolerance for the base? I just purchased a dewalt dws780 and using a straight edge (tried a few different straight edges actually) and the fixed part of the base (left and right) and the left part of the internal base (the part that rotates) are all perfect but the right side of the internal base sits about 7 thousandths (.007) low. Would this be enough to cause issues? Thank you
I've struggled for 2 years to get the M18 fuel 7 ¹/⁴ cutting properly in every direction.
My dewalt was spot on since day one, but this milwaukee is a pain....and it sucks cause I love the size of it for portability of small trim jobs.
Good to know.
Every time somebody has lost a piece of timber in a saw check your fence. They bend. So across both fences with a straight edge. Don't ever trust a blade. You need to use a wide board cut to check for square.
One recommendation to those getting their saws dialed in is to not use your new zero clearance insert until it is dial in or perfect to your standards.
I run a Makita 12” XL ? Anyway I found it dead accurate and I go thru those basic calibrations steps almost 2 times a month or more ? Not so much the head I found it to be just solid and dead on even out of the box! A good blade can not be explained just how much it changes things! I run that Chop Master and use those same squares! I do finish and custom cabinets like in the back ground there! Try that with an out of square saw !
Los mejores videos .donde puedo conseguir las bases que tienes en tu cortadora
Custom fabricating solutions. Easy speedy fence. www.customfabricatingsolutions.com/store/p99/DeWalt_12%22_DWS780%2C_DWS782%2C_DWS779%2C_DHS780_%26_DHS790_EZ-Speedy_Zero_Clearance_Left_and_Right_Fence.html
I was a crazy perfectionist with my tools when I started in 80s.....now unless it's obvious I just run it....depending on level of detail per job....
But yeah you can get ocd on this stuff
Its CDO don't cha know... Alphabetical order. 😉
What is the tooth count for your blade?
Have you moved away from using the FS tool blades? Noticed you have a forrest chopmaster on there.
No, I still love them. I just had the chopmaster around and it was sharp so I threw it on the saw for the helper.
Spencer, would the Wixey Digital Angle Gauge work to set up your 45-degree angles on the Miter Saw?
In my opinion it is not nearly accurate enough for that type of calibration. It will get you close, but not calibration level close.
and of course any time your hands or a square is going to be close to the blade, be sure your saw is unplugged, safety first.
I'm an advanced DIYer and have a Dewalt DCS361 20V Mitre Saw. I've learned a ton from your videos. From the day I bought the saw in 2015 it has never been able to cut a reliable mitre. I have attempted to align it many times over the years. Because the blade is so small, I've been using the board-flipping technique and a square on the board. It's hard to get a good read on the blade. I get perfect 90s, and perfect 45s on the left side of the table. But the 45 on the right is never accurate. Does this mean my fence is bad? Your videos stop short of dealing with this problem. Should I try a replacement fence? Thanks
I should add the fence looks straight by a straightedge... A bad detent plate?
My old Hitachi had a 2 piece fence made calibration a breeze. When i bought my dewalt flexvolt, the fence was slightly bent so i took it back, dewalt rep fixed me up. But what would you think about cutting the back of the fence?
I have an older Porter Cable miter saw that came with a two piece fence. It takes a little time to calibrate it, but you don’t need to worry about having a one piece fence that is bent. I was using a Dewalt miter saw once that I was struggling to get the saw calibrated until I realized that the fence was bent. I cut the fence in half at the back of the loop and proceeded to calibrate one side of the fence and then the other side. This worked perfectly.
@@tomreidy1237 thats what i was talking about. Not sure why its a one piece or the engineering behind it
I wouldn't mess with it. Not worth the trouble to me. I'd return and get another one.
@@InsiderCarpentry this was an older miter saw- way out of warranty. Someone was cutting a piece of aluminum extrusion and it pinched the blade and slammed the fence. I agree with you if it is new- take it back. However, if you can't do that and you still need it to cut accurately- cutting the fence into 2 pieces did improve the cuts.
I find if the fence is not square to the bed.cutting tall baseboard at a 45 the cut will not be square up an down
Wouldn't a digital angle gauge also be a good tool for some (not all) of these settings?
I have found the digital gauges to not be 100% repeatable. I don't think they were ever intended for calibrating tools. They are typically used to finding angles, pitches, etc. Far different from calibration. With that said they can be helpful but I back it up with a machinist square. Use a blade with as close to zero runout as possible. Also useful once calibration has been done and you want to hit a specific angle. If you look at the range of accuracy spec they are all the same until you get into expensive tools. The world of calibration equipment and methodology is a whole 'nuther rabbit hole!
I check mine periodically.... one thing you missed was the 45 degree bevel. That's usually where I find issues.
If I'm beveling its usually 45.5 or 46 degree overcut anyway, so it's usually not as critical.
@@InsiderCarpentry Good point Spencer, thanks for your reply.
It is very important to use a well made blade be ready to spend 200 # dollars for good trim work
Where did you get the upgraded fence on that saw?
that's the EZ speedy fence from custom fabricating solutions. It's easy to find on google.
And how do you check your square to make sure it is , with the 3,4,5 method?
He checked if it was square when he spent over 100 dollars on a tiny woodpecker square lol
Quick easy way is to take your square to a piece of scrap with a straight edge, make a mark, flip the square over, make another mark either right on your previous mark, or ~ 1/16" away. If the marks are parallel, its square, if not its junk. My $12 speed square is accurate, but not all are.
@@michaelnichols7669 this is the correct answer.
No link to calibration videos.
how many of these things do you go through!! You did a video not to long ago on the same subject.. My DWS780 was perfect out of the box. good saw, a bit heavy
Just bought a new one for my apprentice.
what blade do you use?
www.amazon.com/FS-Tool-SM6300-MITER-JOINT/dp/B089T744RP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20QQU3XFCTW2Q&keywords=fs+tool+sm6300&qid=1678753905&sprefix=fs+tool+sm%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1
Why is there Orange paint sprayed on your new DeWalt Miter Saw?
Theft detterent. So that I know its mine, and I find if you leave a brand new bright and shiney tool on a jobsite with no identification on it, good change it walks off.
You forgot step three after checking base and fence, remove gard.
Companies dont waste their time to calibrate tools, because its time consuming to teach such incompetent workers who can only tighten screws with manual 😂
According to simple logic, blade is fixed with whole body so first thing to adjust is the fence, just to make it square cut, then angle plate to match 90°. Then bevel with good speeeedsquere - as you said
But don't you have like 6 miter saws already?..... 😆 🤣 😂
Only 5 actually... LOL
Thanks!
No problem!