How do you square up a modern miter saw? A table saw? What if it’s cordless?
Well, did you check the user manual?
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Every time I have to say this in response to an email, or even face to face, I worry about it sounding a little condescending. There’s really no polite way to ask someone if they read the friendly manual, is there?
Help, my [brand name] miter saw isn’t making perfectly square cuts. What do I do?
Updated Step 0: Buy a Square
I tend to use a combination square for setting up or adjusting my equipment. They’re not too expensive. Following are some options at Amazon, but you can find combination squares at most hardware stores or home centers too.
Step 1: Refer to the user manual.
Often, consulting a power tool’s manual will take less time than the back-and-forth emails it takes for me to figure out what precisely someone could be having difficulty with.
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If you lost your manual, that’s okay, you can find very many online. And if you cannot find the exact manual for your saw, maybe you can find one from the same brand, or even better yet, for a similar style and sized saw of the same brand.
Most manuals will at least describe which knobs or screws to loosen to make an adjustment, and the better ones will have diagrams. The most detailed user manuals make no assumptions as to your level of experience, and will show you how and where to check for squareness.
Sure, you might learn some tricks from the internet, but there’s no quicker way that picking up a user manual and a square or other precise layout tool. That should be your first stop. If you still have questions, then it’s okay to take to the internet.
For example, consider a miter saw. Is the blade square to the table? If not, you can often adjust the 0° bevel stop. Is the fence square to the blade? If not, you can often adjust the 0° miter scale or stop.
Here’s the PDF user manual for the above saw, DW716XPS.
The DW716 also has adjustable bevel stops at 45°.
For the most part, popular brands’ user manuals will give you a very good primer on how to safely use and adjust a new power tool.
I wish I could say the same for all kinds of equipment, especially those that are only made in China these days, but that’s unfortunately not the case.
If you buy a table saw, for example, it *should* provide all the information you need to operate the saw safely, and to adjust it if needed.
You will often need a square. I usually use a combination square, which can be found for $9 and up (links in the list above), but there are lots of different tool options out there. Usually, any square will work, as long as it has a precise 90° angle, and it’ll fit where you need it. With combination squares, you can always remove the square head from the ruler. I haven’t found a tool where the square head is too big. Big is good, as larger squares give you greater surface area to reference off of surfaces, but things can get a little more complicated when a square is too large.
So, how do you square up your miter saw or table saw?
Step 1: Consult the user manual.
Step 2: In the absence of a user manual, check with the manufacturer, who might have a PDF they can send you, or at least a parts or features diagram.
Step 3: If there’s no manual, and the manufacturer cannot or will not hep, seek out help or advice on a forum or elsewhere, and provide as much information as you can.
While more experienced users might sometimes have pro tips they can offer, all the basics will usually be in the user manual. Or in the case of Festool, you might also need or want to download a supplemental manual.
That all said, do you have any miter saw or table saw squaring-up calibration tips?
Squaring Up a Miter Saw
While I started off writing this post a little tongue in cheek, I probably should have added a little more instructional detail at the start.
Here’s the follow-up, which gives you a little more guidance:
How to REALLY Square up a Miter Saw, the Super Professional Expert Way
The title of that post is a little silly, but there are some more details and diagrams.
Still, saws from different brands, or even the same brand, will have different adjustment screw locations. That’s why it’s important to refer to the user manual – because that’s usually the best source of information when it comes to learning how to use, adjust, or maintain a tool or piece of equipment.
I’ll start work on a less tongue in cheek post about table saw squaring-up, for a proper-follow-up.
James
How to do anything: Read the manual?
Stuart
Yes, that’s right. Sometimes that’s not enough, but that’s a discussion for another time.
Most of the time, the saw needs to be adjusted slightly, the work has to be clamped or guided properly, or there’s some other cause that the user manual would have provided guidance on.
ca
Watch out for the teeth on the blade!
JGonzo
First step: get something that’s a decent reference square (no, that’s not the $3 orange carpenter’s square).
Second step: read the manual. It will get you as square as is likely possible for the tool. If it doesn’t, you should probably think about a return and a tool that can get there.
Joe G
Hate to burst your bubble, but those $4 plastic speed squares are absolutely square. At least the two I have are.
Patrick
I agree. The material a tool, such as a square, is made of does not necessarily indicate how accurate the tool is. Of course, plastic might give a clue as to the durability of such a tool. There are always tests that can be performed on such a tool. Also, if you don’t know how to set up your tools. Take it back to wherever you got it and pick a different hobby, or career.
Eric
That’s one of my things is that I don’t have anything that I know is absolutely square. I do have a T-square and a few speed squares and I assume that they are perfectly 90*, but I don’t know for sure.
Christopher Trafnik
I have a Woodpeckers Delve square. Only used it once but its small size is perfect for squaring up a table saw and router etc…,
Nathan
I get funny looks at work because I often say it’s a professional courtesy. Being an engineer by trade I always read the book even if I skim it. Even for things I know how to use.
amazingly most people don’t. and to be fair most manuals today are chockablock full of safety warnings and other stuff that should be common sense. yes that’s true.
Had I not read the manual for our 2016 ford exploder I wouldn’t have known that when the key fob battery dies you can still start the car by putting the fob in a slot that’s in the center console bottom.
fred
Some thoughts on things to check on a miter saw – some may be adjustable:
Is the table itself at 90 degrees to the fence on both sides?
Is the table flat (turntable and stationary wings)?
Are both sides of the back fence co-planar?
Is the blade square with the table when the bevel (if a compound miter saw) is set at 90 degrees? Then check it at 45 degrees right and left tilt.
Is the blade at 90 degrees to the back fence when the saw is set to be so? Then check it at 45 degrees left and right.
With a sliding saw – are the measurements for square and angles the same all along the travel of the saw?
Then – since the proof of the pudding is in the eating – do some test cuts. Do you get burn marks on one side of the cut line? Are 90 degree and 45 degree cuts right on the money?
ktash
With the sliding saw, there may be “slop” check for this when you buy the saw. Also, Youtube can be your friend if there’s something wrong with the saw. For example some miter saws have a split fence and some don’t. If the non-split fence is not straight (say it’s bowed) then there are likely videos on Youtube about it. The main way to fix a bowed fence is to return it 😉 .
fred
Good point about checking for slop and/or sticky/rough carriage slide movement.
What you said about a bowed fence – is also the same way to fix a miter saw table that is dished or raised to an unacceptable level.
I was also thinking about talking about blade/arbor runout – perhaps more of an issue on some table saws. But test cuts will tell you something about that – without getting out a dial indicator
Mason
Check your square before using it. Put it up to a scrap board, draw a line down it, then flip it over. If the line is parallel, your square is true.
Joe Smith
And make sure you use a sharp pencil or a marking knife. The line is fat enough on a dull #2 that things can appear to be square where they really are not.
Frank
You are assuming the the edges of the scrap board is cut straight. You should read the manual!
Joe Smith
The manual that came with his square? I didn’t get one of those.
Stuart
You can buy a replacement on Amazon.
Here are some downloadable PDFs from other brands:
http://www.empirelevel.com/manuals/17453.pdf
http://www.johnsonlevel.com/Content/files/Manuals/RAS-1.pdf
http://www.irwin.com/uploads/documents/97_RafterInstructionManual.pdf
Starrett Combination Square manual: http://www.starrett.com/docs/other-downloadable-resources/combination-square-insert—form-955.pdf
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John
This is a good reference:
http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/07/23/miter-saw-tune-up/
ktash
Nice reference.
Robbie Stanford
To square a miter saw, I use a 1×12 cut it then flip it over, if there is a gap adjust your blade flip and repeat until there is no gap.
Dave UK
I have a Makita MLS100 (UK model) and my problem with it was that the adjustment screws were too loose. Adjusting was easy, but moving the saw meant it became inaccurate over time.
Now, it’s pretty obvious how to make stuff loose, but making fixings stiffer? I found a little bit of plumbers PTFE tape around the screw sorted that out for me.
Not sure if that’s the best idea, but I’d love to know how others stop bolts and screws from moving in a semi–permanent way.
Ken
To keep screws & bolts from moving use Loc-Tite red or blue. Usually available at hardware stores or auto stores. If you can’t find those, use silicone sealant on the threads and wait for it to dry before use.
Bruce Cohen
RTFM does not mean “Friendly”. But this is sort of a family group.
Stuart
Laughing my arms open.