Makita LS1040F 10" miter saw. Inaccurate cuts

Craig Johnson

Member
Messages
113
Location
The Couv, Washington
Hi everyone.
I have a Makita LS1040F 10" single compound miter saw that I bought new summer of last year. I have struggled with getting accurate cuts on basic materials ie oak, poplar pine etc since it was new.
Today I got out the owners guide and spend at least an hour trying to get simple accurate cuts. The inaccuracy on the material is the width. Say Im cutting a 3" wide by 1/2 thick board. Its the 3" thats not square.
My first question is am I asking too much from this miter saw for accuracy?
Is it simply a close enough tool for framing?
I dont think its too much too ask for nice flat straight cuts. I am using both of my Starret squares to check.
My last cut that I just made with some 1/2 thick oak was pretty close to square but not absolutely. I do have a bit of blade wobble as I hold the blade and wiggle it side to side. Could it be the blade material and the thinnness of the blade? It is the stock Makita blade.
And lastly, is my solution a different blade thats maybe thicker?
Please let me know what you guys think cause until I get good square cuts Im not going to be happy.
 
Craig,

The reviews I've seen for that say it's a nice little portable saw for framing work on a jobsite. They all say it's pretty accurate, but there's a big difference between jobsite framing accurate and woodworking shop accurate. How far out of square are we talking here?

I have a much bigger compound miter saw, and it's graet for remodeling work, but I wouldn't try to use it for picture frames, even though I bought a real blade for it at the time of purchase. I'm not a big fan of stock blades, but I have no idea what blade yours came with...

Thanks,

Bill
 
Hi Bill.
I would venture to guess a thousandth. I see a shaft of light that gets larger and tapers out of the corner of the square.
Mine is a just a Makita 40 tooth carbide tipped blade.
Doesnt give me much more info than that.
I would think that a blade replacement might help a bit but I dont want to spend that if its going to do the same thing.
 
Update-
Dropped off my saw at the Makita warranty service center.
Explained my cuts.
He said it might be the blade getting dull on one side.
He was going to try some different blades and see if thats what the problem is.
Hopefully they can fix her up.
 
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