Sorry I couldn't get back to this thread any earlier. Please bear with this post, as it is a copy posted at another forum as well, so some things may be repeats, but there is new stuff too, plus a few pics.
Jay---You are right on, as far as the blade not being parallel to the right miter slot, as described later in this post. I guess the cure for that is shimming between the cabinet and the saw table. But the hump may also come into play. The fence of the sliding table has sandpaper facing, so I don't think the wood is getting pulled in, I am holding it quite firmly both to the table and to the fence.
The saw table has a hump, even with the arbor, running right to left. When I run a dial indicator pointed down and contacting the table, I get a variation of -.006 from the first teeth to midway between the center and the rear teeth. Photo is a reinactment, was actually measured tighter to the blade.
The indicator reads a -.016 from front to back over the entire blade when run along the right miter slot.
And here is what the burn looks like. Please forgive the picture quality, as these are just to illustrate that which is difficult to state clearly verbally.
By the back of the cut, there is a clear ridge or indentation along the burn line that is close to .006 deep, as measured with a feeler gauge.
Now, for the last confounding variable. I had forgotten all about this actually, but when I first got the saw, I had noticed the hump, and took the top off and brought it to the dealer to show them. I was told it was no big deal, that they all had variations, and that it was within mfg. tolerance. When I went to reassemble it, I noticed that the top didn't make contact at all four corners of the cabinet, and placed a washer between the cab and the top in the right far corner (standing at operator's position). This evened out the contact points.
Tonight after measuring as in the second photo, I removed said washer from between the cab and the top, remeasured, and it cut the variance in half, from -.016 to -.008. But is also gave me a hump on the right side similar to that on the left, as it essentially bent the table down when the bolt was tightened. I made another cut, and it didn't seem to make any difference in the burning, so I put it back in.
That got me wondering if the hump on the left side could be corrected by placing a whasher there? Actually, the ends of the table front and rear on each side slope down a bit in relation to a known steel straight edge. I guess I'll experiment some with that when and if I ever get to finish my current project.
And now, the rest of the story...I was able to get a nice clean cut using the miter fence on the right side of the blade, rather than using the sliding table, so I guess that's what I'll use for now, untill I can get the rest of this figured out.
I would be happy to hear any other thoughts anyone might have about this situation.
Dan