Anybody have any tips on getting
a Makita 1013 slider to cut square
(on the flat, left and right that is)?
I dicked with the fool thing for two
hours and it no dice. Adjustment is
pretty limited and crude to boot.
Is this a hopeless task or do I
have to make the best of it and
use it as an excuse to blow the
rent money and most of my retirement
savings on a Kapex?
Really ticks me off…
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Replies
Sorry, but mine was right on out of the box. I'm just replying to keep the thread alive so someone else who has had the problem will see it.
Good luck!
I've had to adjust my Makita saw, didn't find it to difficult. Is your fence lined up? there is adjustment nuts on there for some tweaking. I'm not going out to the truck right now but I don't think it was all that difficult to do.
Did you check the manual to see if there are any tips to aid ya?
Doug
I had some problems... until I changed the blade. Try that.
I just recently bought the Makita myself. I had the same problem and couldn,t get it right so I took it back and exchanged. Just before Christmas so I haven't tried the new one yet to see if it is on. I am not going to be happy if this one isn't straight right out of the box. I believe that I had a defective fence on the first one.
I've had that problem before, had the Makita guys adjust it for me, but it was still out just a little bit, so I had the fence replaced, plus I changed the blade. Both helped and it has cut well for the last 3 years.
SS
I have a 12" Mak, and recently had to lube the table, which requires removing the fence and table. Once it's reassembled, you need to adjust the fence for a square cut. This is assuming the fence is dead striaght. After two years of use, mine was slightly out. I trued up the saw to get it as good as I could, then ordered a new fence (which is now in my shop, waiting for the next time the table needs to be disassembled.)
Fence adjustment is tricky, as the fence tends to shift slightly as the bolts are tightened. It took about ten minutes or so and multiple test cuts to dial it in. Once you've done it a few times, you get a good feel for it.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Blade is original, just had it sharpened
cuts beautifully. I should dial the blade
and see if it is off. I don't think so.
I took the fence off. I slightly englarged
the two left side bolt holes with a drill
press. I enlarged the far right one too,
but left the inner right one as is because
it is smaller in diameter than the others
as built. Looks to me that they want
the fence to pivot here.
Despite this, it still won't true up. I spent
several hours trying eveything. The cut
goes from left to right so to speak. If
you unlock the table and move it half a degree,
it will not lock to this spot as it seems it
is too near the index hole or so it feels. It isnt new but it has seen fairly moderate
use and has never been dropped.
Laying the fence on my cabinet saw table it
seems pretty flat in both axis.Hey, it is for trim work really so I am not
asking for too much for it to be perfectly
square.Grrrrrrr.
It can be frustrating, indeed. When it is near dialed in, I'll loosen one of the right bolts and then loosen the outer just enough for the fence to pivot, but with resistance. Tweak the left side and tighten the bolts gingerly. Test. Repeat, more often than not.
Good luck with it.
BTW, the newer saws have a notch and spring-loaded lever release that allows fairly good adjustment around the fixed positions. My other 12" Mak has ball detents, which are a pain to lock in anywhere near the fix positions.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Thx for comments evabody. I hate to have to
re-engineer this thing but its paid for
and has a lot of life left in it.
It is fine for most stuff but if you
want to run up a few cabinet doors
it ain't makin' it.It would be a terrible thing if it fell
off the tailgate and had to be replace...snicker snicker.
Might try this . Use a good clamp and clamp the fence to table once it is square before making the final tightening on the bolts. I have used deep throat vice grips for this.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Had the same problem not more than 2 months ago.Tried adj. the fence and every time I thought I had it dead on a couple of cuts latter it was off again. Tried aligning and re-aligning the fence.
Tried a different blade (but not a known perfect one) and began thinking it had to be the bearing.Long story short took it to an authorized Makita service center they checked it out and said the bearing was fine but the blade was bad. (this was the original blade that I used to take to a sharpening service to have it re sharpened)Put on a new blade and its worked dead on fine ever since. Moral of the story is just because you put on a new blade fresh out of the package doesn’t mean it hasn’t been dropped somewhere along the line.Dan
Thanks, serves me right for not dialing the
blade.The thought of coughing up for a blade isnt
appealing.
I am having a hard time visualizing how a bent blade can affetc the square cut. I can see it causing a wide kerf and a wobble to the blade but not an out of square cut. Once the blade spins at the running RPM it will have wobble that would make for a wide kerf, but it has to track the same as a flat blade it seems to me. Can you explain it?
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Wait a minute. I think I just got what was happening, if you adjust the fence with a bent blade and don't rotate the blade 90 deg through a full 360 deg to check it you could produce an out of square fence/ blade alignment. Must be what is being talked about.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
yes
basically if the blade would stop at the same place everytime you would just have a wider kerf. only it doesn't stop at the same place everytime so depending where it stops, it will be out of alinement.You can be chasing ghosts like this for hours, readjusting the fence for every conceivable deviation from 0 = 359 degrees.Now i buy new blades in heavy packaging and i keep the receipt for a little while until I'm sure the blade runs true.Dan