Makita LS1013 from HF

[drumpriest]

Mine came in yesterday, and I set it up today. There are some aspects of this saw that I already love, the soft start is great, and the saw is pretty quiet.

I am having 2 issues though...

1. It is having more trouble cutting through stock than my 10" ryobi miter saw. It will burn the wood unless I'm pushing a bit harder that I think that I should have to. Is this normal for the saw? I'm thinking that the blade on it (which appears used) needs replaced. I'll probably pick up a freud crosscut blade today.

2. The groove (dado) cutting feature leaves a bit to be desired. It seems that when the rails are full back, the blade and fence don't intersect past the blade mid-point. So the end of the groove tapers back out of the board. Anyone else have this saw and notice this?

thanks

[leehljp]

Some people have success with normal crosscut blades, but if you aren't used to it, get only blades for Miter saws.

Miter Saw blades have a negative rake, and Table Saw blades have a forward/positive rake. TS blades are raked forward and as the blade goes down, it pulls the wood down with it onto the table of the TS. However, if you put this blade on a Miter Saw, as it exits the rear it can pull the wood Up. MS blades with negative rake cut at an angle so that it is giving the wood more of a "push" to the _rear_ of the fence as it exits, rather than lifting. Even with the correct blade, it can still lift the wood and fling it FAST.

1. It does sound like the blade is not as sharp as it should be.

2. That is normal. You may need to put a spacer in the rear to be able to do the dado even. But be sure to use a hold down clamp!
I will say that I have read that sliding miter saws in general do not do consistent dados like a table saw or radial arm saw does.

I have the Makita 12 inch and think it is great.

[drumpriest]

I have replaced the blade with a miter saw blade from Freud diablo finishing blade...

http://freud-tools.com/freuddiabfin1.html

It cuts great now, like butter. Definately it was the saw blade. As to the dado cutting, I did acheive it with a spacer. My intention with it is to do a rough cut 1/8 from target depth, then clean up the dados with a router. It's a heck of a lot faster than cutting the entire groove with the router. (too many passes for those 3/8" grooves).

thanks for the response.

[sweensdv]

If the blade that came with the saw was the stock Makita blade, the one that normally comes with a brand new version of the LS1013, it would be worth it to have it resharpened. I'm a fan of Freud blades but once resharpened that Makita blade will give you much better results than you're getting from the Diablo blade.

[Andrew Benedetto]

I would call Makita cust.serv. (that is a $60 blade) and they have been very good in the past for me. The Makita blade is excellent for finish work,and also I have cut 2x's with it without problem. I use a 40th blade for rough work usu. It should be sharp "factory perfect" in function and I bet they will resharpen or replace that blade.

Mine tracks as straight as could be ,so it may need adj. too.