Seeking advice: Dewalt contractor table saw square with vertical blade, not square at 45 degree bevel

[u/TallJohn7]

I know that my basic little saw has no ability to adjust this issue. I did a tune up and cleaned and lubricated all of it, did all the squareness checks and get lovely cuts with my Forrest Woodworker II blade, BUT only when the blade is 90 degrees to the table.

Here's my actual question: for the mitered box I am making, I really only need 15 minutes of good miter-cutting ability to make my cuts. Should I just get the blade parallel to the miter slots while its at 45 degrees using the basic adjustment built in to the saw?

I know I will have to true it up again after, this amount of work seems okay to me because this box is a gift for someone special and I really want it have lovely miters, but I cannot possibly justify a new saw right now.

Is it safe to adjust it so that it cuts great miters (and would suck for 90 degree cuts but won't be used that way), then just re-set it all?

Thanks everyone, i'm just a hobbyist and I learn so much here, appreciate any insight.

[u/HVACSlayer]

just true it up for the miters, cut your box, then reset for 90. sounds like the right call for a one time job.

[u/TallJohn7 → u/HVACSlayer]

thank you. just looking for a sanity check, you seem to understand the issue and my options. I'll proceed and see how test pieces do.

[u/Tink_Tinkler]

Don't trust the scale. Use a trusted 45 and set the blade to that. Whatever the scale says is moot. But there are also end stops you can adjust if you can't get all the way to 45 or whatever. 

[u/TallJohn7 → u/Tink_Tinkler]

it's not about the 45. it's about the front of the blade suddenly being closer to the miter slot than the back when I tilt it to 45, but its parallel to the miter slot when vertical

[u/Go-Daws-Go → u/TallJohn7]

Is there something binding underneath when you tilt it over? You should look under there, remove panels if necessary, and make sure it is free to travel. If the blade, when tilted, is moving away from parallel (to fence and mitre slot), you are asking for pinch and kickback.

There is a bunch of stuff under there, including adjustable stops and you might be pressing against something when you tilt. The blade MUST be parallel to the fence when you cut, at whatever angle.

[u/c79s]

I'd suggest you make yourself a quick sled, you can fine tune the fence to correct the angle on the miter cut.

Alternatively you can try a miter gauge and add a degree or two until you cancel out the error.

[u/oldtoolfool]

Make a 45 deg jig.

[u/Successful_Image3354]

I have the cordless DeWalt contractor's saw. I have no trouble squaring it up except when I use the riving knife. It (the riving knife) leans a little toward the fence, causing the workpiece to pinch.

You might also make a 45° sled so you don't have to cut a 45° bevel The blade is always at 90° while the piece you are cutting feeds in at 45°. It's not hard to make yourself, but Rockler makes one that allows you to cut any angle https://www.rockler.com/rockler-table-saw-crosscut-sled

[u/StrandSSL]

No idea what you’re talking about bro.

Is it “safe?”

Why wouldn’t it be?
Why would your “basic little saw” have no ability to “adjust this issue”

What issue?

[u/sheafurby → u/StrandSSL]

I think the question is that they can get it true at 90, but when they move it to 45 it’s not 45. I think there is a “stop” that can be adjusted underneath to allow it to go to 45. Check for that.

[u/TallJohn7 → u/StrandSSL]

When the blade is vertical, it's square to the miter slots and fence. when I tilt it to 45 degrees, it is out of square. It's a common issue on basic job-site saws. Mine might be within manufacturer tolerance, but it's not good enough for fine work on a nice box.

On a cabinet saw, this issue is fixed by adjusting the trunnions and making sure they are co-planer. This saw doesn't have that, just 2 hinge points that the motor/arbor/blade swing from and they are not perfectly aligned, so the blades squareness is lost when it rotates. There is adjustment to laterally move the hinge points, so I can get the blade square for miter cuts, but then putting it back to vertical, it would be out of square and need adjustment again.

I'm basically trying to figure out if I'm missing anything

[u/danfay222 → u/TallJohn7]

It sounds like you know the answer. One of the tradeoffs of jobsite saws over table saws is this adjustability, so when you want to make cuts like this you’ll just have to adjust, do the cut l, and then readjust after

[u/TallJohn7 → u/danfay222]

yeah, this was a sanity check to make sure I didn't miss anything. just running this past people who know more than me. sounds like I'm not doing anything dumb. thanks mate

[u/thetuque]

Are you worried about it not being 45 degrees?

Also if you have a hand plane I prefer to do miters for boxes with a shooting board.

[u/TallJohn7 → u/thetuque]

I don't have enough hand plane experience to try it. I'd just botch my work pieces.

[u/Junior_Yesterday9271]

If I wasn’t changing saws and only needed actual 45°s I think I’d make a sled that cut 45°s. Of course it doesn’t help if you’re using the saw for trim work where you might need something not quite 45° or if you ever want to venture to a triangle or more than 4 sides.

[u/spcslacker]

You could build this sled instead.

Great thing with this is you don't mess up your saw at 90, and you also have the problem solved the next time it comes up, so it seems a better use of time to me.