Adjustments
WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, turn off the tool and disconnect it from the power source before attempting to move it, change accessories or make any adjustments accept as written in laser adjustment instructions.
NOTE: Your miter saw is fully and accurately adjusted at the factory at the time of manufacture. If readjustment due to shipping and handling or any other reason is required, follow the steps below to adjust your saw.
Once made, these adjustments should remain accurate. Take a little time now to follow these directions carefully to maintain the accuracy of which your saw is capable.
FIG. 5
FIG. 6 | MITER |
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In order that the saw can bevel to a full 48º left or right, one of the fences can be adjusted to provide clearance. To adjust the fences, loosen a plastic knob and slide the fence outward. Make a dry run with the saw turned off and check for clearance. Adjust the fence to be as close to the blade as practical to provide maximum workpiece support, without interfering with arm up and down movement. Tighten knob securely. When the bevel operations are complete, don’t forget to relocate the fence.
NOTE: The guide groove of the fences can become clogged with sawdust. If you notice that it is becoming clogged, use a stick or some low pressure air to clear the guide groove.
AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC BRAKE
MITER SCALE ADJUSTMENT (FIG. 5)
Place a square against the saw’s fence and blade, as shown. (Do not touch the tips of the blade teeth with the square. To do so will cause an inaccurate measurement.) Loosen the miter lock handle and swing the miter arm until the miter latch locks it at the 0 miter position. Do not tighten the lock handle. If the saw blade is not exactly perpendicular to the fence, loosen the four screws that hold the miter scale to the base and move the scale left or right until the blade is perpendicular to the fence, as measured with the square. Retighten the four screws. Pay no attention to the reading of the miter pointer at this time.
MITER POINTER ADJUSTMENT (FIG. 6)
Loosen the miter lock handle to move the miter arm to the zero position. With the miter lock handle loose allow the miter latch to snap into place as you rotate the miter arm to zero. Observe the pointer and miter scale shown in Figure 6. If the pointer does not indicate exactly zero, loosen the screw holding the pointer in place, reposition the pointer and tighten the screw.
BEVEL SQUARE TO TABLE ADJUSTMENT (FIG. 8)
To align the blade square to the table, lock the arm in the down position. Place a square against the blade and table taking care to have the square not touch a blade tooth. Loosen the bevel lock handle and ensure the bevel latch has firmly snapped into place at 0º. If the saw blade is not exactly perpendicular to the table, loosen the three nuts which hold the bevel detent plates to the table. Adjust the center nut to allow slight drag between it and the table. Gently tap the motor or the belt cover to move the upper assembly until the blade is square to the table. Tighten the center nut. The 45º bevel stops require adjustment after the bevel square to table adjustment is complete.
BEVEL POINTER (FIG. 8)
If the bevel pointer does not indicate zero, loosen the screw that holds it in place and move it as necessary.
BEVEL STOP 45º RIGHT AND LEFT ADJUSTMENT (FIG. 8)
Your saw has two 45º bevel adjustments, one for the right, and one for the left. The procedure is the same for each.
To align the 45º stops, lock the arm in the down position. Place a speed square against the blade and table taking care to have the square not touch a blade tooth. Loosen the bevel lock lever and ensure the bevel latch has firmly snapped into place at 45º. If the saw blade is not 45º to the table, loosen the nut which holds the 45 bevel latch plate to the table. Rotate the adjustment screw counterclockwise one or two turns so that the blade is less than 45º to the table. Turn the adjustment screw clockwise until the blade is 45º to the table. Tighten the lock nut.
FENCE ADJUSTMENT (FIG. 9)
WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, turn off the tool and disconnect it from the power source before attempting to move it, change accessories or make any adjustments accept as written in laser adjustment instructions.
FIG. 7
MITER LATCH
OVERRIDE
FIG. 8
0º BEVEL LATCH PLATE
LEFT 45º BEVEL
LATCH PLATE
LEFT 45º
BEVEL PLATE
LOCK NUT
LEFT 45º BEVEL
ADJUSTMENT
SCREW
MITER LOCK
HANDLE
BEVEL POINTER
0º BEVEL LOCK
NUT
MITER
SCALE
MITER LATCH
BUTTON
RIGHT 45º BEVEL
LATCH PLATE
RIGHT 45º
BEVEL PLATE 
LOCK NUT
RIGHT 45º BEVEL
ADJUSTMENT SCREW
Your saw is equipped with an automatic electric blade brake which stops the saw blade within 5 seconds of trigger release. This is not adjustable.
On occasion, there may be a delay after trigger release to brake engagement. On rare occasions, the brake may not engage at all and the blade will coast to a stop.
If a delay or “skipping” occurs, turn the saw on and off 4 or 5 times. If the condition persists, have the tool serviced by an authorized DEWALT service center.
Always be sure the blade has stopped before removing it from the kerf. The brake is not a substitute for guards or for ensuring your own safety by giving the saw your complete attention.
GUARD ACTUATION AND VISIBILITY
CAUTION: Risk of personal injury. Keep thumb underneath handle when pulling handle down otherwise thumb may be pinched between handle and moving lower guard. The handle is placed close to the guard for special cuts.
The blade guard on your saw has been designed to automatically raise when the arm is brought down and to lower over the blade when the arm is raised.
The guard can be raised by hand when installing or removing saw blades or for inspection of the saw. NEVER RAISE THE BLADE GUARD MANUALLY UNLESS THE SAW IS TURNED OFF.
NOTE: Certain special cuts of large material will require that you manually raise the guard. See page 11.
The front section of the guard is louvered for visibility while cutting. Although the louvers dramatically reduce flying debris, they are openings in the guard and safety glasses should be worn at all times when viewing through the louvers.
KERF PLATE ADJUSTMENT
To adjust the kerf plates, loosen the screws holding the kerf plates in place. Adjust so that the kerf plates are as close as possible without interfering with the blade’s movement.
RAIL GUIDE ADJUSTMENT
Periodically check the rails for any play or clearance. The right rail can be adjusted with the set screw shown in Figure 4. To reduce clearance, use a 4 mm hex wrench and rotate the set screw clockwise gradually while sliding the saw head back and forth. Adjust the clearance to be as small as possible without causing any slide resistance.
MITER LOCK ADJUSTMENT
The miter lock rod should be adjusted if the table of the saw can be moved when the miter lock is locked down. To adjust the miter lock handle, put the miter lock handle in the up, unlocked position. Using a 13 mm open end wrench, loosen the lock nut on the miter lock rod (Fig. 10A). Using a slotted screwdriver, tighten the miter lock rod by turning it clockwise as shown in Figure 10A. Turn the lock rod until it is snug, then turn counterclockwise one turn. To ensure the miter lock
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