SCMS table accuracy

[bonna]

Greetings all!

I've recently outlayed 900 of my hard earned on a new, quality brand 10" SCMS, and overall pretty happy with the purchase. Until... during the process of aligning the fences for accuracy, I noticed that the table was not flat: a straight edge on the full width of the table shows a gap of about 0.8mm on the inner edge of the left side of the table, and about a 0.3mm gap at the same point on the right side. Obviously, this will affect the consistency of cut on different length workpieces: if it's set to cut square on a piece that covers the full table width, then a piece that only rests on the left table will be out of square by about 0.5 mm over a full depth (90mm) cut. I expected a $900 machine would be spot on!!

So, I'm just wondering if anyone who might know their way around these things has seen this before? Is it common, is it a warranty issue, or is it just the way they are?

BTW, just in case anyone was going to suggest it: clamping the table to a sturdy bench will just increase the problem, due the location of the bolt holes.

Since it's the weekend and the relevent customer service is closed til Monday I thought some feedback from here would be useful before I make that call.

Thanks, and my apologies if this question has been dealt with before.

[justinmcf]

hi bonna, and welcome to the forum.

i think this is a warranty issue, it certainly does not sound normal to me.
i would be bringing the saw back to the shop and asking for a refund.

what brand of saw is it?
what date did you purchase?

i bought a dewalt table saw a few years ago, i tried to adjust the fence so it would be parallel to the blade, no matter what i tried, i could'nt do it.
brought it back the next day to the shop and the salesman tried to tell me 1mm out was not worth worrying about.
i made him understand that it was worth worrying about, as i had spent over $1000 and i needed perfection.
anyway, i got my refund, you should too.

bring a small straight edge with you when you are shopping for a new dropsaw.

regards, justin.

[soulspirit]

I have a similar question.

When I run a straight edge along my fence, I find that the fence is concave when looking at the saw from the operator side. Is this normal? I have seen this a few times of mitre saws.

[bonna]

Thanks for the replies good people. My saw is currently at the local warranty agent having a new base fitted, so we'll wait and see how we go with "Version 2.0"!

I'm not sure about your question soulspirit, as the fences on my saw are separate pieces on either side, and are adjusted individually. Having said that, it seems to me that if the fence or base is anything other than perfectly straight, then you wont get consistent accuracy.

Cheers.

[soulspirit]

I hope it goes really well for you, and also, I checked my metabo and it was dead straight Shows what I know.

[soundman]

I am surprised that the didn't laugh at you.......most peoples expectations of a drop saw are pretty crude.


untill you start cutting aluminium extrusion....AHH then you need accuracy.

Fences being not straight isn't uncommon either especilay after the saw has been used and abused... this fault will cause catches and bent bits of ally....which in turn will bend the fence.......yeh real issue.

best of luck.

cheers