Resolving Crooked Cuts Lesson #1

By Larry Anderson
Technical Advisor

There are maybe two dozen reasons for a cut to be crooked, but when it happens it has to be corrected immediately and the alternatives of what to do are staggering at the very least. So, to get back onto the right path one needs a clear mind and the ability to problem solve.

Let’s get started

The blade should not be removed before a series of questions and various tests have been made. Consider this as a TV Crime Scene, do not change anything until certain things have been answered.

List of questions

1: How long has this been going on: several cuts or only one?
2: How crooked are the cuts?
3: How many cuts has the present blade made?
4: Are the blades teeth facing to the right?
5: Has the blade made a straight cut on this material prior to a crooked cut?
6: Are the cuts crooked top to bottom as well as left to right?
7: Are there any unusual markings on the blade?

Now for initial inspection

1) With the saw turned off, remove the blade guard on the left hand guide arm. Grab the blade firmly with your left hand and attempt to twist the blade. Observe what happens to the blade that is between the guide arms. If the blade moves even just a little this is probably the problem. A blade that moves means that guides are not holding the blade 90 degrees to the bed of the saw. Without this 90 degrees all cuts are either a little or a lot crooked. A harder check is the right side because generally there is no room to grab the blade. The way to handle this is to grab the blade, when the saw if off of course, in the cut area, between the guides, and see if you can detect movement on the right hand side of the guide. No movement, right guide probably OK. Some movement it is probably the cause of the crooked cut.

2) The fix here is to fix the mechanism that is tightening the outside guide block. There is usually some screw mechanism with a handle. Many times the handle is doing nothing because it is no longer attached to the screw that is forcing the block against the blade. So, take an allen wrench and tighten the block until the blade can't move when it is twisted by hand. Loosen the screw just a "hair" because we can over tighten. Now tighten the locking nut while leaving the allen wrench in the tightened position.

I will go over many other crooked cut fixes. If the blade had not moved in the guides this fix would not have worked and we would have gone to something else. Crooked cuts are assumed to be the fault of the blade. If the blade is old and dull this a prime consideration. But, if the blade is new and still sharp it is probably never the blade.