mark1
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by mark1 on Jun 24, 2017 19:09:15 GMT -5
Hi , I have lurked around this forum occasionally for a few years , when trying to find more info/details on mafell tools. I have finally decided to register as I cannot find the information I want and have problem to solve. I have a MT55cc about 2 years old, well looked after never been knocked etc.. . I noticed this week when having to cut quite a few 45 degree mitres, because the workshop saw has broken down, that the blade is cutting about 1.5 to 2 mm off of the track strip when angled but perfect when straight. Its been a while since I have done this and can't recall noticing before, have searched the internet everything says it should cut to the same line. So I would like to know if there is a discrepancy between PR and real world or if the is any way to adjust the saw to correct this. Any help would be appreciated, thank you
PS after asking a few questions about the Mafell battery saws at a local tool shop I had a call from a Mafell rep(uk) saying he was taking receipt of the KSS50 next week and would call me when he was in the area, so looking forward to seeing it.
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Post by mafelluser on Jun 24, 2017 20:50:20 GMT -5
Have you tried tweaking your saws alignment using the various adjustment screws incorporated into the MT55ccs alloy base? Step 1: make sure the top tracking adjustment thumb-screws are adjusted for a slop-free glide along the track: Step 2: (only if your issue isn't solved by the above thumbscrews) you might try adjusting the T20 torx screws on the underside of the saw base, to see if you can achieve an improvement in consistency between 90 degree and 45 degree alignment with the edge of the sacrificial rubber track strip. However, please be careful, because you don't want to throw your saw further out of alignment, so due diligence will be required:  To be completely honest with you, IF you have ensured no slop when running along the track (i.e. you have successfully adjusted the upper-side thumbscrews, as outlined in Step 1) but the behaviour you described still persists, then the type of behaviour you describe makes me suspect vertical misalignment of the pivot points of the saw, rather than horizontal, but, although I can see a grub screw on the underside of the base, near to where the blade-shroud door says 'MT55cc, this does not appear to have any relationship to pivot adjustment in any axis. There are also 2 other grub screws on the underside of the saw base, running along the dead centre of the casting, but those are only to accurately adjust the 'end-stop' of the 90 degree setting of the bevel function, when it is being returned to 90 degree after an angled bevel has been cut. If overt vertical misalignment isn't to blame, then another possibility could be wear&tear in the bevel-pivot components, during the past 2 yrs of usage - can you sense any play in these components?
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mark1
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by mark1 on Jun 25, 2017 4:28:04 GMT -5
There is definitely no slop on the track . The fact that it is always bang on when vertical leads me to believe something is more than likely out of alignment . As for wear on the bevel pivot components I doubt there should be, to be honest it spends nearly all its time doing straight cuts so not had much use of the mechanism and I will have to wait till tuesday when I am back in the workshop with the saw to double check but I have to say it all felt good in its movement through the angles. The problem here is I will have to wait till I don't need to use it for a couple of days before I risk aligning it incase it is not straight forward and it affects it vertical alignment . Thanks for that information will definitely have a look at those adjusting screws.
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Post by kraftt on Jun 25, 2017 15:22:07 GMT -5
mark 1, can you tell us how you are measuring - "the blade is cutting about 1.5 to 2 mm off of the track strip when angled but perfect when straight." ?
are you determining this after a cut has been made or is this something that is measurable with saw static resting on track with blade lowered and tilted to 45º ?
are you using stock blade?
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mark1
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by mark1 on Jun 26, 2017 1:30:36 GMT -5
I am using stock blades, have learnt to keep all my blades kerfs the same so I know exactly where my cut will be. As for the cut if I put my track down on to my marks and cut straight , it will cut exactly on those marks now if I mitre at 45 the point of the mitre will be approx. 2mm off those marks.
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Post by kraftt on Jun 26, 2017 17:42:03 GMT -5
whose rail / track are you using?
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Post by arvid on Jun 26, 2017 18:44:22 GMT -5
I am using stock blades, have learnt to keep all my blades kerfs the same so I know exactly where my cut will be. As for the cut if I put my track down on to my marks and cut straight , it will cut exactly on those marks now if I mitre at 45 the point of the mitre will be approx. 2mm off those marks. you do mean miter cutting and not mistaking it for bevel cutting? just want to make sure we are trying to correct the right problem and aren't mixed up.
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mark1
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by mark1 on Jun 27, 2017 9:18:26 GMT -5
Just to confirm all my tracks are Mafell and I am talking about putting a full 45 cut , mitre , along a sheet (mdf) .
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Post by arvid on Jun 27, 2017 13:45:39 GMT -5
Just to confirm all my tracks are Mafell and I am talking about putting a full 45 cut , mitre , along a sheet (mdf) . If the saw is not staying on the line of the track when any adjustment to the bevel setting is made then it is not pivoting properly like it should. does mafell have a service department for issues like this?
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Post by kraftt on Jun 27, 2017 17:24:06 GMT -5
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Post by arvid on Jun 27, 2017 18:15:58 GMT -5
This is strange because the pivot guides are thick laser cut pieces of steel and the pins are steel as well. For blade to travel away from the splinter guard when tilted almost would mean Thats what i was driving at. something is seriously wrong and i do not see how any adjustment can help. and I'm wondering if it came out of the box this way and was never tested the bevel angle on the track until now, of it was dropped and something is askew which is hard to imagine if it operates and tilts smoothly to and fro
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Post by holmz on Jun 27, 2017 20:02:15 GMT -5
It is either: - pivoting around an axis designed for a 5-mm rail - pivoting around an axis for no rail - pivoting around something else. 1) Measure where the pivot point is: Take a 6-mm thick piece of something and tilt the blade at 45, and then double back tape that piece onto the base - with it pressed up against the blade. The straighten the blade up to 0 and see what the gap is. The gap should be 6-mm - 2.5-mm If it s a 12-mm piece than the gap should be 12-mm - 2.5-mm 2) Measure the thickness of the rail: (A rail 2-mm lower than the 5-mm would have the pivot 2-mm away.) That 2-mm sounds close to 2.5-mm...
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Post by kraftt on Jun 27, 2017 21:41:17 GMT -5
I have a theory but, if so, I don't know why the addition of 3º would push away instead of continuing to 'rotate' around edge of splinter guard edge - just as it does to arrive at 45º - unless the design of the pivot guide plates only function true to 45º.
My suspicion is that your additional 3º-push-latch (48º) is possibly not engaging to restrict bevel to 45º ... allowing it to pass to 48º.
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Post by mafelluser on Jun 28, 2017 6:16:00 GMT -5
Jun 27, 2017 15:18:26 GMT 1 mark1 said: "Just to confirm all my tracks are Mafell and I am talking about putting a full 45 cut , mitre , along a sheet (mdf) ." ___________________________________________________________________________________________ OK, but that is generally considered as being a bevel-type cut rather than a 'mitre' in the traditional sense, even though you may well be mating 2 bevelled pieces, along their length, to yield a 90 degree L-shape (or eventual box shape, etc.). Semantics is a fickle mistress! LOL As I remarked in my original reply, I (as holmz has also mentioned) feel that the behaviour you have described points more probably towards a vertical misalignment of some sort occurring (which would lead to a horizontal misalignment of cut being experienced only when the blade is angled/bevelled, and not when at 90 degrees to the baseplate). My suggestion to take a look at the horizontal adjustment screws was partly because I was wondering if there was some play in them (little knocks, here & there, during 2 yrs, can easily occur). Any such play could have particular relevance, in relation to bevel cuts, as bevel cuts sometimes have a greater tendency to draw the saw sideways, than do vanilla 90 degree cuts, even though that might sound counter-intuitive. If no play (or wear&tear to the pivoting components of the saw) is evident, then I have another question for you: Do you still have the anti-slip rubber strips mounted on the underside of the guide-rail, or has one or both of them been damaged, abraded flat (by continual rubbing on abrasive materials), removed, or lost, during your 2 yrs of ownership?  In particular, if the anti-slip strip nearest to the sacrificial cut-line rubber strip is absent or abraded flat, then this would lead to the track sitting approximately 1mm lower than intended, and thus the saw also sitting 1mm lower (on the identical Mafell & Bosch rails I just photographed, the anti-slip strip protudes approximately 1.2mm from the aluminium underside of the rail). So, the abrasion, or absence, of this rubber strip could yield sufficient vertical misalignment, to send the top surface of a 45 degree cutline approximately a millimetre away from the sacrficial rubber cut-line strip (similarly, if one unwisely doesn't bother to clear detritus from the top surface of the aluminium guide rail, before applying the saw to the track, the opposite scenario can happen, whereby the 45 degree angled blade can cut more material away ( including some of the sacrificial rubber cut-line strip) than was intended). A further point worth considering is that bevel cuts can have a greater tendency to induce the guide rail to creep across the material surface, so, even if you are experienced with getting good 90 degree accuracy with your saw and guide rails, without using the guide rail clamps, I suggest you always use the rail clamps when doing bevelled cuts (this creep-tendency, during bevel cutting, has sufficient potential to be the reason for your saw-line deviating from intended, so it should be investigated seriously).
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mark1
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by mark1 on Jun 28, 2017 18:41:43 GMT -5
Here is a quick reply to some points and a couple of photos. The 48 degree is engaging so the saw stops at 45. The track is as specced . when cutting a bevel/mitre I do use the the clamps . Will try to provide more info but time limited to play with it at work atm. The first photo shows the offset , the second photo shows the transition from bevel to straight cut.   
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