Cutting With Your Saw; Cutting Picture Frames, Shadow Boxes And Other Four-Sided Projects - DeWalt DHS716 Instruction Manual

Keep both feet firmly on the floor and maintain proper balance. As you move the miter arm
left and right, follow it and stand slightly to the side of the saw blade. Sight through the guard
louvers when following a pencil line.

Cutting With Your Saw

WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, turn tool off and remove
the battery packs or power supply before transporting, making any adjustments,
cleaning, repairing, or removing/installing attachments or accessories. An accidental
start-up can cause injury.
NOTE: Although this saw will cut wood and many non-ferrous materials, we will limit our
discussion to the cutting of wood only. The same guidelines apply to the other materials.
DO NOT CUT FERROUS (IRON AND STEEL) MATERIALS, MASONRY OR FIBER
CEMENT WITH THIS SAW. Do not use any abrasive blades.
QUALITY OF CUT
The smoothness of any cut depends on a number of variables. Things like material being cut, blade
type, blade sharpness and rate of cut all contribute to the quality of the cut.
When smoothest cuts are desired for molding and other precision work, a sharp (60 tooth
carbide) blade and a slower, even cutting rate will produce the desired results.
Ensure that material does not creep while cutting, clamp it securely in place. Always let the
blade come to a full stop before raising arm.
If small fibers of wood still split out at the rear of the workpiece, stick a piece of masking tape
on the wood where the cut will be made. Saw through the tape and carefully remove tape
when finished.
For varied cutting applications, refer to the list of recommended saw blades for your saw and
select the one that best fits your needs. Refer to Saw Blades under Optional Accessories.
CLAMPING THE WORKPIECE
WARNING: A workpiece that is clamped, balanced and secure before a cut may become
unbalanced after a cut is completed. An unbalanced load may tip the saw or anything the
saw is attached to, such as a table or workbench. When making a cut that may become
unbalanced, properly support the workpiece and ensure the saw is firmly bolted to a stable
surface.
WARNING: The clamp foot must remain clamped above the base of the saw whenever
the clamp is used. Always clamp the workpiece to the base of the saw–not to any other part
of the work area. Ensure the clamp foot is not clamped on the edge of the base of the saw.
WARNING: Always use a work clamp to maintain control and reduce the risk of workpiece
damage and personal injury.
If you cannot secure the workpiece on the table and against the fence by hand, (irregular
shape, etc.) or your hand would be less than 6" (152 mm) from the blade, a clamp or other
fixture must be used.
For best results use a D WALT clamp made for use with your saw. It is available for purchase
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at your local retailer or D WALT service center.
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Other aids such as spring clamps, bar clamps or C-clamps may be appropriate for certain
sizes and shapes of material. Use care in selecting and placing these clamps. Take time to
make a dry run before making the cut. The left or right fence will slide from side to side to aid
in clamping.
TO INSTALL CLAMP (OPTIONAL ACCESSORY)
1. Insert it into the hole (X, Fig. 4) behind the fence. The clamp should be facing toward the
back of the miter saw. The groove on the clamp rod should be fully inserted into the base.
Ensure this groove is fully inserted into the base of the miter saw. If the groove is visible,
the clamp will not be secure.
2. Rotate the clamp 180º toward the front of the miter saw.
3. Loosen the knob to adjust the clamp up or down, then use the fine adjust knob to firmly
clamp the workpiece.
NOTE: Place the clamp on the opposite side of the base when beveling. ALWAYS MAKE
DRY RUNS (UNPOWERED) BEFORE FINISH CUTS TO CHECK THE PATH OF THE BLADE.
ENSURE THE CLAMP DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH THE ACTION OF THE SAW OR
GUARDS.
SUPPORT FOR LONG PIECES
ALWAYS SUPPORT LONG PIECES.
Never use another person as a substitute for a table extension; as additional support for a
workpiece that is longer or wider than the basic miter saw table or to help feed, support or
pull the workpiece.
For best results, use the DW7080 extension work support or a miter saw stand with an
extension work support. These are available from your dealer at extra cost.
Support long workpieces using any convenient means such as sawhorses or similar devices
to keep the ends from dropping.
CROSSCUTS
Cutting of multiple pieces is not recommended but can be done safely by ensuring that
each piece is held firmly against the table and fence. A crosscut is made by cutting wood
across the grain at any angle. A straight crosscut is made with the miter arm at the zero
degree position. Set the miter arm at zero, hold the wood on the table and firmly against
the fence. Turn on the saw by squeezing the trigger.
WARNING: Always use a work clamp to maintain control and reduce the risk of workpiece
damage and personal injury.
When the saw comes up to speed (about 1 second) lower the arm smoothly and slowly to cut
through the wood. Let the blade come to a full stop before raising arm.
Miter crosscuts are made with the miter arm at some angle other than zero. This angle is often
45° for making corners, but can be set anywhere from zero to 50° left or right. After selecting the
desired miter angle, be sure to lock miter lock lever. Make the cut as described above.
To cut through an existing pencil line on a piece of wood, match the angle as close as
possible. Cut the wood a little too long and measure from the pencil line to the cut edge to
determine which direction to adjust the miter angle and recut. This will take some practice,
but it is a commonly used technique.
BEVEL CUTS
A bevel cut is a crosscut made with the saw blade at a bevel to the wood. In order to set the
bevel, loosen the bevel clamp knob and move the saw to the left as desired. (It is necessary
to move the fence to allow clearance). Once the desired bevel angle has been set, tighten the
bevel clamp knob firmly.
Bevel angles can be set from 48° right to 48° left and can be cut with the miter arm set
between zero and 50° right or left. At some extreme angles, the right or left side fence might
have to be removed. To remove the left or right fence, unscrew the knobs several turns and
slide the fence out.
CUTTING PICTURE FRAMES, SHADOW BOXES AND OTHER FOUR-SIDED
PROJECTS
To best understand how to make the items listed here, we suggest that you try a few simple
projects using scrap wood until you develop a "FEEL" for your saw.
Your saw is the perfect tool for mitering corners like the one shown in Figure 21. Diagram A
in Figure 22 shows a joint made by using the bevel adjustment to bevel the edges of the two
boards at 45° each to produce a 90° corner. For this joint the miter arm was locked in the
zero position and the bevel adjustment was locked at 45°. The wood was positioned with the
broad flat side against the table and the narrow edge against the fence. The cut could also
be made by mitering right and left with the broad surface against the fence.
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