DeWalt DCS365 Original Instructions Manual page 15

Use the material clamp provided with your saw. To purchase a material clamp, contact your
local retailer or D WALT service centre.
e
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.
To Install Clamp (Fig. M)
1. With the clamp 38 facing the back of the mitre saw, insert the clamp rod into the hole
behind the fence. Ensure the groove at the bottom of the clamp rod is fully inserted into
the hole 21 .
2. Rotate the clamp 180º toward the front of the mitre saw.
3. Loosen the knob to adjust the clamp arm 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.
ADJUSTMENTS

WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, turn tool off and
disconnect battery pack before making any adjustments, performing any
cleaning or maintenance, or removing/installing attachments or accessories. An
accidental start‑up can cause injury.
Your mitre 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
instructions 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.
Mitre Scale Adjustment (Fig. J, N)
Lock the saw head in the down position. Unlock the mitre lock knob
arm 7 until it locks at the 0 ° mitre position. Do not lock the mitre lock knob. Place a square
against the saw's fence and blade, as shown in Figure N. (Do not touch the tips of the blade
teeth with the square. To do so will cause an inaccurate measurement.) If the saw blade is
not exactly perpendicular to the fence, loosen the three screws (
scale 8 and move the mitre arm and the scale left or right until the blade is perpendicular to
the fence, as measured with the square. Retighten the three screws.
Bevel Square to Table Adjustment (Fig. A, L1, O)
To align the blade square to the table, lock the operating handle in the down position with
the lock down pin 23 . Place a square against the blade, ensuring the square is not on top
of a tooth. Loosen the bevel lock knob 12
bevel stop. Rotate the 0 ° bevel adjustment screw
necessary so that the blade is at 0 ° bevel to the table, as measured with the square.
Bevel Stop 45º Left Adjustment (Fig. A, L1, L2)
To adjust the left 45 ° bevel stop, first loosen the bevel lock knob and tilt the head until it stops.
Verify that the bevel override is in the 45 ° position; and if the bevel pointer
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indicate exactly 45 °, turn the 45 ° bevel adjustment screw
reads 45 °.
Guard Actuation and Visibility (Fig. A, X)

CAUTION: Pinch hazard. To reduce the risk of injury, keep thumb underneath the
operating handle when pulling the handle down. The lower guard will move up as the
operating handle is pulled down, which could cause pinching.
The lower guard 4 on your saw has been designed to automatically uncover the blade when
the arm is brought down and to cover the blade when the arm is raised.
Before each use or after making adjustments, cycle the arm (unpowered) and make sure the
guard opens smoothly and closes fully. It should not contact the blade. With the arm up, raise
the guard (unpowered) as shown in Figure X and release. The guard should fully close rapidly.
Do not operate the saw if the guard does not move freely and fully close rapidly. Never clamp
or tie the guard in an open position when operating the saw.
The guard can be raised by hand when installing or removing saw blades or for inspection of
the saw. NEVER RAISE THE lower GUARD MANUALLY UN LESS THE BLADE IS STOPPED.
nOTE: Certain special cuts of large material will require that you manually raise the guard.
Refer to Cutting Large Material under Special Cuts.
The front section of the guard is louvered for visibility while cutting. Although the louvers
dramatically reduce flying debris, there are openings in the guard and safety glasses should be
worn at all times.
Rail Guide Adjustment (Fig. A)
Periodically check the rails 13 for any play or clearance. The rails can be cleaned with a
dry clean cloth. The right rail can be adjusted with the rail adjustment screw
Figure A. To reduce clearance, use a 4 mm hex wrench and rotate the set screw clockwise
gradually while sliding the saw head back and forth. Reduce play while maintaining minimum
slide force.
Support for Long Pieces

WARNING: To reduce the risk of serious personal injury, turn tool off and
disconnect battery pack before making any adjustments, performing any
cleaning or maintenance, or removing/installing attachments or accessories. An
accidental start‑up can cause injury.
AlWAYs sUPPORT lOng PiECEs.
5 and swing the mitre
9 , Fig. J) that hold the mitre
and ensure the bevel arm is firmly against the 0 °
41 with a 4 mm hex key (not provided) as
40
42 until the bevel pointer
19 shown in
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 mitre saw table or to help feed, support or pull
the workpiece.
Support long workpieces using any convenient means such as sawhorses or similar devices to
keep the ends from dropping.
Cutting Picture Frames, Shadow Boxes And Other Four‑Sided
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Projects (Fig. P, Q)
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 mitring corners like the one shown in Figure P. Sketch A in
Figure Q shows a joint made by using the bevel adjustment to bevel the edges of the two
boards at 45º each to produce a 90º corner. For this joint the mitre arm was locked in the zero
position and the bevel adjustment was locked at 45º. 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 mitring right and left with the broad surface against the fence.
Cutting Trim Molding and Other Frames (Fig. Q)
Sketch B in Figure Q shows a joint made by setting the mitre arm at 45º to mitre the two
boards to form a 90º corner. To make this type of joint, set the bevel adjustment to zero and
the mitre arm to 45º. Once again, position the wood with the broad flat side on the table and
the narrow edge against the fence.
Figures P and Q are for four‑sided objects only.
As the number of sides changes, so do the mitre and bevel angles. The chart below gives the
proper angles for a variety of shapes.
The chart assumes that all sides are of equal length. For a shape that is not shown in the
chart, use the following formula: 180º divided by the number of sides equals the mitre (if the
material is cut vertically) or bevel angle (if the material is cut laying flat).
Cutting Compound Mitres (Fig. R)
A compound mitre is a cut made using a mitre angle and a bevel angle at the same time.
This is the type of cut used to make frames or boxes with slanting sides like the one shown in
Figure R.
nOTE: If the cutting angle varies from cut to cut, check that the bevel lock knob and the mitre
does not
lock handle are securely locked. These must be locked after making any changes in bevel
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or mitre.
The table below will assist you in selecting the proper bevel and mitre settings for common
compound mitre cuts. To use the chart, select the desired angle A (Fig. R) of your project and
locate that angle on the appropriate arc in the chart. From that point follow the chart straight
down to find the correct bevel angle and straight across to find the correct mitre angle.
Set your saw to the prescribed angles and make a few trial cuts. Practice fitting the cut pieces
together until you develop a feel for this procedure and feel comfortable with it.
Example: To make a 4‑sided box with 26º exterior angles (Angle A, Fig. R), use the upper right
arc. Find 26 ° on the arc scale. Follow the horizontal intersecting line to either side to get mitre
angle setting on saw (42 °). Likewise, follow the vertical intersecting line to the top or bottom
to get the bevel angle setting on the saw (18 °). Always try cuts on a few scrap pieces of wood
to verify the settings on the saw.
8 SIDED BOX
– EXAMPLES –
NUMBER OF SIDES MITRE OR BEVEL ANGLE
4 45°
5 36°
6 30°
7 25.7°
8 22.5°
9 20°
10 18°
SQUARE BOX
6 SIDED BOX
SET THIS BEVEL ANGLE ON SAW
English
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