Adjusting A Miter Saw Vernier Scale

While making some angled cuts for another project, I noticed that the Vernier scale on my DeWalt 705 miter saw wasn’t reading accurately — it was off by 1/2°. Since I was shooting for a 7.25° angle, I clearly needed to realign the scale before I continued cutting.

The first thing I did was make sure that the blade was perpendicular to the fence with a square, if the blade wasn’t aligned properly, fixing the scale wouldn’t matter. Next I looked for a way to adjust the scale. The larger scale had two bolts for adjusting it’s position, but I didn’t see any way to adjust the Vernier scale.

With the insert removed I found a third bolt for adjusting the main scale, but no way to adjust the Vernier scale. In fact it just looked like the scale was just friction fit into a slot with space on either side for movement. Curious, I slipped a slotted screwdriver between the scale and the side of the scale opening and sure enough the scale moved.

After I replaced the insert, I made sure the saw was set at zero degrees again, double checked that the blade was perpendiculare to the fence, and adjusted the scale with a screwdriver. I’m not sure if you adjust the vernier scale on other Dewlat Miter saws the same way, but hopefully this post will save someone some headscratching. Of course if I would have looked in the maual, I would have found the section labeled “Miter Pointer Adjustment” and saved myself some trouble, but what fun is that?