I have a Makita 1216L sliding compound miter saw and have been using it for several years. It makes nice accurate cuts. However, I have had numerous problems with kickbacks that I think are related to the adjustable back rails. I am very careful to make sure that any piece of wood I cut is perfectly flat and aligned to the back rails and I go extra slow as the blade approaches the rear of the piece. If any binding is sensed I back off.
The other problem is more devilish. One day after about a year of use, I noticed that the blade guard was not fully covering the blade when it was in the retracted position (up). I thought maybe one of my kickback events might have damaged the mechanism that controls the guard. I don't know how long it had been like that, I just know that I noticed it because I realized my hand was below a spinning saw as I reached in to remove waste (I know, you should wait for the saw to stop before putting your hand back there, even if you have a saw guard). I called Makita and spoke to a tech aide who told me to take it apart and see if the bracket that goes from the guard to the saw body was bent. I did so. Not bent, but in taking it apart I noticed that there was a lot of sawdust that had collected right behind the saw blade in the area where the saw pivots up and and down. After removing that sawdust, the guard worked correctly. The sawdust collects there after a couple of months of use, even with the dust collection vacumn on. In any event, to anyone who owns this saw ROUTINELY CLEAN THE SAWDUST OUT OF THE PIVOT MECHANISM. [eek]
The other problem is more devilish. One day after about a year of use, I noticed that the blade guard was not fully covering the blade when it was in the retracted position (up). I thought maybe one of my kickback events might have damaged the mechanism that controls the guard. I don't know how long it had been like that, I just know that I noticed it because I realized my hand was below a spinning saw as I reached in to remove waste (I know, you should wait for the saw to stop before putting your hand back there, even if you have a saw guard). I called Makita and spoke to a tech aide who told me to take it apart and see if the bracket that goes from the guard to the saw body was bent. I did so. Not bent, but in taking it apart I noticed that there was a lot of sawdust that had collected right behind the saw blade in the area where the saw pivots up and and down. After removing that sawdust, the guard worked correctly. The sawdust collects there after a couple of months of use, even with the dust collection vacumn on. In any event, to anyone who owns this saw ROUTINELY CLEAN THE SAWDUST OUT OF THE PIVOT MECHANISM. [eek]
