Question about the way people treat their miter saw fences | Build And Design

Jennifer Ellis · 2026-03-29T11:15:08.438486+00:00

I used to think the fence on a miter saw was just a guide, and I'd push stock against it for every cut without a second thought. After a project building a set of built-in bookshelves for my living room, I noticed my 45-degree joints were always just a hair off, maybe a 32nd of an inch. I finally realized the factory fence on my saw wasn't perfectly square to the blade across its whole length. I checked it with a machinist square, and sure enough, there was a tiny gap at the far end. Now I only use the center 6 inches of the fence for critical cuts, and I always double-check with a square on the piece itself before cutting. It's a small thing, but it makes a huge difference in how clean your trim and casework looks. How do you guys make sure your fence is true for those precision cuts?

patg925mo ago

Ever run into that? I had the same problem and ended up just shimming my fence with a bit of masking tape until my square said it was good.

8

keith_henderson5mo ago

Tape shims are a solid fix. I went a step further and used a feeler gauge to measure the gap, then cut a thin brass shim to that exact thickness. Epoxied it in place. Now the whole fence is dead true.

6

holly_flores793mo ago

I mean, are we really chasing 32nds of an inch on a miter saw? Feels like half the time the wood itself moves or the blade flexes anyway.

2