We hope that the following questions and answers help you to understand
our products.
| Q. How long will the laser last? (Jim From MI) |
| A. The laser is rated at 5000hrs. For the average
craftsman using their shop 8 hours a week that would equal 12 years. |
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| Q. How good is the adhesive tape and what will
it bond to? (Frank from OH) |
| A. The adhesive is a solid acrylic, which is considered
permanent after 72hrs. It will bond to almost all hard clean surfaces.
It should not be used with self oiling plastics such as polypropylene. |
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| Q. How should I clean the laser when it gets dirty?
(Ben from NJ) |
| A. The cover of the laser is glass and should be
cleaned with standard glass cleaner as necessary. A compressor should
not be used to blow off dust, as that could blow
dust into the unit. |
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| Q. Is there danger in inadvertently looking into
the laser ? (Jeff from MI) |
| A. The laser is a class IIIA device transmitting
less than 5mw. This is considered to be safe for normal use. |
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| Q. Can the width of the laser be adjusted for different
blades? (Alice OH) |
| A. No. The laser cannot be adjusted but you can
still adjust its position for accurate use. We suggest that you use
a Model 125. When you are using a 1/8 kerf blade you would use the
Laserkerf normally. When you change to a thin kerf blade adjust the
beam to align with the left side of the blade. Align your cut mark
on the left side normally. On the right side instead of placing your
cut mark on the outside edge of the laser place the mark just inside
the laser. The width of the mark is approximately .025", which
is the difference in the two blades. |
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| Q. Will the laser work outside. (Chuck) |
| A. The laser is not strong enough to compete with
the brightness and spectrum of light produced by the sun, even on
a cloudy day. |
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Q. My only question that I did not see answered
on the Q&A
page is whether the laser can be transferred to another saw if I change
saws at some point.(Larry from FL) |
A. The short answer is yes.
The adhesive is very good but you could pry it off or cut through
the adhesive. You would then need a new adhesive strip. The adhesive
is not just double back tape, it holds much stronger. We will send
you another strip upon request. |
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| Q. My only criticism is that because of the position
of the laser unit, you can't see the laser line when cutting crown
molding. (Derek From CA) |
| A. I sent you a page from Dewalt about cutting
crown molding. The second section discusses cutting the material flat
on the saw table. There are a lot of problems cutting crown molding
using the backstop to hold the molding at the same angle as the wall
and ceiling angle. Usually the angle in the house is not 90 degrees.
If you are cutting 5.5" molding and the angle is off 3 degrees
there will be a 3/8 split in the bottom of the molding. The compound
miter saw was designed to lay the material flat, be clamped in place
is desired, and then the table and blade rotated to the necessary
angles for a proper miter. Holding the material at 45 degrees when
making the cut is less accurate and most saws do not have a clamp
to hold the wood to keep it from slipping. I hope this is helpful. |
| Followup:
I was about to buy one of your
devices for a crown moldings project with my Delta compound miter
saw, when I noted in your Q/A section that the device does not work
for the "bottoms-up" approach (non-compound angle). I
commend you for your honesty in pointing that out, but I think your
answer to that question is a bit disingenuous...saying that the
bottoms-up approach is difficult and prone to be inaccurate.
The 12" Delta saw I have has a tall fence perfect for even
large moldings and it has stops on the platform so that once you
set them up for a molding size, they stay that way. Before I had
this saw, I used a 10" Craftsman and had to make a jig that
accomplished the same thing. Bench Dog makes an inexpensive crown
molding jig, too, that you can use with pretty much any "chop"
saw.
Further, if you look at the DeWalt web site you point to in your
answer, you will find that the first technique for cutting crown
moldings they suggest is the bottom-up approach. The flat-cut approach
is only the third they suggest. I think that speaks volumes.
Once you have your jig set up, the bottoms-up approach is very accurate
and fast. I think it's safer, too, than the compound angle approach.
I understand how it would be hard to make your device work for cutting
moldings with the bottoms-up method, but you should not disparage
that method. In fact, it works great.
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| A: Thank you for your comments. In the original question
the customer wanted the laser to mark the front of the molding, which
it will not. In almost all cases the laser will mark the exact cutting
position needed in the bottoms up approach, which is the edge of the
molding. I have used this method many times and it is typically accurate
enough. In many older homes it is not accurate enough. The answer
on the site is about the greatest degree of accuracy because as stated
90 degree corners are not in abundance. Dewalt is also the only saw,
as far as I know, that has stops, at extra cost of course, made to
cut molding against the back stop. I to have typically set my own
track to hold the material in position when cutting bottoms up. If
a track is not used, and some novices may think it is not necessary,
the accuracy will be hit or miss at best. The laser will mark the
bottom edge of the molding using the bottoms up, originally called
the "up side down and backwards method", with great accuracy.
I will add this discussion the the Q&A as a follow up and add
a page with pictures and an explanation of the process. I hope this
has better answered the question. I appreciate your comments and time
to discuss the subject.
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| Q. I have noticed some saw dust inside the laser.
What should I do to get it out.(J.P. from KY) |
| A. If it affects the laser beam remove the black
rubber band and then blow through the slot with low pressure air.
The dust will blow out the bottom. Replace the band and everything
should be fine. |
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| Q. I finally got the time to install my LaserKerf
this past weekend. I had no problems getting it mounted and aligned.
I do have a question. My laser line is very sharp and crisp at the
end near the fence. The farther from the fence you look the more the
line gets very hazy (blurred). Can this be adjusted????? (P.R.) |
| A. There is no adjustment for the crispness of
the beam. If you have a high level of light it will start to break
up the beam. |
| Reply: OK---that answers the mystery. Obviously
as the beam stretches out from under the shadow of radial arm saw
motor it is being affected by the bright fluorescent lighting in the
shop and breaks up a bit. Not a problem, I really love the tool !!!
I can actually split a pencil mark on a piece of wood stock by simply
lining it up with the edge of the beam. It only takes a second to
line things up and get that kind of accuracy with the LaserKerf. Very
nice product. By the way, my Dad likes the LaserKerf I bought him
as much as I do. Thanks for the quick reply. |
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