My Bosch Glide GCM12SD bed is not flat. Is yours?

[Roger Feeley]

My bride of almost 35 years bought me a new Bosch Glide GCM12SD for my birthday. I didn't discover a problem until I had modified my cutoff saw station and wanted to level the wing tables and couldn't. I found that the turntable is low by about .030" which I deem unacceptable. After a conversation with Bosch tech support, I learned that the tolerance is .019". For $800, I would expect at least the .019".

I could adapt somewhat by making my own zero clearance insert and making it a bit thick but I really don't think I should have to do that.

I was fortunate because the aforementioned bride got me a Starrett precision straightedge last year. I laid that across the bed and used a digital caliper to measure the gap all the way across. I found that the the turntable is low by about .012 and that the bed is cupped just a bit that adds to the problem. I don't know if the casting moved after machining or if the saw took some sort of hit during shipping. the box was fine and Bosch did a great job of package design.

My wife got me the saw through Amazon, probably because the local Woodcraft doesn't have them in yet. Returning it would be a hassle since the box is long gone.

Bosch told me to take it in to the local repair depot. I spoke with them and they told me that the process would take about 3 weeks. They evaluate the tool, order the parts and then fix it. There will be no charge to me other than being without my saw for 3 weeks. Since this is the only problem, waiting 3 weeks to get it right seems fine to me. I'm not in any particular hurry. I still have my Dewalt DW703.

I will update my review on Amazon as the process proceeds.

If any others in this group have the saw, could you lay a straightedge across the bed and post the results? Bosch tells me that the saw can't be repaired and that I will have to have a new saw. I want to know the odds of doing better.

[Chuck Wintle]

i would still try amazon for a replacement even though the box is gone. With the bill it should be Ok to get a replacement. Yours may have been a fluke during manufacture and the replacement will be fine. Try Amazon as they are really good.

[Larry Edgerton]

The table on every miter saw I own is low.[Delta,Hitachi,Dewalt,Makita] I don't think this is out of the ordinary. In fact I use it as an advantage. I use green painters tape stuck on over the saw slot in usually 2-4 layers depending on the saw to create a disposable zero clearance insert that really helps my old eyes. Make a mark on the board and line it up with where the saw cut the tape and move on.

I always assumed that the tables were left a hair low on purpose to allow the table to ge adjusted with a board on the saw. Could be wrong, but every saw I have ever had a has had the turntable just a bit low.

There is no such thing as a perfect tool, at least from my perspective. If you find one let me know. Part of being a woodworker is finding solutions, and if possible turning lemons into lemonade....

[Robert Chapman]

I would try Amazon first - before laying up the saw for 3 weeks. This is the second time I have heard of this problem. I checked my new Glide and I do not have the problem. I really like my saw - also a gift from my wife - who always insists that I save shipping boxes for a year.

[Peter Pedisich]

There is no such thing as a perfect tool, at least from my perspective. If you find one let me know. Part of being a woodworker is finding solutions, and if possible turning lemons into lemonade....

I agree. I have a DeWalt biscuit joiner that never cut right until I saw an article in FWW that showed how to get the fence parallel with the blade and I did that and all of a sudden it's like a Lamello in it's precision! (although it still sounds like a grinder...)
My DeWalt 703 10" miter saw has the lower table as well, inconvenient with small pcs, as they 'fall' towards the blade...but I hold the blade down until the saw stops so it's no problem.

[glenn bradley]

The idea of keeping that saw because the return would be a hassle doesn't fly. Get a replacement or curse the thing every time you have a bad cut for all eternity.

[Ed Kilburn]

I'll contact Amazon, back in the summer I purchased a Bosch GRL145HVCK Rotary Laser from cpotools.com, a few weeks later after the box was thrown out, I found the slope function didn't work. One call to CPO and a new one was on the way overnight. Packed the broke one in the box the new one came in, stuck on the enclosed return label and called Fedex for a pick up. Less then 24 hours I had a working unit with no cost or travel on my part. No connection to CPO, but I've bought a lot of tools from them, most being recondition when available.

[Eiji Fuller]

My Kapex table is flat and aligned with the turntable. But even the kapex had issues that weren't acceptable to me like the stiff turntable adjustment and scraping of the detent lock plate. Festool fixed the latter issue but claimed the hard to turn table was a design feature. I came up with a fix and am super pleased with the performance. Still I don't think you can get the perfect miter/slider at the pricepoint most of us would he willing to pay. Even more so now that the dollar is being devalued.

Does Omga make a slider?

[Jim Stewart]

I bought a Bosch from my local supplier. I was apprehensive because my serial number has a bunch zeros with a one at the end of it. A collectors item someday? Anyway, I just read the thread, so I rushed out to the shop to check the bed. It appears to be dead flat. The saw is impressive to this point. A soft start would be nice. The accuracy seems to be excellent. I have Tenryu sawblade and the cut that results is very smooth and slick. Only the tiniest hint of blade marks on the cut. These can be easily taken care of with a low angle plane. I bought the saw mainly for the wide cut capacity. The accuracy and many other features are a bonus for me. Oh yeah, the dust collection is amazing but noisy. I think the wind noise is loader than the saw but I wear ear protection.

[Brian Kincaid]

Does Omga make a slider?

They make Radial Arm Saws. I'm constantly reminding myself I don't need one.
-Brian

[Van Huskey]

They make Radial Arm Saws. I'm constantly reminding myself I don't need one.
-Brian

All I have to do is look at the Omga price sheet and that is all the reminding I need!

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks to all that replied. The general concensus was that I shouldn't live with the thing and make a general pest of myself and that's what I did. I'm happy to report that everyone involved couldn't have been better.

Amazon offered to replace the saw or give me a refund. They offered to pay for return shipping even though I didn't have the original packaging. Because the saw is heavy, they scheduled a pickup with a trucking company. Amazon said I didn't even have to box the saw. The trucking company wanted me to box it in something...anything.

My experience with Bosch was better yet. I approached it from two directions: a support phone call and an email. The phone support guy told me that the saw was out of spec and was not repairable. He said I could return it to Amazon for refund or take it in to a local repair place where they would determine what was wrong (everything) and take care of me. They also said I could ship the saw back to them at my expense. That's about the best I could expect from a frontline support guy.

Meanwhile, the email folks were evaluating my case.

I consulted with my local retailer and they gave me the name of the Bosch Rep for Kansas/Missouri. I called him. I was trying to decide whether to go for a replacement or refund and then buy the saw locally. We have a couple of woodworking shows soon and I thought I might show up with my straightedge and get the pick of the litter. He expressed a lot of interest in my saw and talked with his techs who were more interested yet. They offered to order in several saws, pick the best and ship that one to me. Then I would use the box and ship mine to the techs for analysis. They would pay shipping. That sounded good to me so I accepted their offer. After all, I do like the saw, I just want one that's right.

Meanwhile, the email support folks got back to me. They wanted to ship me a new saw and have me ship mine back at their expense. It seems that their techs wanted to see my saw. That would make two genuine expressions of interest in what happened to my saw.

I have to say that one offer from Bosch might just be anomalous curiosity by a single person. Two such offers suggest a corporate culture.

I will update again in a week or so when I have more to report.

[Ted Wong]

Same problem here x2. First saw arrived and like you said the table was out of flat and if you look at the machine closely you'l notice the foot on the back left side is twisted too. Terrible casting. Amazon sent a replacement immediately and voila, same issues. I should mention both boxes arrived trashed with holes in them. I called Bosch tech support about the problem and within a day I got a call back from Bosch quality assurance team. I sent them digital pics and they sounded really concerned about getting to the bottem of this. Either there are a bunch of bad saws out there or Amazon got an isolated batch of defective saws. Give this guy a shout I'm sure he'd want to know: Howard.Chen@us.bosch.com

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks Ted,

I will pass along your experience to my rep at Bosch. I think it best that my guy be the central point for any contacts with me. The thing to do is get my rep and yours together so they can compare notes.

In my case, I didn't notice any damage to the box but I also didn't look too hard. That said, I will be going downstairs and putting a straightedge on the bottom of the saw to see if the feet are co-planar.

I am mystified at how my saw could have the problems it has. If the bottom part of the saw were a single piece and not a separate base and table, it would be as if a giant hand pressed down in the middle of the table and dished it. A straightedge across the table shows dishing in the table (both sides slope down to the center). The defect is relatively symmetrical. The table is also dished. If the giant hand pressed down on the center of the saw enough to bow both components, I would think that the table would bind. The table moves freely and, other than being badly out of flat, the saw works great.

I hope Bosch will keep in touch with me and let me know what the problem is/was.

Roger

[Roger Feeley]

I passed this thread along to my Bosch Rep and they had some success in reproducing the problem. I had emailed them a rubbing of the saw bed and table where I had written in the gaps showing that the whole thing was dished with about a .037" gap in the middle. Using my report and Ted's and dropping a number of saws, they found that it was abuse by the shippers that was damaging the saws.

Bosch is shipping me a new saw in a prototype package. I will ship my saw back to them for analysis but they don't think they need it anymore since they have no shortage of busted saws.

It was an interesting conversation with the Bosch rep. I suggested that they might put some foam under that saw but he really didn't want to. He want's all of their packaging to be recyclable. I can't argue with that...

Same problem here x2. First saw arrived and like you said the table was out of flat and if you look at the machine closely you'l notice the foot on the back left side is twisted too. Terrible casting. Amazon sent a replacement immediately and voila, same issues. I should mention both boxes arrived trashed with holes in them. I called Bosch tech support about the problem and within a day I got a call back from Bosch quality assurance team. I sent them digital pics and they sounded really concerned about getting to the bottem of this. Either there are a bunch of bad saws out there or Amazon got an isolated batch of defective saws. Give this guy a shout I'm sure he'd want to know: Howard.Chen@us.bosch.com