Proxxon Mini Chop Miter Saw

[jml1083]

HI,

 

I have the Proxxon mini chop miter saw that I got from MicroMark. Under the blade is a large bowl like excavation which you can see in the following photos. I marked the area in red in one photo to show where this is located and the photo without the markup shows the excavation itself. My question is this: what purpose does this excavation serve? The wood to be cut is held in the black vice attachment that you see in both photos. Because there is nothing under the wood when the blade passes through it, the wood tends to split or crack. Any other miter saw I've used has a groove that the blade passes through and both sides of the cut piece are supported during the cut. With this saw the right side of the wood is unsupported or backed and that's what is causing the problems.

 

 

 

I had actually considered filling in this void with auto body filler and cutting through it but then I lose the abilty to cut miters.

 

The void was cast into the base for a reason but for the life of me I can't figure out what the purpose is and since it causes the cut piece to be not cut smoothly I have to wonder why it was done.

 

Any opinions?

 

Thanks

[Maury S]

The saw blade goes into the depression when the arm is pulled down to cut.  I often use a blank piece of wood under the one I'm cutting to prevent tear-out.

Maury