As some might remember, a few years ago I purchased a new Miluakee portaband, with the intent of mounting it to a stand, on a bench in the finish shop. After just a couple of months I started noticing aluminum shavings on the table every time I would cut something. Turns out that the blade tensioning system was rubbing on the inside of the idler wheel, and eventually cut right through. When I tried to get it repaired under warranty, I was told the it was a "known issue" and would not be covered. I got so mad, I stuffed it under a bench, and purchased a Dewalt portband, that hasn't given me any troubles.

A couple of weeks ago I ran across a non working Miluakee saw in a local junk shop, and remembered the one I had stuffed under the bench. I bought the saw at the junk store for $10. (I had another idler to use on the saw I had)!

OK, not knowing exactly what I was getting into, I mounted the replacement idler on my saw, and proceeded to cut a piece of 1/2" X 2" A36.......before I was done, aluminum shaving were falling! After taking things apart, and examing everything I figured out what was going on.....the blade tensioning system on the Miluakee saw was poorly designed... and it would flex outward when pressure is put on the blade, cause it to cut into the inside of the idler (upper) wheel.

Here's how I attempted to fix it....

Only time will tell if this fix completly solves the issue, but it should have never been an issue in the first place! Putting a tool with a known flaw of this magnatude out there for sale is bad enough, but when it's a $300+ tool, it's downright shameful. And that's the reason I no longer buy Miluakee tools.