Steve,
You situation is definitely not normal for this saw. No way should there be the side-to-side slop that you mention. Here are some things you should check:

1. Take the blade off and check for wobble in the arbor. If the arbor is wobbley return the saw to place of purchase. If you know someone with a dial indicator, check the runout.

2. Make sure the blade is seated correctly on the arbor. Make sure that the arbor nut is on in the correct orientation (concave side towards blade).

3. Check the fence alignment.

4. Check if the blade is warped.

Other things that could cause burning and saw marks are dull blade or build up of resin on the blade. There are a variety of cleaners available. CMT makes one that gets good reviews from our customers and is non-toxic. It smells suspiciously like formula 409 spray cleaner. It sounds like the biggest problem is in the side-to-side play that you mentioned.

Brian

: Brian,

: Just curious - I've got the same Makita 10" saw. I'm just curious what
: kind of finish you get on your cuts, mine leaves a pretty ragged cut, esp.
: with the stock blade that came with it. I cut the strips for a canoe and a
: kayak with a 7 1/4" Matsushita blade that left a little better finish
: but still pretty rough. Didn't really matter since the strips were getting
: sanded and planed smooth once they were on the boat. There's a lot of
: side-to-side slop in the blade arbor i.e. with the power off when I wiggle
: the blade I get probably nearly 1/16" of play.

: I'm wondering if this is normal for these saws or did I get a bum one? I
: didn't expect cabinet saw quality work of course but I can't believe
: anyone could do finish carpentry with this saw - you'd have to take 6 or 8
: passes with a block plane on every piece just to get the saw marks off. I
: can't figure any way to tighten it up either.

: On the plus side it does have tons of power, I can tear through 5/4 white oak
: or green treated lumber no problem.

: Steve