Bevel locking system for a sliding compound miter saw

A miter saw comprising:

• a table on which a workpiece is placed;
• a miter saw unit supporting a saw blade and having a motor for rotatably driving said saw blade;
• a housing pivotally supporting said miter saw unit related to said table in such a manner that said miter saw unit is at least laterally pivotable;
• and
• a bevel mechanism for selectively determining the lateral position of said miter saw unit at any of a plurality of pivoted positions including a vertical position where said saw blade is positioned substantially vertically relative to said table, and leftward and rightward pivoted positions where said blade is inclined laterally leftwardly and laterally rightwardly from said vertical position;
• said bevel mechanism comprising a rod and three stop members, at least one of said stop members being operable to move between a first position abutting said rod and a second position not abutting said rod so as to permit the lateral pivotal movement of said miter saw unit;
• a first one of said stop members being disposed so that the rod abuts said first stop member when the miter saw unit is at the vertical position;
• a second one of said stop members being disposed so that the rod abuts said second stop member when the miter saw unit is leftwardly pivoted at a first predetermined angle from the vertical position;
• and
• a third one of said stop members being disposed so that the rod abuts said third stop member when the miter saw unit is rightwardly pivoted at a second predetermined angle from the vertical position.

A miter saw comprising:

• a table on which a workpiece is placed;
• a miter saw unit supporting a saw blade and having a motor for rotatably driving said saw blade;
• a housing pivotally supporting said miter saw unit related to said table in such a manner that said miter saw unit is at least laterally pivotable;
• and
• a bevel mechanism for selectively determining the lateral position of said miter saw unit at any of a plurality of pivoted positions including a vertical position where said saw blade is positioned substantially vertically relative to said table, and leftward and rightward pivoted positions where said blade is inclined laterally leftwardly and laterally rightwardly from said vertical position;
• said bevel mechanism comprising a rod and three stop members, said stop members being operable to move between a first position abutting said rod and a second position not abutting said rod so as to permit the lateral pivotal movement of said miter saw unit;
• a first one of said stop members being disposed so that the rod abuts said first stop member when the miter saw unit is at the vertical position;
• a second one of said stop members being disposed so that the rod abuts said second stop member when the miter saw unit is leftwardly pivoted at a first predetermined angle from the vertical position;
• and
• a third one of said stop members being disposed so that the rod abuts said third stop member when the miter saw unit is rightwardly pivoted at a second predetermined angle from the vertical position.