On Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 10:25:49 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 1/31/2017 8:10 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

A piece of MDF or plywood should work if you have a scrap laying around.

It be the saw.

Here is the 1/2" MDF:

http://i.imgur.com/Sjicndm.jpg

I tried 2 different blades and I tried both with and without the hold
down clamp. The groove might be ever so slightly shallower without the
hold down clamp, but it's still there.

That sucks..I don't have a slider but is it common practice to stop the
blade while in the kerf?

Yes. You'll find comments like this all over the web and in most instruction
manuals:

"Tip #3: Stop before you lift.

After making a cut on your mitersaw, always allow the blade to stop spinning before lifting the saw. Prematurely raising it could score the end of your workpiece. The spinning blade could also snag the cutoff and dangerously propel it at a high speed."

"Wait Until the Blade Stops

Be honest: How many dangerous missiles have you launched from your miter saw? Weve all done it. Small cutoffs are the worst, of course. But its not rocket science to figure out how to ground them: Dont lift the blade until it stops. Make the cut, let go of the trigger and count to five. Thats not so hard, is it?"