Sliding compound-miter saw questions

[made2hack]

Hi all,

An odd question. I've got this cheapo miter saw that I bought to use and I could never get a straight cut at the 0 degrees (or 90 deg) mark.

Over a distance of 300mm (ie 12") I would get a deviation of approximately 2.5 - 3 mm (around 1/8 "). I mean, I don't expect it to be a professional unit but I do expect it to at least cut in a straight line.

After a bunch of adjustments to try to cut down the inaccuracy, I decided to remove the sliding head and vacuum everything. Including inside the linear bearings.

What surprised me was that there seemed to be a linear bearing missing. I mean, one of the rails has 2 bearings installed, the other rail only one.

Does this seem normal on these saws? Is this a case of trying to save a few cents / unit? Or is it a gross QA oversight?

Could this be the reason that the ends of my cut are not straight?

I've attached some pictures for reference.

Thanks,