The new uh er NEW KREG Miter Gauge

Well I use 2 Dubby jigs for most of my production cutting and cross cutting. But because they do not have a flip up stop, I often have to remove the Dubby and pull our my stock miter gauge. I hate using that thing as it seems to always be a crap shoot as to whether it is going to cut at 90 degrees. All this just to square the end of a board and not up set the stop setting on the Dubby. Anyway, I decided to get a smaller precision miter gauge that would lock down precisely at 0 degrees to do these in between cuts to square stock and for quick crosscuts. I wanted a miter gauge that you did not have to look at and confirm that it would be set to cut 90 degree. One that could not easily be accidentally knocked off 0. So, I bought the Kreg miter gauge. This was the FastTrac Miter gauge. I got the silver Kreg that has the Kreg enhancements that the Silver Fastrac did not have. I assembled it and was impressed with the fit and finish and ease of use.

Now the bad part. Even though the Kreg now has a brass indexing pin to lock in the settings at the points most often used and the handle that tightens the gauge, the gauge would not lock down at 0 degrees or any of the other settings unless you visually and manually adjusted the gauge also. Way too much play in the brass indexing pen to hold the miter gauge in one position. Regardless of how tight the handle was, the gauge would still easily deflect off 0 with the indexing pin in place at 0. I took the gauge back to my local dealer and me being content was all they were interested in. They pulled the New BLUE Kreg off the display to check the play on it. It was as advertised as the miter was dead on 0 and even with the handle loose and or off the gauge stayed dead on 0 degrees. The trouble here though is that we needed a pair of pliers to remove the brass index pin. After getting the pin out and tweaking it with steel wool the Gauge worked perfectly. The locals were willing to let me have the New Blue Kreg in exchange for the Silver Kreg for the same price. The Blue Kreg was $30. more. I almost went for that but they would be loosing money on the deal, well may be just loosing a percentage of gross profit. I was not looking for a "Deal", just a gauge that I trusted and could rely on. I turned down the gracious offer and put out another $40 for the Osborne 3. This gauge was my second choice. I hope it works out. So, if you are considering a Kreg miter gauge, go for it but I strongly suggest you get from a local supplier and not order it. I suggest you take the gauge out of the box and check for play at the indexing pin at the store before you take it home. It will be easy to spot if this gauge has a problem. IMHO any movement at all is not acceptable. I totally believe that the Kreg miter gauge will work as advertised if the indexing pin fit snugly. The Blue Kregs seem to have the better fitting indexing pin IMHO.

Reply to
Leon
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Leon,

Nice review of the problems noted. Have you had a chance to try or look at the Incra miter gauges? I have two (models 1000 and 2000) with extra fences and stops. There is no play - zip, zero, null...

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S.

Reply to
Bob

with yours I feel they are a bit pricey,although the Osborn is right up there, and have read a few complaints about the gauge face not being square to the table. I also have steered away form the large protractor heads that use up a lot of table space behind the fence. And then there is the weight issue. LOL. The Osborn has a lot of the issues that I don't like but it has a lot of features that I do like. I wanted dead accurate and simple. I would probably go for the Incra V27 as it is smaller behind the fence and I really only want dead accurate and quick at 0 degrees. My Dubby sliding jigs are what I use for angle cuts. Again, I believe that the Kreg will be great once the engineering quirks are ironed out.

Reply to
Leon

have read a few complaints about the gauge face not being square to the table.

Umm, that is adjustable you know.........

Todd L

Reply to
Todd L

No, it isn't. I bought a V27 and had to re-build the S.O.B. The angle to the blade is adjustable, but the face of the fence wasn't even close to being 90 degrees to the table top. There is a 1/8" piece of steel that attaches to the main part of the miter guage. The 1/8" steel is (supposed to be) bent up at 90 degrees to form the face. The problem is that it isn't bent at a true 90, it's about 92 or 93. The only way to get the piece tight to the miter guabe is to pull it up out of the slot. I took mine apart and tried to straighten it, but screwed it up. I ended up buying a piece of right-angle aluminum from HD and machined the defective piece from that - now it's square as can be.

Next time I was at the place I bought it, I mentioned it to the store manager. He said, "Yeah, there's been a few complaints about that, so we called the Incra rep and asked. The rep said they're made that way to help hold the workpiece down on the table".

I said, "Hmmm..." and left. I'm sure the guy was talking out his a*s. Gravity has always done a pretty fair job of holding my work on the table in the past, I really don't think Incra would try to improve on that. I think they just let QC get away for a moment, or a batch. I was pretty disgusted at first, but after $3 and a couple hours work, I love it. If I happen across someone with a capable brake I may try again to straighten the original piece, but I'm happy with it (now).

Reply to
Jerry Shaw

I think they just let QC get away for a moment, or a batch.

Perhaps a large batch. The first time I heard about that problem was probably 3 years ago, long vefore the V27 came out.

Reply to
Leon

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