New tool!

[Leon]

My birthday is coming up this week and I treated myself to a new tool.

Comparable in price to the Starrett tools but IMHO more versatile for the woodworker.

Incra makes measuring devices for lay out, usually a flat piece of SS with countless rows and offset columns of tiny holes. A quick location of the proper hole is problematic for me using those type lay out tools. PLUS you need a very sharp point on your pencil or a fine mechanical pencil.

So Woodpeckers seems to have addressed the pencil and or any kind of marker, including a Sharpie if you did not need a thin line.

And this has the slide out tab to keep the base from tipping, along the edge of a board as many squares will do. Smooth!

[krw]

They have a lot of well thought-out tools. None cheap and some worthless but there are some real gems, too. Their new drill guide is a keeper.

I have a couple of their aluminum rules and squares. The seemed like a good idea and are sure pretty but not all that useful. They're too thick, leading to parallax errors. The steel rule/square that you show would be useless in Al but a stainless blade changes everything.

[Leon]

Agreed, the thick aluminum squares are more for squaring up a project.

I have these, the set, and they work pretty well. Their edges are thin.

And I have had this set plus the shorter ones before this was introduced. I use these for laying out cut marks for the track saw when breaking down sheet goods. And obviously for laying out repetitious measurements.

And I have the exact 90 miter gauge on order. My Incra miter gauge almost has rust on all of the steel surfaces including the miter bar. Oddly that is about the only thing in my shop[ that has rust on it. BUT I do not spray it down with TopKote. My sweaty hands are the issue. Woodpeckers claims that their steel bar is plated with some kind of coating.

[krw]

I looked at those but decided that I didn't need them.

I bought a set of aluminum "Paolini" rules and was severely disappointed. Then I bought a set of the stainless rules. Very different tools. I use them constantly.

I think I bought on when they first came out. Maybe you were the one who pointed them out.

I decided that I didn't need it (priorities). My miter gauges are in good shape now. I replaced some of the corroded parts recently.

[Leon]

I have a set of Bridge City Steel rules that I bought 30+ years ago. I find that I use them all at the same times, some times. Being anal but necessary when joining face frames to a carcass and all joints are dado's or groves. I often stack the steel rules end to end to set a miter saw stop "accurately" And they are handy for setting the rip fence with a stacked dado set. I use a tape measure simply as a quick double check, never as a primary measurement for a finish cut.

I really do not mind the rust, I can squint and set the angle if necessary but that is for .05% of my cuts. The real issue that I have with the Incra set up is it's strong point, the exact increments of adjustment. More often than not, when fitting pieces of wood between fixed objects, like rails between a column of drawers, I need a higher resolution than a 32nd of an inch.

AND the Incra flip stop has that adjustment on the steel dowel. BUT that is all adjust and test as the rod tends to move when tightening the tiny thumb screws. And those screws/nuts are not fixed so they slide around. I hate that after thought adjustment for an otherwise pretty good system. And when you use the fence extension the indexing is no longer a factor, it's strictly slide and tighten the extension to the "hopeful" exact spot. AND that is assuming that the adjustable plastic rule has not slipped. Not a really big deal unless you are needing exact.

The Exact 90 has no indexing but the measure markings are permanent so no slipping of the tape. And it's flip stop is easy to tweak if necessary and does not have to be returned to zero. The Incra rod has to be retracted to zero on the flip stop. The exact 90 measures off of the stop arm itself vs the carage that carries the adjustable arm on the Incra. Hopefully it works like they say it will.

[krw]

You don't use the fence gauge for the measurement on that SawStop? Maybe you should get one of these:

>

[Leon]

I have seen that but I don't think I would use it.

Yes I use the fence rule "except" when I use the stacked dado set. That setup subtracts some odd amount from the amount shown on the fence rule.

You know, the fence rule says 4" but the steel rule says 3-19/64".

Or if cutting rabbets also consider the sacrificial fence added in there.

[krw]

They don't have one for my saw so it's not a decision that I have to make (most likely not). I bought one of the Wixy fence gauges some ten years ago but never used it much. Like all Wixy stuff, and HF calipers, the battery is always dead when it's needed.

I thought you measured off the blade?

Then you get the "1-error".

[Leon]

I do...... Is your saw right tilt? The scale on a left tilt is accurate from the right side of a single blade to the Fence. Stack blades to the right of a single blade and the scale is inaccurate. That is when I use the steel rule to measure from the fence to the outside of the right most outer dado blade.

Right tilt saws are a different situation in this respect and about their only advantage over left tilt.

And having said that it is interesting to note that the industrial SawStop appears to be a right tilt saw. It's tilt crank is on the left side of the saw. BUT it is a left tilt.

[krw]

It's a left tilt but the scale isn't all that accurate. Not nearly as accurate as you're talking about.