Osborne EB3 used in place of mitre saw?

[Allan Bartel]

I have been seeing the Osborne EB3 advertised quite a bit (and sold by Lee Valley Tools). I do not, however, see a lot of revues of this replacement mitre guage on the web. One finds a number of sites that have revues, but when checking, one finds that they are the same five in on different sites.

Most of the ones I find are very positive about its rigidity and accuracy, but then you find one that seems to indicate that it is neither accurate nor stable.

For those who have actually used it, how does it actually stand up? Can it be used, more or less, in place of a mitre saw, for such things as cutting picture frame moulding, etc?.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Allan Bartel remove the spam for any personal replies!

[Mike in Mystic]

Hi Allan:

I bought the EB-3 and used it for awhile and didn't like it very much. The angles were accurate and adjustments were easy, but I found the miter bar difficult to tighten in the slot and wasn't impressed with the material used for the bar. The worst part, though, was when cutting reasonably long pieces - say, over 36", IIRC - I would get some flex in the fence extension, throwing the cut off just a smidgeon. I never quantified it or anything, but it annoyed me, to say the least. I took an opportunity to sell the gauge and then bought the JDS Accumiter (also available from Lee Valley), which I have found to be MUCH better than the EB-3. The Accumiter is much heavier and more rigid and I have not had any of the problems I had with the EB-3. AFAIK, the guy who bought my EB-3 loves it - so some of this probably comes down to personal preference.

Mike

[B a r r y]

A good miter gauge on a good table saw is usually more accurate than miter saw.

The real advantage to a miter saw is when parts get long and or heavy. Long and heavy parts can be hard to move across the table accurately, as well as difficult to support the part hanging off the saw.

Some folks love the Osbourne, I haven't used one. For 90 degree crosscuts I will almost always choose a sled over a miter gauge.

Barry

[Wally]

I also purchased it. Even though I didn't really push it to its maximum capacity, I did find that it was very accurate. Calibration is also easy and makes sense compared to the stupid Incra 1000 miter gauge (that's what I had before).

On the other hand, if I had to cut some long pieces like the previous person who answered you, I wouldn't use it. I would use either a homemade jig or a miter saw. You should always work within the limit of every tool you're using. The Osborne EB-3 is no exception.

Hope this helps,

Wally