I did some work for a buddy, and he said I could pick a new tool, and he will pay for it. I decided to get a miter fence for my tablesaw. I would like to hear any comments/experiences you may have. I am looking at:
Kreg Precision Miter Guage System, $179.00 Canadian Accu-Miter Gauge, $259.00 Cdn. Osborne EB-3 Miter Gauge, $225.00 Cdn Jessem Mite-R-Excel, $239.00 Cdn.
I'm kind of leaning towards the Jessem. It seems very beefy, higly accurate, and it's red, the fastest color.
Cheers,
Bairdo.
"Bairdo" wrote in message news:tS0Mf.69701$sa3.67054@pd7tw1no...
I presume you are also looking to get the miger gauge in addition to the fence. Summer before last I went through this process and was only looking at the Kreg and the Osboune. EB-3. Both had QC problems but Kreg admitted problems and went the extra MILE"S" to make the gauge right. The Kreg problem was that the indexing pin would not fit tightly and resulted in me still needing to visually set the gauge to zero or any of the indexed locations. They sent me several replacement pins which were either more loose or too tight to go in the hole. Ultimately they pulled a new miter gauge off the production line, sent it to an engeneer to spec it and sent that one to me and aske me to throw the original gauge away. Now it works perfectly. With the Osbourne EB-3 there was too much slop and play when the gauge was extended to the farthermost extended position of 45 degrees. It was fine on the closest extended setting of 45 degrees. When set to the farther most 45 degree position there was a 2 to 3 degree +&- amount of flex. It was either an inherent or QC problem. When I e-mailed Oscourne with the problem they asked me to exchange it for another new one with my local dealer. Every one of the gauges had that problem. The dealer was rather miffed and gladly gave my money back. A few days ago I checked another Osbourn EB-3 and noticed that the slop was pretty much corrected however again in the extended farther most 45 degree setting I did not have a lot of confidence in the gauge holding true if a heavy board was being pushed through the saw. I prefer to use the gauge so that the cut is at the trailing end of the board. This produces a cleaner exit with less chance of tear out. When using non symetrical stock such as moldings this method requires using the gauge on both sides of the blade and it requires the gauge to be able to sweep 90 degrees from one 45 to the other 45 degree setting. The Osbourne did not do well in this respect.
That looks like a nice gauge but so do all the others. LOL I strongly suggest you buy locally if possible and try the settings out in the store.
I have the Osborne EB3. I LOVE it. It is one of my favorite tools. Easy to calibrate and very reliable. Besides, it must be good if Norm uses it! ;) Seriously, I would buy it again IF it ever broke.
If you haven't already, watch there video at there web site.
Here is a review:
I like the Incra 1000, which you didn't mention.
Barry
Save your friend some money. Get an Incra mitre, but NOT the fence. You can make a better one out of MDF and aborite than the aluminum ones. The problem with the aluminum fences is that they don't go through the blade and support the cut on both sides. Also, you have to move the fence over when you change the angle. And the measuring tapes on the top of the fence are useless. Those 'flip stops' are useless too, you can make a better stop with a scrap of wood and a clamp for those few times you need one.
The Incra mitre alone was a good addition however.
You could use the left over cash for some wood!
Rob
I just looked at the Incra. Seems like a very good solution also. I have a few more days to ponder.
Thanks for the advise guys.
Cheers,
Bairdo.
indexing pin was a perfect fit with no slop. fence is designed to add a sacrificial fence and is highly recommended. i disagree about the scale being useless and the adjustable stop is very precise. I do agree that the incra 27 guage and home made fence would be a lot cheaper and just as accurate but you would not be dissapointed with the Kreg.
What I like about the Kreg in particular is the small foot print. Some gauges eat up half the space in front of the blade.
Another advantage of the Kreg is that you can use the pre-determined positions for comon locations, but set ANY angle if needed. It even has a tweaking mechanism if the 0.01 vernier isn't spot-on.
And that Blue anodized aluminum makes the saw look better. ;~)
I use a pair of Dubby sleds for my tricky cutting. I basically bought the Kreg so that I would not have to look at anything to set 45 and 0 degrees and be dead on.
Thanks for your input guys.
I don't suppose that any of the magazines did an article comapring any of them?
Cheers,
Bairdo.
You better believe it: Description Magazine Issue Page Category
Table Saw Miter Gauges American Woodworker 8/00 81 Reviews - Multiple Brands Table Saw Miter Gauges Fine Woodworking 10/03 74 Reviews - Multiple Brands Table Saw Miter Gauges ShopNotes 42 12 Reviews - Multiple Brands
the above was found using:
Description Magazine Issue Page Category
Table Saw Miter Gauges American Woodworker 8/00 81 Reviews - Multiple Brands Table Saw Miter Gauges Fine Woodworking 10/03 74 Reviews - Multiple Brands Table Saw Miter Gauges ShopNotes 42 12 Reviews - Multiple Brands
taken from:
Also look here for a pretty comprehensive user report of the early Kreg miter gauge. Improvements have been made so don't let this discourage you unless something in particular does not set well with you as far as features go.
Thanks a bunch. That is a great help. I will track them down. This will give me planty to read.
Cheers,
Table Saw Miter Gauges American Woodworker 8/00 81 Reviews - Multiple Brands Table Saw Miter Gauges Fine Woodworking 10/03 74 Reviews - Multiple Brands Table Saw Miter Gauges ShopNotes 42 12 Reviews - Multiple Brands
taken from:
Bairdo, I have the EB-3 and the Incra 1000SE. Neither one is the perfect miter gauge with fence. The incra is kind of hard to set in micro increments degree wise. It is also not at a right angle from the factory and you have to shim it. The repeatablility of the measuring is very nice once it is set up right but there are always exceptions and you have to recalibrate all the time. The EB-3 did not hold zero properly after a while but they did send me a new knob which seems to have corrected the problem and I like the long fence with the sand paper on it. The sliding measuring gaugeis nearly worthless for measureless setting because you can't see the measuring strip clearly in relation to the stop. So, Now I have 2 I am not completely happy with. That's woodworking. I wish I could pick better with the long haul in mind but I don't seem to do that. I know that crown steel on their marking gauges is very poor tho but I own them also.
Enjoy the money pit of woodworking but there are no stinky motors involved and you get to actually make something beautiful.
MBR
I appreciate all the replies.
I knew this would be the place to ask a question like that.
As far as 'the money pit of woodworking' goes, I only have about 15K of tools so far. It's SWMBO that is always asking "when the hell are you going to use them?" I have done 4 or 5 decks, about a dozen garages, and 5 basement renos, but they are mostly for friends. I figure that I have now gasined enough experience to make some furniture for myself without screwing up at my own cost. (Starting on a wall unit for the laundry room as soon as the garage warms up, about 15 more minutes.)
Cheers,
Bairdo.
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