Kregg miter

[David Klug]

Does anyone have have a Kregg miter? If so how do you like it? They seem to be priced reasonable. I thought I might check it out when I go to the woodworking show in Sac. http://www.bizrate.com/buy/noncat_pr...265985914.html

DK

[Brian Hale]

I got one a couple months ago at the Woodworking Show at the Maryland State Fair Grounds. and i've been meaning to put a review up, but........


In general, i'm not pleased with it.

There's no denying it's accuracy, it's dead on which is what i want a miter gage to do. The problem is the aluminum bar, it flexs too much.

Let me explain....
Once i adjust the bar for a good fit in the TS miter slot it glides back and forth with no effort at all. If i apply gentle pressure to the end of the fence it'll flex about 3/16". I can watch the bar flex in the miter slot. Thats not too bad and if i keep it in mind while using it my 90 deg cuts are very consistant.

The real drawback are the angle cuts. It's Very easy to flex the bar and cause it to bind unless i pull back on the handle while pushing the gage forward. This is a little weird to get used to and if my backwards pull on the handle isn't consistant from cut to cut my angles can be slightly off, sorta like i'm making a compound miter cut. The wider the board the more the error.

The bottom of the fence has a groove cut in it to accept small "glide feet" so the aluminum fence doesn't rub your saw top. These work well at 90 deg but at 45 deg they can get slip off the the saw top and bind on the edge.

So when i make a angle cut i'm pulling back on the handle, pressing the stock against the fence, pushing everything forward and making sure the glide feet aren't binding on the saw top.

I perfer to think about other things when i'm making cuts, like the 80 carbide teeth spinning at 7000 rpm a few inches from my fingers.

Some minor issues....

The flipstop that comes with the miter gage is made from 2 pieces of an aluminum extrusion and appears to of been cut with a chop saw. The cut surface is a bit rough but it looks like the cut didn't completly go through the extrusion and the parts had to be broken apart. This left a burr along the lower edge of stop that wasn't removed. The parts are run through a tumbler to remove the burrs and smooth the sharp edges but it only served to round over this burr, not remove it. A couple seconds with a hand file and it's gone so that no big deal.

The head of the gage is also an aluminum extrusion. The vertical portion where the fence attaches is machined so the fence is 90 deg to the saw top. This surface is machined with a 3" or 4" shell mill and it's not smooth or flat. I can put a square against the head and it measures 90 deg Anywhere i put it. However, this machined surface is not flat. I can measure .012 Total Indicator Runout along this surface so it's sort of an arc instead of flat.

Accuracy 9 out of 10
Fit and finish 6 out of 10
User friendly 4 out of 10

Overall 6.3 out of 10

YMMV

Brian

[Mark Singer]

I have the Fasttrack Miter gauge which is really the same. mark Duginske sold his company and patents to Kreg. It is really a very good and accurate gague. He also invented the Woodhaven Miter and this is a greatly improved version ...they have both done very well in tests at FWW

[Paul Franklin]

Mark

I don't have this one, but I bought the Osborne EB3, which is the same price, I love it! It is also avaiable on Amazon.
Paul