Went over to Rockler and picked up one of their new 'Perfect Fit' dado guides today. It comes with a 50" aluminum clamp that it rides on. When I first opened it up, I was impressed with the weight and quality of the plastic plate that rides on the clamp. The adjustment system is clever and seems to work very well.
The problem arose when I set the plate on the clamp, and it wouldn't slide. It bound up tight. Turns out the plate does not lie flat on the work, the outside edge is at least 1/8" above the work. This is apparently caused by the grooves in the plastic plate not quite fitting all the way into the grooves on the clamp. If you lift the outer edge of the plate, it slides easily on the clamp, but without lifting it won't even move. The weight of the router would make it lie flat, but it would be locked in place, not able to slide.
The clamp is supposedy 'new and improved', and I am wondering if they forgot to mill the plate to match. Anyway, as is, it simply won't work. I am sure I could fix it with a sawcut, but I will wait to see what Rockler says about it.
So, my review finds that as is, the tool is not worth buying, but I suspect either I have a badly machined plate, or Rockler will re-issue the tool after fixing it. Working correctly, it seems like it will be very handy.
Rick Potter
PS: On the web site, it said I could be the first to review it. I did, saying basically the above. I guess we will find out if they actually post it. After posting, the website automatically said my post was " under moderation". I hope they can fix the problem, as I would like to have it working properly.