Customer Reviews

JDS Company 24-46 24-Inch - 46-Inch Accu-Miter Table Saw Miter Gauge

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Accruate NOT!!! The adjustable stop is nice but try to set an angle. The shot-pin type angle setting has to much slop in it. I still have to make a test cut or three and adjust the angle accordingly...

If you cut dados on a table saw, you are cutting them blind and know how dificult it is to get the dados to line up on both boards. Fixing this problem is easy with a JDS Accu-Miter.

First, all your boards are exactly the same length.

Second, the Accu-Miter lets you put the dado in exactly the same position. Finally, the Accu-Miter provides the much needed support along the board while you make the cut.

I just today recieved a new accu miter miter gauge. I was really looking forward to getting a good addition for my table saw. What a huge disappointment. First off there is so much slop in the shot pin setup you have to make several trial cuts and moving one way or the other to remove the slop and get a square cut. ( not a repeatable or positive index lock ) . You can not index the shot pin to 45 and be even close even if you try to move out the slop. My very old craftsman that I wanted to replace is better.It's going back

Having read some of the users reviews left me a little leery in purchasing this product. In fact I first contacted Amazon to inquire about their return policy before I placed my order. It arrived and assembly was straightforward. A good exploded view in the instructions was all I needed to assemble it; I never even read the text. The adjustable bar fit perfectly, no side-to-side movement, glides like it was mated for my table (newer Delta unisaw). The accuracy of the shot-pin was in fact was right on 90 and 45 degrees after I set it with a large drafting square. This I'm sure of with the use of Bridge City Tool square and miter square. The shot pin has no slop in my case, and though the degree scale is of a cast metal that does not perfectly indicate 0/90 degrees or 45 degrees it's cuts are right on. It took a little time to adjust the measuring veneer to the fence and I wish that the flip stop had a magnifier lens like used on my Biesemeyer fence for better accuracy, but I have no problem verifying my measurements first (this giving it a rating of 4). What can I say, luck of the draw? I have no intent of using Accu-Miter for cuts other than 90 degrees. Its front fence is solid and tall. Just what I was looking for to cutting larger stock that will not fit on my cross cut sled.

First let me say that you just are not going to get a better miter gauge for the money than to buy this from Amazon. As I write this, the MRSP for this gauge is $239. Amazon is selling it for $101! Read that twice - yep - $101. That is FAR below the manufacturer's selling price to Amazon, who is selling it at a loss. I thought it was a bargain at the $162 I paid for it (price at the time on Amazon).

Second, the ratings on this gauge have suffered somewhat from a bad original product picture, which showed the optional clamp. Some who did not read what was included and what was not, down-rated the product when they didn't get the clamp. While I understand why that upset them and it can be, in fact, easy to miss something like that, it should not affect the rating of the product itself.

On to my rating ...

Things I like: The construction is heavy and solid. The aluminum bar stock is substantial and dead straight. The nylon miter bar slot adjusters work flawlessly, but note that you want to adjust them when the bar is NOT in the slot. They are easy to adjust when the bar is out of the slot, and almost impossible when it's in the slot. The adjustable stop is the best I've seen on a miter gauge.

Things I thought could be better: The scale is fixed, making it useless except for a ballpark estimate at the 90 degree position. The scale on the telescoping section is actually upside-down vs. the scale on the main extrusion! It actually makes sense when you use it, but is definitely a bit odd. Two handles to fix the bar to the head is a bit of a pain and the handles get in your way sometimes.

Other notes:

The basic accuracy of the tool is set in the mounting of the shot pin mechanism itself. If you don't set that up right, the gauge will never be accurate. The mount is fussy and uses several small screws. It IS possible to strip them or the threaded holes into which they screw. My advice is to carefully screw them in WITHOUT the adapter plate or shot pin mechanism first, back them out, and then attach. I did so after feeling a slight resistance on one screw and had no problem. This is a one-time setup issue only.

As to the accuracy of the shot pin mechanism itself, you still have to lock the head after setting the angle when using the shot pin. JDS will tell you that most of the complaints they get about accuracy are because users aren't locking the gauge, thinking the shot pin will hold the angle! The shot pin mechanism is accurate, but you have to learn to use it. I've found that it yields accurate and repeatable results as long as it is used the same way each time. First, you have to allow the pin to engage with a snap. If you try to finesse it or force it, you're essentially just going to hang it up at a slightly off angle. Allow the taper - which is machined to a HIGH degree of accuracy - to do its work. The pin and hole faces also benefit from a (small) bit of lubrication. Finally, usage smooths the mechanism even more. These comments apply to any shot pin mechanism.

I give the gauge a 4 instead of a 5 for one primary reason: as good as the gauge is, you can flex the head at longer extensions. You can minimize or eliminate that by ensuring you control the stock and gauge nearest the head (i.e., by not allowing the stock's weight on the outboard end to deflect the gauge), but I was hoping it would be stiffer. It's not a substitute for a crosscut sled at the longer lengths, at least not for heavy stock and panels.

I've been using an Accu-miter for over ten years. Once properly adjusted I can consistently cross cut to lenth using the built in scales. For this use it is much more accurate than measuring and marking the board. This covers almost all of my use and it is fine for this purpose. It has been dropped and banged around more than I care to think, but it still works just like it did out of the box. Great for 90 degree cut-offs.

I rarely have used it to cut miters; I just don't use them much in the work I do. When I have cut miters I haven't been overly impressed with the accuracy. I always make several trial cuts refining the position until I get it right. That's not what I expected, but since I do it so infrequently, it doesn't matter much.

The hold down clamp is pretty useless. I replaced the original spring with one much less stiff. Even so the whole assembly, clamp and gauge, flexes when I use the clamp. Setting the height of the clamp requires too much precision to get enough clamping force without distorting the miter gauge. The clamp foot is UHMW plastic and is very slippery. It doesn't mark your work piece, but it is so slippery it doesn't hold it either. The core problem is that you are clamping to the guide bar which is really not designed for the kinds of loads involved.

I still use my Accu-Miter ten plus years later, but I wouldn't buy it again. There are a large number of aftermarket miter gauges available. I haven't used any of them, but I like the look of the Jointech and JessEm products. The Osborne is a radical design but has been around for a long time. If all you want is accurate cross-cuts to length in a bomb-proof product, the Accu-Miter may be for you. Otherwise, I'd keep looking.

***THEY'VE CHANGED THE PICTURE SINCE.

The miter guage pretty much fulfills my expectations after some fine tuning. I must however take issue with this webpage's apparently willful misrepresentation of the product. I neglected to read my fellow consumer's warning and to my dismay I received only part of what pictured above, (no clamp/handle mechanism.) They say it's an accesory, but their available accesories list includes only magic markers. Only after a long and arduous series of phone calls does it appear that customer service is going to make good on their pictoral representation. My advice to them: change the picture.

I had been searching for a miter guage better than the one included with my Jet 10 inch contractor saw. This appeared to be what I wanted. I ordered the miter gauge as well as the optional clamp.

The miter gauge and clamp arrived in a timely fashion. No parts were missing. I opted to follow the instructions for a change and the first thing that I noticed was that the instructions referenced pages in the manual. The pages were not numbered. Not a big problem since the manual was only 3 pages long.

It was interesting to note that one part of the manual dealt with attaching some of the components to your own sliding bar. I don't recall reading anywhere that this was possible.

It was annoying to have to reference three different documents to assemble this system. One was required for assembling the fence, Accu-Miter head and sliding bar. A second was required for assembly and use of the clamp. And yet a third was required to adjust and use the adjustable Accumiter Bar.

Adjustment of the Accumiter Bar was, in principle, easy. Unfortunately, the adjustment method was very difficult in practice. The expanding washers were very difficult to adjust. In fact, I badly twisted one allen wrench trying to achieve a fine adjustment. After the Accumiter bar was adjusted the remaining assembly was very straight forward.

With assembly and alignment complete I made some test cuts in the 90 degree position. I had repeated problems getting a square cut. After placing a 12 inch Starret straight edge against the fence I noticed that it had substantial curvature. I removed the fence and placed the concave surface on the infeed table of my jointer and measured a gap of approximately 3/32". In addition, the extruded fence was found to be twisted. When JDS was e-mailed regarding this problem they contacted me, by phone, and arranged to ship a new fence immediately. The new fence doesn't have this problem. Measurement of fence face with a Starret square showed that the top of the fence was 10 mils to 15 mils behind the base of the fence. This can be fixed with a couple of shims but, I was disappointed to find this.

I don't have a digital protractor, my best estimate is that after placing the fence at +/- 45 degrees and then returning to 90 degrees the cuts were within 1 degrees of the target.

The optional clamp is OK, but doesn't provide much holding power. Unfortunately, for pieces less than 8 inches, the positioner and the clamp interfere with each other.

In summary, this product will provide me with an enhanced miter gauge. However, a little tweaking will be required to get it exactly where I want it.

This miter gauge is well made, material-wise, but not user friendly. The stop does not slide smoothly from side to side, even after I lubed it. It is bulky and too heavy for my liking. There are no tracks to attach a sub-fence which is very important to me for saftey reasons. Almost every other miter gauge track has mutiple slots for a subfence. Two positives, it is accurate at 90 degrees, stays put, and miter bar is cool. I don't make angle cuts (use miter saw), so I can't comment on that. I own both Woodhaven and Incra miter gauges with fences. I'd buy those instead of this JDS if I were to recommend a miter gauge to a woodworker. I'd give them 5 stars.

Accu-Miter is a very accurate attachment. Only negatives are the instruction manual which could be easier to understand and could also explain how to set up for pieces larger than 25" ( I had to call them to make sure I had guessed right) and the measuring tape being upside down for pieces over 25"