Kreg Miter gauge

I bought this gauge recently (cashing in some LV gift certificates) after promising a bunch of picture frames to my wife. It was as good a reason as any to spend some cash at LV. I did do a bit of DD on the two models they offer and found quite a bit of disappointment in the Accumiter gauge on the internet.

My General miter gauge that came with the saw is nice and heavy duty but not so repeatable for anything other than 90 or 45 deg’s. I recently built a ladder shelf that had 10 deg angles and I had to make very sure that anything needing that cut on the table saw were all cut together at the same time for fear of missing by just a bit if I had to repeat a cut. It was a good an excuse as any to but a new gauge.

Upon first opening the box, this unit seems very well made and machined. It just has a feeling of precision about it. Putting it together takes a little bit of time since there is so many parts to install, but all in all not that bad. The adjustable nylon screws for the slot work very well but are tedious to adjust all five of them. Quite fiddle and finicky, but once set it is as smooth as glass as it glides in the slot. I installed my own sacrificial fence and adjusted the flip stop as instructed.

The test……….I cut a 3’ piece of jointed 1×6” pine in half. Turned one side over and checked for a gap……none to be found……perfect. I mean out of the box , no adjustment, dead bang on. Double checked on my engineers square…….perfect. Now the real test…..an 8 sided frame (ugly I know but a good test of the gauge ) . I had also bought the extra flip stop attachment for doing angles and it really came in handy here. Again, cutting all pieces with the flip stop to get the same length, taping the pieces together to hinge them and get a tight fit……the last piece fit like a glove, the joint closed like it was cut with a laser. Very impressive no doubt. I knocked off 10 frames for my wife in no time, all perfect.

The cons……….to me it is a hobby/semi pro level gauge. It is just too light weight for a busy pro shop getting tossed around all day. It needs a steel slot runner instead of aluminum to remove flex from the gauge. This is not an issue if you hold your material over the fence with one hand and the handle with the other hand, but there is flex in the fence gauge only if you get careless. It would be nice also if it had a longer fence extension up to 36” or so instead of 24”, not a deal breaker but it would be nice.

Everything else I really like the gauge, it is clear to read, extremely precise and accurate, and not overly priced. Worth considering if you are in the market. I have wanted the Jessum for quite a while, but since this was basically free, I am very happy with the purchase.

Paul

-- Paul