TS miter gauge

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I bought the well reviewed Osborn gauge. Big triangle, should work.
Well, it is giving me nothing but trouble. The detent is not @ 90 degrees and does not always hold square though the adjustments in the slot guide are good. So, other than my sled, what recommendations for a gauge that does hold true? A quarter of a degree is a disaster for a picture frame! Is there one with micro-threaded stop adjustments?
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I like my Osborne gauge but I don't think I've ever tried to do picture frames with it. I agree it lacks detents. I would use a drafting triangle to set it which will be a hassle if you have to change it a lot. I've never had great success with picture frames no matter how I cut the corners. CMS is my favorite but they are often not perfect too. I use a little jig for trimming with a block frame and it helps. A friend from church has a big tool that cuts the miters with nothing but a sharp blade. You kind of stand on it to make a cut. Does beautiful work but it's huge and a single purpose tool. I hear a lion trimmer works well too.

The major advantage is it creates a big enough triangle to hold the work against. A normal miter gauge is just too small to be very useful IMHO. But normal miter gauges have detents which are typically pretty good. Osborne gauge doesn't.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I figured out the pivot closest to you is actually an eccentric. So for the first time ever, ( 10 years? ) my 90 detent is in fact 90.05. There is a little play in the detent pin. Snugged the guide a tiny bit too as I guess it has burnished over the years. I'll test the 45 degree detent tomorrow. Looks like it is a toss-up between Incra and Kreg. Best answer is probably a new sled. It should be good enough for face frames now.

Getting my Grisly clone of a Lyon trimmer dialed in. I got one side dead on, but the other is still an *** off. Wood can slip a tiny bit and as frames get larger, it has more trouble. There is some play in the guides. Beats the living heck out of my Ridgid compound miter saw though which is not even reliable enough for crown molding!
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I have not. Bookmarked them. Happen to be out of stock.
Their WEB makes it hard to see really what you get.

So I gather, it is useless for a compound miter as that would destroy the base. One could use a wedge to tilt the work if not too large I guess.

OK, watched their (really low res) videos. So, the setup is by a scale on the edge of the sled. Looks like it has a sacrificial block between the fence and the blade and they are adjustable, so I guess you can whittle them down several times before replacing? Looks like to do frames, I need both the left and right.

I got one of those digital protractors a few weeks back. Actually surprised how much easier it is to use than my machinist squares.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
My Osborn has detents every 5 degrees, as well as one at 22 1/2 degrees. The spring loaded button on the bottom of the arm (located about even with the locking knob) is what hits the detents in the bottom of the angled brace. Ad far as I can tell, they are dead on (once the eccentric post has been adjusted to 90 degrees).
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Plunger does have a bit of play in it though. I like the sacrificial wood block on the end of the Dubby. Might see if I can fit one to the Osborn. ( or a box of them) and fit some finer grit anti-slip facing. 220 I think would be better but was thinking 400.

"Pass me that dubby". Now I have not thought about that in 40 years!
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
I don't think any miter gauge is accurate enough for picture frames.

Build a miter sled and you'll get much better results.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Now that could be. Used up my poly guides. Need to order some more. I was holding off as I have been contemplating a new heavier cabinet saw. I should buy a PCS, but the Harvey 300 looks sweet for less than half the price. Or if I could find a used new enough Powermatic with a riving knife but the ones I find are priced more than the Harvey! I believe any saw without a riving knife should be scrapped.

I also need to get a full width fine tooth blade. All mine are thin kerf. For sure, I found out even cutting crown molding on my chop saw, one needs a thick blade or you get curved cuts.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
OK, ordered some new HDPE guides. Used my old supply up. Broke down and ordered the cast iron router table top as believe it or not, free shipping from Amazon and the SS top is cheaper than the others by the time you pay freight. Old MDF top is past it's prime, but fence is good.
 

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