Precision gauge

[moggymatt]

Soooo, that's what? 15 breakfast sandwich meals? 1 dinner out at a nice restaurant with the wife? 2 with the girlfriend?. A pair of good shoes?
I don't think the price is bad but why can't it be made in the shop on our own? We're wood workers for crim any sakes!

You can't make a high accuracy tool to start with unless you have a way to adjust your equipment with high accuracy instruments to produce the end result.

So if you have the ability to make the high accuracy tool then you don't need the high accuracy tool because you already have the ability to set your tool to make the cuts.

"for crim any sakes!"

Well than how did they make that 1st high accuracy tool if they didn't already have a high accuracy tool to adjust their tools with?

[JPG]

Soooo, that's what? 15 breakfast sandwich meals? 1 dinner out at a nice restaurant with the wife? 2 with the girlfriend?. A pair of good shoes?
I don't think the price is bad but why can't it be made in the shop on our own? We're wood workers for crim any sakes!

You can't make a high accuracy tool to start with unless you have a way to adjust your equipment with high accuracy instruments to produce the end result.

So if you have the ability to make the high accuracy tool then you don't need the high accuracy tool because you already have the ability to set your tool to make the cuts.

"for crim any sakes!"

Well than how did they make that 1st high accuracy tool if they didn't already have a high accuracy tool to adjust their tools with?

Obtaining precision is an iterative process that results in increasing accuracy.

It this instance however one would use the miter gauge and any precise method of setting it(miterset(segment version) comes to mind) so as to create the external angles.

The tools needed to accurately calibrate the machine making the part are not the machine itself.

[dusty]

Soooo, that's what? 15 breakfast sandwich meals? 1 dinner out at a nice restaurant with the wife? 2 with the girlfriend?. A pair of good shoes?
I don't think the price is bad but why can't it be made in the shop on our own? We're wood workers for crim any sakes!

You can't make a high accuracy tool to start with unless you have a way to adjust your equipment with high accuracy instruments to produce the end result.

So if you have the ability to make the high accuracy tool then you don't need the high accuracy tool because you already have the ability to set your tool to make the cuts.

"for crim any sakes!"

Well than how did they make that 1st high accuracy tool if they didn't already have a high accuracy tool to adjust their tools with?

I'll not attempt to answer your question because I think it was offered rhetorically. But stop to think "plumb bob" and mathematics. Ancient Egyptian building techniques are very interesting.

[moggymatt]

You can't make a high accuracy tool to start with unless you have a way to adjust your equipment with high accuracy instruments to produce the end result.

So if you have the ability to make the high accuracy tool then you don't need the high accuracy tool because you already have the ability to set your tool to make the cuts.

"for crim any sakes!"

Well than how did they make that 1st high accuracy tool if they didn't already have a high accuracy tool to adjust their tools with?

I'll not attempt to answer your question because I think it was offered rhetorically. But stop to think "plumb bob" and mathematics. Ancient Egyptian building techniques are very interesting.

But everyyyybody knows the pyramids were built with ancient alien technology. And none of the Bob's I know like plumbs.

[JPG]

Alien to us maybe.

[swampgator]

I'm very happy that this topic got a lot of traffic and discussion. I am sorry if I upset or offended anyone about the price. I am thankful that it is American made. It should get a better price than Chinese products and I would happily buy one if I had more than one income. We did the traditional lifestyle with only one income while I worked for the government and paid my own retirement, no contributions from the government, thank you very much. My retirement program was set up in August 1920 and 7% was deducted from our paychecks, no options. I do not get Social Security or any other retirement. So, on my small pay check, I have to watch every penny. Going out to eat is not an option. Most months, though, we can spend $10 for a pizza. Woooo! Not that I prefer to eat out often, but once in a while I would like the option to help these companies. They are trying to make a living too. I managed to save enough money this Christmas to get myself a face plate. My only Christmas gift. Not complaining, just explaining. For those of you who have more income, more power to you. I am thankful you can help your fellow countrymen with their business. I want to see jobs come back to America. I want to see my fellowman have a job with a livable wage. But, on my retirement pay, I simply cannot afford it. So, that's the reason to me it is pricy.

Dusty, I appreciate the one you posted. If and when I get the $40, I'll order it.

From the sunny shores of the northern Gulf Coast.

Steve the old swampgator

[moggymatt]

Hay Swampgator,
Are the beaches to the east of your location still as white as I remember they were back in the '80's?

[BuckeyeDennis]

Swampgator, I put this on my wish list right away, and pulled the trigger tonight.

I had a few hundred disposable woodworking bucks burning a hole in my pocket tonight, for once. Just before cold weather hit, I decided to finally list the Mutt Mansion for sale on Craigslist. I pressure-washed it, cleaned the interior, tested the Hound Heater, and waited for offers. It took a few weeks, but last weekend a very nice guy made a 6-hr round-trip drive to keep his dog warm in winter. And more importantly, to keep his wife happy.

Hey, I just realized that I actually sold a woodworking project ... for a couple bucks more than materials cost. Does that make me a Pro?

As for what one might do with this level of angular precision, I have a few ideas. One of which a super-precise presetter for my vintage Starrett builder's combination tool, which I got basically for free along with a Craigslist 10ER. And that wonderful instrument is in turn a key enabler for a portable track-saw miter jig that I'm building. I checked out a Festool MFT (multi-function table) at WoodCraft, and I think my my Starrett/Woodpecker-enabled home-brew jig will be significantly more accurate for anything other than square cuts and 45 degree miters.

For workshop use, I'd make those miter cuts with a vintage cast-iron Dewalt radial arm saw. The Woodpeckers gauge should nail the miters on those as well.

Now I just need to find some projects that need gap-free 8" wide miters!

[robinson46176]

Is there an optional hatchet bracket for those things?
Many of us tend to be "gizmo" buyers. I have more than I might want to admit to stuck back in some drawer only partly forgotten.
If I had one of those I would probably use it from time to time but not that often. I already have other things for that job. Now if I thought it was an item that would magically make me "organized" I would jump on it. That is my area where I fail at epic levels.

I just don't happen to enjoy tedious levels of details and if I don't enjoy it I rarely do it. I can do it if I have to, I just don't usually choose to.


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[BuckeyeDennis]

Is there an optional hatchet bracket for those things?
Many of us tend to be "gizmo" buyers. I have more than I might want to admit to stuck back in some drawer only partly forgotten.
If I had one of those I would probably use it from time to time but not that often. I already have other things for that job. Now if I thought it was an item that would magically make me "organized" I would jump on it. That is my area where I fail at epic levels.

I just don't happen to enjoy tedious levels of details and if I don't enjoy it I rarely do it. I can do it if I have to, I just don't usually choose to.


.

Actually, I don't enjoy tedious stuff either. And I pretty much detest repetitive work.

But I do enjoy designing fixtures and processes that make precision quick and easy. Instead of tedious. In fact, I'd argue that when such things are well designed, precision cuts are faster than mediocre cuts done the usual way.

As for whether or not the accuracy of the Woodpeckers gauge is overkill for woodworking, I think not. Any error in your measuring instruments is only one contributor to the total accumulated error in the final workpiece. So unless you enjoy futzing around fine-tuning fits after the initial cut, your instruments should be at least twice as accurate as your goal for the workpiece. Or better yet, 10 times as accurate. Which is where I think this gauge fits in. It basically eliminates measuring-instrument accuracy from the angle-tolerance equation.