A while back I mentioned that I'd licensed a design for a circular saw
cross-cutting guide, with the gloat that it'd be marked "Made in USA".
I guessed that it might find its way to market sometime in the
following six months...

This morning I got a call to let me know that dealers had been lined
up, that the first batch had been produced, product was being shipped,
and that the guide was being offered for sale on the licensee's web
site (http://www.saw-jaw.com/ with a link at "New Item").

It's being manufactured at a plant in northern Iowa. /That/ I like!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Congrats! Is this going to be available from any other suppliers?
What material is the square made of?
I do have one question regarding my saw and potential use with this jig
- on the edge of the square where the saw plate registers against the
square, how tall is that little fence surface? The motor housing on my
saw sticks out past the plate, and I've had problems with various jigs
I've used in the past, as the motor body catches on the straightedge
when trying to make a deep-ish cut. Did that make sense?
Congrats on licensing a product that looks like it will be accurate and
useful (and made in the USA),
Andy

One other question - how long is the fence edge of the square? (i.e.
would this be suitable for cross-cutting a 10" board? 12"?)
Thanks,
Andy

Good for you Morris. I hope they sell a million of them, this year.



"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
A while back I mentioned that I'd licensed a design for a circular saw
cross-cutting guide, with the gloat that it'd be marked "Made in USA".
I guessed that it might find its way to market sometime in the
following six months...

This morning I got a call to let me know that dealers had been lined
up, that the first batch had been produced, product was being shipped,
and that the guide was being offered for sale on the licensee's web
site (http://www.saw-jaw.com/ with a link at "New Item").

It's being manufactured at a plant in northern Iowa. /That/ I like!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Andy (in ) said:

| Congrats! Is this going to be available from any other suppliers?
| What material is the square made of?
| I do have one question regarding my saw and potential use with this
| jig - on the edge of the square where the saw plate registers
| against the square, how tall is that little fence surface? The
| motor housing on my saw sticks out past the plate, and I've had
| problems with various jigs I've used in the past, as the motor body
| catches on the straightedge when trying to make a deep-ish cut. Did
| that make sense?
| Congrats on licensing a product that looks like it will be accurate
| and useful (and made in the USA),

Andy...

My understanding is that it's being made of aluminum. The sample that
I provided (and they liked) was type 6061 16 ga aluminum. I'd expect
that the production version is the same.

The CAD drawing I provided - and that I think was used to produce the
toolpaths for laser-cutting - had 3/4" tabs to be bent after cutting.
If that's what they used, the fence should be 3/4" less the amount
lost to the bend.

It could be a problem cutting full-depth if the motor housing is much
less than 3/4" from the bottom of the sole plate.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Andy (in ) said:

| One other question - how long is the fence edge of the square?
| (i.e. would this be suitable for cross-cutting a 10" board? 12"?)

My drawing called for a 12" fence, so as to provide an extra half inch
of fence support for starting cuts in (nominal) 12" stock. Three screw
holes are provided in the fence for attachment of an extension to
handle even wider stock; but I don't think I'd want to cut stock wider
than about 24" with a fence extension if I were trying for a precision
cut.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Leon (in ) said:

| Good for you Morris. I hope they sell a million of them, this
| year.

Thanks, Leon. If they do that, we'll need figure out where to have the
celebration and how much beer and BBQ to order. :-D

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

"Morris Dovey" wrote

A while back I mentioned that I'd licensed a design for a circular saw
cross-cutting guide, with the gloat that it'd be marked "Made in USA".
I guessed that it might find its way to market sometime in the
following six months...

This morning I got a call to let me know that dealers had been lined
up, that the first batch had been produced, product was being shipped,
and that the guide was being offered for sale on the licensee's web
site (http://www.saw-jaw.com/ with a link at "New Item").

It's being manufactured at a plant in northern Iowa. /That/ I like!


Way to go Morris. Glad you found a beaten path to place your better
mousetrap!


Regards,

Rick

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
Leon said:

| Good for you Morris. I hope they sell a million of them, this
| year.

Thanks, Leon. If they do that, we'll need figure out where to have the
celebration and how much beer and BBQ to order. :-D

.... and Charlie Self's got a little book that'll help you figure that out.


Congratulations!

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/13/05

On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 21:17:29 GMT, "Rick M"
wrote:


"Morris Dovey" wrote

A while back I mentioned that I'd licensed a design for a circular saw
cross-cutting guide, with the gloat that it'd be marked "Made in USA".
I guessed that it might find its way to market sometime in the
following six months...

This morning I got a call to let me know that dealers had been lined
up, that the first batch had been produced, product was being shipped,
and that the guide was being offered for sale on the licensee's web
site (http://www.saw-jaw.com/ with a link at "New Item").

It's being manufactured at a plant in northern Iowa. /That/ I like!


Way to go Morris. Glad you found a beaten path to place your better
mousetrap!


Regards,

Rick

Sure is nice to hear of some jobs being created HERE in the US for a
change !
As SWMBO would say: "Ya done good. kid" !

Lenny

In article ,
"Morris Dovey" wrote:

Leon (in ) said:

| Good for you Morris. I hope they sell a million of them, this
| year.

Thanks, Leon. If they do that, we'll need figure out where to have the
celebration and how much beer and BBQ to order. :-D

I vote for Edwin Pawlowski to cater the party. (I have lost an additional 10
pounds since I stopped visiting his web site.) G

Congrats, Morris, and I sincerely hope that the profits will fund any and all
future projects for you.

Rob

In article , Morris Dovey
wrote:

A while back I mentioned that I'd licensed a design for a circular saw
cross-cutting guide, with the gloat that it'd be marked "Made in USA".

Excellent on all counts!

The only problem with coming up with such a smart but simple design, is
that woodworkers, naturally being a DIY lot, will remark to themselves,
"... I can make that!"

Good luck, and may you cash many royalty checks!

Kevin

Wow... so many try, so many fail. Congratulations on making to the
finish line of bringing your product all the way to market. I second
the idea... hope you sell a million and keep a few more Americans in
jobs along the way.

Great looking product!

Robert

Kevin Craig (in ) said:

| The only problem with coming up with such a smart but simple
| design, is that woodworkers, naturally being a DIY lot, will remark
| to themselves, "... I can make that!"

Haven't seen my web site have you? I've knocked myself out to show
everybody how everything they might go there to see is made -
including my primary products - and if you wander over and read
news:alt.solar.thermal you can probably make some good guesses about
how those are going to evolve over the next year. I thought the trig
review was bad enough - those guys are making me do it all over again
with physics. 8-P

The thing that keeps me from starving is that not everyone /wants/ to
make everything for themselves - and for those who /need/ to, I'm glad
to be able to help 'em help themselves.

Life can't /just/ be about money - _that_ would be the ultimate
impoverishment.

| Good luck, and may you cash many royalty checks!

Thanks for your good wishes! :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Nice! Congratulations, and hope you sell a lot of 'em. Tom

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
A while back I mentioned that I'd licensed a design for a circular saw
cross-cutting guide, with the gloat that it'd be marked "Made in USA".
I guessed that it might find its way to market sometime in the
following six months...

This morning I got a call to let me know that dealers had been lined
up, that the first batch had been produced, product was being shipped,
and that the guide was being offered for sale on the licensee's web
site (http://www.saw-jaw.com/ with a link at "New Item").

It's being manufactured at a plant in northern Iowa. /That/ I like!


Congrats Morris.

I looked at the instructions. One point I was not clear about was that the
wide part of this jig is on the other side of the board you are cutting.
And as such you would be holding it there with your hand.

On all the other cutting jigs I have used, it was the other way around.
Which meant that as the cut progressed, the potential for a little slippage
of the jig to occur increased as the cut was made.

The approach you used would actually add to the stability of the jig as the
cut progressed. It is something I never thought of. But it is a good idea.

Good design. Simple but effective. And you got somebody to make it and
distribute it too.

Life is good Again, congrats Morris.

(in
) said:

| Wow... so many try, so many fail. Congratulations on making to
| the finish line of bringing your product all the way to market. I
| second the idea... hope you sell a million and keep a few more
| Americans in jobs along the way.

Thanks. Incidentally, it wasn't the first idea and it wasn't the first
person/outfit approached with this one. It's beginning to look like
one of the most important parts of the job is 'showing up'.

I'm not so optimistic as to even hope for a million sold - but any
number that'd help keep the shop lights on would be great. :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Lee Michaels (in ) said:

| Congrats Morris.

Thanks!

| I looked at the instructions. One point I was not clear about was
| that the wide part of this jig is on the other side of the board
| you are cutting. And as such you would be holding it there with
| your hand.

You got it.

|
| On all the other cutting jigs I have used, it was the other way
| around. Which meant that as the cut progressed, the potential for a
| little slippage of the jig to occur increased as the cut was made.
|
| The approach you used would actually add to the stability of the
| jig as the cut progressed. It is something I never thought of. But
| it is a good idea.

It might help if I said that when I built the first of these I was a
/total/ newbie to woodworking and was absolutely terrified of my
circular saw. As far as I could see, my sawblade didn't have teeth -
it had fangs. I wanted _control_. I did try it the other way around -
/once/. One of the reasons for choosing to make it that way was so
that I could hold it with a C-clamp.

| Good design. Simple but effective. And you got somebody to make it
| and distribute it too.

Well, I paid a machine shop in Minnesota to make 15. Fourteen walked
away ("Let me try it out and get back to you.") and I just happened to
show the last one to the right guy. Tho it looks like I might have to
do a little growling to get /this/ one back...

| Life is good Again, congrats Morris.

It is - and thank you.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

tom (in ) said:

| Nice! Congratulations, and hope you sell a lot of 'em.

Tom...

Thanks!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Now I will have to go and buy a new circular saw. The old Skill (~25
years) has a baseplate so dented and bent it can't be relied upon, no
matter how good your cross-cutting guide is.

Any advice?

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

"Morris Dovey" wrote
Lee Michaels said:

| Congrats Morris.

Thanks!

| I looked at the instructions. One point I was not clear about was
| that the wide part of this jig is on the other side of the board
| you are cutting. And as such you would be holding it there with
| your hand.

You got it.

|
| On all the other cutting jigs I have used, it was the other way
| around. Which meant that as the cut progressed, the potential for a
| little slippage of the jig to occur increased as the cut was made.
|
| The approach you used would actually add to the stability of the
| jig as the cut progressed. It is something I never thought of. But
| it is a good idea.

It might help if I said that when I built the first of these I was a
/total/ newbie to woodworking and was absolutely terrified of my
circular saw. As far as I could see, my sawblade didn't have teeth -
it had fangs. I wanted _control_. I did try it the other way around -
/once/. One of the reasons for choosing to make it that way was so
that I could hold it with a C-clamp.


I got one of those fancy saw guides that allows you to cut angles. Provided
the board is no wider than about four inches.

The thing that always frustrated me was getting everything all lined up and
having to fight it the last couple of inches. I had to bear down so hard
that sometimes my efforts to hold the saw guide firmly actually caused it to
move. Because the further the saw blade progressed, the less stability the
saw guide provided.

It seems that your approach would actually INCREASE in stability when
cutting. Is this assessment correct?

The other problem was that there was no real guide for the saw beyond about
five inches. I had to hold the saw agains the guide on the back of the saw
when the front began to clear the guide. I understand that you attach a wood
strip to your saw guide to allow a longer edge guide so the saw does not run
out of guide when cutting. Is my understanding correct on this point?

All of these things inherently add to the stability and safety of cutting
with this type of guide. Which is a good thing. I am too something of a
safety freak. And I guard jealously my fingers, toes, eyes, ears and other
body parts.

I guess I am sort of rambling here. But I am trying to understand how this
thing works and how it is different from othert things I have used or
witnessed.

Keep up the good work Morris.

Lee

Lenny (in ) said:

| Sure is nice to hear of some jobs being created HERE in the US for a
| change !
| As SWMBO would say: "Ya done good. kid" !

Thanks - I think that if we want to create jobs here, then we'll
pretty much have to be the ones to make it happen - and then to keep
'em we'll need to demonstrate (over and over again) that we can do it
best and least expensively.

I'm convinced we can do that. My experience here on the wreck has made
clear to me that we're really good at creative problem-solving; and
especially so when we work cooperatively - and perhaps
extra-especially so when there's an "attaboy" for good results.

That your SWMBO understands this definitely makes her a keeper. Ya
picked good.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Rick M (in ) said:

| Way to go Morris. Glad you found a beaten path to place your better
| mousetrap!

Thanks!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Robatoy (in )
said:

| I vote for Edwin Pawlowski to cater the party. (I have lost an
| additional 10 pounds since I stopped visiting his web site.) G

I'd better file that away... :-D

| Congrats, Morris, and I sincerely hope that the profits will fund
| any and all future projects for you.

Thanks! It's beginning to look like it might generate funding for at
least the current project (a separate part of the same phone
conversation).

Thanks!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Swingman (in ) said:

| ... and Charlie Self's got a little book that'll help you figure
| that out.

'S a good thing. I haven't had occasion to put on that kind of
celebration since I made E5. I'm a bit rusty. :-)

| Congratulations!

Thanks!

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message

| I vote for Edwin Pawlowski to cater the party. (I have lost an
| additional 10 pounds since I stopped visiting his web site.) G

I'd better file that away... :-D


Just let me know when the royalty checks start pouring in.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Lee Michaels (in ) said:

| I got one of those fancy saw guides that allows you to cut angles.
| Provided the board is no wider than about four inches.

I never came across a combo protractor/saw guide that I thought I
could get along with; and have made a couple of wooden fixed-angle
guides.

| The thing that always frustrated me was getting everything all
| lined up and having to fight it the last couple of inches. I had to
| bear down so hard that sometimes my efforts to hold the saw guide
| firmly actually caused it to move. Because the further the saw
| blade progressed, the less stability the saw guide provided.

This sounds like a recipe for work that'd be difficult to be proud
of - and a good rationale for using a C-clamp to hold the guide in
place.

| It seems that your approach would actually INCREASE in stability
| when cutting. Is this assessment correct?

It seems so to me. My perception has been that I gained considerable
control over the cutting process. To be strictly honest, I think you
could gain exactly the same kind of control by clamping a fence of
some kind to the board you want to cut. This device is just quicker
and easier to use.

| The other problem was that there was no real guide for the saw
| beyond about five inches. I had to hold the saw agains the guide on
| the back of the saw when the front began to clear the guide. I
| understand that you attach a wood strip to your saw guide to allow
| a longer edge guide so the saw does not run out of guide when
| cutting. Is my understanding correct on this point?

There's always a wooden rail across the front - to make it easy to
position the cut exactly where you want it.

The fence has provision for attaching a wooden strip for cross-cutting
boards wider than a nominal 12" (actually 11-1/2") board. With this
guide, you /can't/ run out of fence before you run out of board. What
you gain by adding the wooden strip to the fence is support/alignment
at the /beginning/ of the cut when you're cutting _wide_ boards.

| All of these things inherently add to the stability and safety of
| cutting with this type of guide. Which is a good thing. I am too
| something of a safety freak. And I guard jealously my fingers,
| toes, eyes, ears and other body parts.

Me too. Tell you what, Lee, order one from HI-QOL and try it out. Then
do a review here on the wreck and if you don't like it, send it to
/me/ (not HI-QOL) and /I'll/ refund your purchase price and shipping
charges. HI-QOL would probably be willing to do the same; but I can't
offer on their behalf.

| I guess I am sort of rambling here. But I am trying to understand
| how this thing works and how it is different from othert things I
| have used or witnessed.

The line drawings on the web page are my fault. If you or anyone can
figure out a better presentation sequence, I'd really like to know
what it is. :-/

| Keep up the good work Morris.

Thanks again.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Han (in ) said:

| Now I will have to go and buy a new circular saw. The old Skill
| (~25 years) has a baseplate so dented and bent it can't be relied
| upon, no matter how good your cross-cutting guide is.
|
| Any advice?

At the risk of revealing my Scottish heritage: Can you make a new
baseplate? If not, then this might be the opportune moment to shop for
a new saw! :-D

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

"Morris Dovey" wrote in news:TbjAf.122$KW.12655
@news.uswest.net:

Han (in ) said:

| Now I will have to go and buy a new circular saw. The old Skill
| (~25 years) has a baseplate so dented and bent it can't be relied
| upon, no matter how good your cross-cutting guide is.
|
| Any advice?

At the risk of revealing my Scottish heritage: Can you make a new
baseplate? If not, then this might be the opportune moment to shop for
a new saw! :-D

Once upon I was a frugal Dutchman (they may be a close second to Scots in
pennypinching), but I lack the ability to do metalworking of that
complexity.

So off I go to buy a circular saw ...

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 19:35:35 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Morris Dovey" quickly quoth:

(in
.com) said:

| Wow... so many try, so many fail. Congratulations on making to
| the finish line of bringing your product all the way to market. I
| second the idea... hope you sell a million and keep a few more
| Americans in jobs along the way.

Thanks. Incidentally, it wasn't the first idea and it wasn't the first
person/outfit approached with this one. It's beginning to look like
one of the most important parts of the job is 'showing up'.

I'm not so optimistic as to even hope for a million sold - but any
number that'd help keep the shop lights on would be great. :-)

Yeah, congrats, Morris. I'm doing about the same thing with my glare
guards, tees, and handy pouches. Every little bit helps.

I missed the original gloat post. Which of your products are you guys
referring to?

-
DANCING: The vertical frustration of a horizontal desire.
---------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Full Service Web Programming

Larry Jaques (in ) said:

| I missed the original gloat post. Which of your products are you
| guys referring to?

You should be able to pull my original post up from he


But if not, try going to http://www.saw-jaw.com/ and clicking on "New
Item". It would appear that the licensee has managed to line up
dealers, produce the first batch of product, make initial shipments,
and set up on line sales - and, importantly to me (and my original
gloat), production is being done at a plant right here in Iowa. :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 09:30:16 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Morris Dovey" quickly quoth:

Larry Jaques (in ) said:

| I missed the original gloat post. Which of your products are you
| guys referring to?

You should be able to pull my original post up from he


It did. Hey, that's cool! Want to trade products?


But if not, try going to http://www.saw-jaw.com/ and clicking on "New
Item". It would appear that the licensee has managed to line up
dealers, produce the first batch of product, make initial shipments,
and set up on line sales - and, importantly to me (and my original
gloat), production is being done at a plant right here in Iowa. :-)

Yeah, by choice, all my products are manufactured in the US, too.
(Mostly by me.) One of my newest tools is an industrial sewing
machine, though that was imported. I bought it used from a local US
business.

--
A lot of folks can't understand how we came
to have an oil shortage here in America.

Well, there's a very simple answer...nobody
bothered to check the oil; We just didn't
know we were getting low.

The reason for that is purely geographical
- our OIL is located in Alaska, California,
Oklahoma and Texas.

Our DIPSTICKS are located in Washington, DC.

Morris Dovey wrote:
Lee Michaels (in ) said:
| I got one of those fancy saw guides that allows you to cut angles.
| Provided the board is no wider than about four inches.

I never came across a combo protractor/saw guide that I thought I
could get along with; and have made a couple of wooden fixed-angle
guides.

Yeah; that's one of the first things that I thought of when I was
looking at your guide -- if you could sell angled ones for not too much
more than the square one, it would probably be worth the cost to buy one
just for the rafters in a single roof. You'd have to stock a number of
different angles, though.

Waitaminute.... I got a better idea! Intead of getting an angled
"Square-Jaw" guide, just get a second square one and replace the wooden
rail with a triangular piece of wood that's cut at the appropriate
angle. Sure, it takes a bit of care to get the triangle cut just right,
and you probably want to do that back at the workbench (or at least with
a sliding miter saw), but once that's done, it's done.

- Brooks


--
The "bmoses-nospam" address is valid; no unmunging needed.

"Brooks Moses" wrote in message
...
Morris Dovey wrote:
Lee Michaels (in ) said:
| I got one of those fancy saw guides that allows you to cut angles.
| Provided the board is no wider than about four inches.

I never came across a combo protractor/saw guide that I thought I
could get along with; and have made a couple of wooden fixed-angle
guides.

Yeah; that's one of the first things that I thought of when I was looking
at your guide -- if you could sell angled ones for not too much more than
the square one, it would probably be worth the cost to buy one just for
the rafters in a single roof. You'd have to stock a number of different
angles, though.

Porter Cable used to sell a saw guide that was adjustable. I've had one
close to 20 years and have used it to cut 2X10s and 2X12s at angles...
though usually it's used at 90 degrees.

I'll take a picture and post it on ABPW and post another note here once it's
up. I think I know where it is... haven't done any roof framing or stairs in
quite a while!

John

I got a couple of e-mails suggesting that a photo would be helpful -
so have posted a shot of the one that's lived in my toolbox for 20+
years. It isn't new and pretty but it still works as well as new.

If your server didn't pass the image, you might be able to retrieve it
from:
until my server drops
it.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Morris Dovey wrote:

This morning I got a call to let me know that dealers had been
lined up, that the first batch had been produced, product was
being shipped, and that the guide was being offered for sale

First of all, let me say that I hope you sell enough to be able to
retire to a tropical location and enjoy the rest of your evenings in a
hottub with a handful of college age hardbodies to refill your drink,
massage your feet and worship you for the tycoon that you are.

That said... why would someone buy it for $20 rather than making
something like it themselves? Call me a cheap *******, but if I were
seeing such a jig for the first time I might say to myself... hey,
that's a cool idea, then promptly go into my workshop and whip one up
with some plywood and a scrap or two of pine.

Am I missing something?

Joe Barta

Joe Barta (in ) said:

| Morris Dovey wrote:
|
|| This morning I got a call to let me know that dealers had been
|| lined up, that the first batch had been produced, product was
|| being shipped, and that the guide was being offered for sale
|
| First of all, let me say that I hope you sell enough to be able to
| retire to a tropical location and enjoy the rest of your evenings
| in a hottub with a handful of college age hardbodies to refill your
| drink, massage your feet and worship you for the tycoon that you
| are.
|
| That said... why would someone buy it for $20 rather than making
| something like it themselves? Call me a cheap *******, but if I were
| seeing such a jig for the first time I might say to myself... hey,
| that's a cool idea, then promptly go into my workshop and whip one
| up with some plywood and a scrap or two of pine.
|
| Am I missing something?

Why? Hmm. Probably for the same reason I was delighted to find a
stainless steel framing square in my first LV catalog - and bought one
in spite of knowing that I could build one with a few scraps...

There isn't /any/ sense in buying (or building) a tool you aren't
going to use at all (unless, of course, you're a tool collector).

If it's something you're only going to use a few times, it might make
sense to build your own. In this case, you'd need to build a new one
_every_ time you changed saw blades; but I can imagine where it might
still make sense.

If it's a tool that'll be used frequently over an extended period of
time, then it might be worthwhile to spend your money on a tool that
can be relied upon to hold up well and do a good job for that entire
extended period.

FWIW, mine has already held up for more than 20 years. It's been
dragged all around the country in my toolbox and been used a fair
amount. I built the first several out of scraps - and would have
bought a metal version if I'd been able.

Also FWIW, when I woke up to the advantages of a metal version with a
changable rail, I decided that it was worth considerably more than $20
to me - I paid a machine shop $350 (their minimum job charge). For the
use it's gotten, I consider the money well spent.

If you see only occasional use, then - by all means - build one from
scraps. If/when you need something really accurate and more durable,
you'll know where to look. :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in message
ink.net...
"Brooks Moses" wrote in message
...
Morris Dovey wrote:
Lee Michaels (in ) said:
| I got one of those fancy saw guides that allows you to cut angles.
| Provided the board is no wider than about four inches.

I never came across a combo protractor/saw guide that I thought I
could get along with; and have made a couple of wooden fixed-angle
guides.

Yeah; that's one of the first things that I thought of when I was looking
at your guide -- if you could sell angled ones for not too much more than
the square one, it would probably be worth the cost to buy one just for
the rafters in a single roof. You'd have to stock a number of different
angles, though.

Porter Cable used to sell a saw guide that was adjustable. I've had one
close to 20 years and have used it to cut 2X10s and 2X12s at angles...
though usually it's used at 90 degrees.

I'll take a picture and post it on ABPW and post another note here once
it's
up. I think I know where it is... haven't done any roof framing or stairs
in
quite a while!

I posted a picture of the adjustable PC guide on ABPW. For most applications
(read "the majority of cuts are at 90 degrees") Morris Dovey's guide would
be better and less cumbersome as the PC guide is about 2 feet long and
Dovey's is about a foot... better than the typical small speed square for
saw guiding.

John

John Grossbohlin (in
t) said:

| "John Grossbohlin" wrote in message
| ink.net...
|| "Brooks Moses" wrote in message
|| ...
||| Morris Dovey wrote:
|||| Lee Michaels (in ) said:
||||| I got one of those fancy saw guides that allows you to cut
||||| angles. Provided the board is no wider than about four inches.
||||
|||| I never came across a combo protractor/saw guide that I thought I
|||| could get along with; and have made a couple of wooden
|||| fixed-angle guides.
|||
||| Yeah; that's one of the first things that I thought of when I was
||| looking at your guide -- if you could sell angled ones for not
||| too much more than the square one, it would probably be worth the
||| cost to buy one just for the rafters in a single roof. You'd
||| have to stock a number of different angles, though.
||
|| Porter Cable used to sell a saw guide that was adjustable. I've
|| had one close to 20 years and have used it to cut 2X10s and 2X12s
|| at angles... though usually it's used at 90 degrees.
||
|| I'll take a picture and post it on ABPW and post another note here
|| once it's
|| up. I think I know where it is... haven't done any roof framing or
|| stairs in
|| quite a while!
|
| I posted a picture of the adjustable PC guide on ABPW. For most
| applications (read "the majority of cuts are at 90 degrees") Morris
| Dovey's guide would be better and less cumbersome as the PC guide
| is about 2 feet long and Dovey's is about a foot... better than the
| typical small speed square for saw guiding.

Thanks :-) What /I/ liked most about it was that made splitting a
pencil line (every time!) incredibly easy - something that I had
difficulty doing with other types of guides. Somewhere along the way I
switched from fat ol' #2 pencils to a 0.5mm drawing pencil - and I can
/still/ split the line reliably.

If I did a lot of angled cutting, I think I'd also want the type you
bought - but nearly all of my stuff has been square (or curved - for
which neither type is much help).

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto