Michael Rutman
03-04-2023, 6:56 PM
Let me predicate this by saying I am a hobbyist at best, even though I buy expensive tools. My skill level is such that if I have to line something up by eye, it is not going to be right. Tools that can be set and lock in place at set positions are make or break for me.
The gist of this review is the tools are excellent if you set your expectations right. If you think they are going to just work and give you perfectly square cabinets you will be disappointed, well I was. Both items have the same problem, they require calibration by eyeball and that calibration is very picky when working on 4 foot cuts.
First, the square. The square is designed to allow you to loosen the gauge and adjust it to get it to exactly 90 degrees. That’s wonderful, if you have a large 90 degree reference. Not only that, but the track is so long that the even locked down you can get a quarter inch of wiggle room at the end. I think Woodpecker would have been better off just going with 90 and not trying to allow it to go to any angle at all. I did eventually get it to 90 and it did work at 90, I just had to remember to always make sure it was pushed up, and double check. The quarter inch comes from it not quite being all the way in the “set” as it clicks in place in only one direction.
Next, the parallel guides. Here again is the eyeball calibration. You set the guides into the track, place the stops on the ruler by eyeball, and then use a rod to calibrate the ruler on the guides. There are two of these, so if you eyeball it wrong then your two rulers are going to be off. Then you move the stops to where on the ruler you want, again, eyeballing two different stops that aren’t close to each other. It just wasn’t going to work for me. There are just too many places where I’m off by 1/32 and they all add together.
I did get some cuts I’m mostly happy with. First, make a reference piece that is correct before you even think about bringing out these tools. Ignore all calibration, just put the tools together and lock the stops in on the reference piece. Lock the square in on the reference piece (you do have to loosen and retighten the scale to do this). Don’t bother looking at the rulers, they aren’t going to match anyway.
Then you can move the track to a fresh piece of plywood and it will make a mostly correct duplicate. I say mostly correct because you still have to place it on the plywood or MDF the same, in one case I pushed harder on the second board when placing and it was just enough different that I could catch it with my thumbnail When the boards were stacked.
Do I love it, no, not at all. It does not work as advertised nor demoed on the YT videos I watched.
Do I regret buying it, no, not at all. It does work well if I’m going to cut 20 cabinets and have reference boards for each piece.
Will I use it, absolutely.
The gist of this review is the tools are excellent if you set your expectations right. If you think they are going to just work and give you perfectly square cabinets you will be disappointed, well I was. Both items have the same problem, they require calibration by eyeball and that calibration is very picky when working on 4 foot cuts.
First, the square. The square is designed to allow you to loosen the gauge and adjust it to get it to exactly 90 degrees. That’s wonderful, if you have a large 90 degree reference. Not only that, but the track is so long that the even locked down you can get a quarter inch of wiggle room at the end. I think Woodpecker would have been better off just going with 90 and not trying to allow it to go to any angle at all. I did eventually get it to 90 and it did work at 90, I just had to remember to always make sure it was pushed up, and double check. The quarter inch comes from it not quite being all the way in the “set” as it clicks in place in only one direction.
Next, the parallel guides. Here again is the eyeball calibration. You set the guides into the track, place the stops on the ruler by eyeball, and then use a rod to calibrate the ruler on the guides. There are two of these, so if you eyeball it wrong then your two rulers are going to be off. Then you move the stops to where on the ruler you want, again, eyeballing two different stops that aren’t close to each other. It just wasn’t going to work for me. There are just too many places where I’m off by 1/32 and they all add together.
I did get some cuts I’m mostly happy with. First, make a reference piece that is correct before you even think about bringing out these tools. Ignore all calibration, just put the tools together and lock the stops in on the reference piece. Lock the square in on the reference piece (you do have to loosen and retighten the scale to do this). Don’t bother looking at the rulers, they aren’t going to match anyway.
Then you can move the track to a fresh piece of plywood and it will make a mostly correct duplicate. I say mostly correct because you still have to place it on the plywood or MDF the same, in one case I pushed harder on the second board when placing and it was just enough different that I could catch it with my thumbnail When the boards were stacked.
Do I love it, no, not at all. It does not work as advertised nor demoed on the YT videos I watched.
Do I regret buying it, no, not at all. It does work well if I’m going to cut 20 cabinets and have reference boards for each piece.
Will I use it, absolutely.