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Thread: airtight clamps on the OMGA

  1. #1
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    airtight clamps on the OMGA

    it's always a good day when a set of mac's clamps arrive. terrific quality - this is my third set, and i think they are a required addition to the shop. thank you mac for a fantastic product!

    IMG_0085.jpeg

  2. #2
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    Whidbey Island, WA
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    Nice! What are you primarily using the saw for? Do the clamps push the stock towards the fence, or only down to the bed?
    JonathanJungDesign.com

  3. #3
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    that's my primary saw for sizing parts, face frames, door parts, etc. the clamps are slightly angled to push into the fence.

  4. #4
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    Ouray Colorado
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    What brand of fences do you have on the Omga Dave?

  5. #5
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    hey joe-- that's a proSCALE, but i'm swapping it out shortly for a SawGear. i don't love the proscale.
    Last edited by David Zaret; 05-02-2022 at 5:01 PM.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by David Zaret View Post
    hey joe-- that's a proSCALE, but i'm swapping it out shortly for a SawGear. i don't love the proscale.
    David, what do you not like about the ProScale? I have been going back and forth about whether to get a ProScale or spring for a SawGear on mine.

  7. #7
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    Ooof, $4k for the fence PLUS the clamps. Your OMGA was an expensive saw before the upgrades, now its a down payment on a house for some folks.

    Do you find the automated fences are 'worth it' over a manual fence and stop block? I feel like i would need another measurement tool besides a tape measure if i stepped up to that level of accuracy. Im not a pro, but on a typical cabinet build, i set the fence stop on my sliding saw maybe 6 times to cut my face frame parts, rails, stiles, and center panel. Another 2-4 times for the drawer boxes. The Tigerstop fences are cool, but they are a lot of money for what appears to be minor labor/material savings. It always struck me as a solution to a shop full of 'automated' low skill workers. Hand a guy his clip board cut sheet and tell him to type in the numbers, done. However, 'you dont know what you dont know', and i might be missing out on something incredibly helpful. I do think there is merit to a digital fence. I bet my eye from 2-3' away is only good to 1/64" repeatability.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Kane View Post
    Ooof, $4k for the fence PLUS the clamps. Your OMGA was an expensive saw before the upgrades, now its a down payment on a house for some folks.

    Do you find the automated fences are 'worth it' over a manual fence and stop block? I feel like i would need another measurement tool besides a tape measure if i stepped up to that level of accuracy. Im not a pro, but on a typical cabinet build, i set the fence stop on my sliding saw maybe 6 times to cut my face frame parts, rails, stiles, and center panel. Another 2-4 times for the drawer boxes. The Tigerstop fences are cool, but they are a lot of money for what appears to be minor labor/material savings. It always struck me as a solution to a shop full of 'automated' low skill workers. Hand a guy his clip board cut sheet and tell him to type in the numbers, done. However, 'you dont know what you dont know', and i might be missing out on something incredibly helpful. I do think there is merit to a digital fence. I bet my eye from 2-3' away is only good to 1/64" repeatability.

    Only 6 different lengths, for face frames and doors/drawer fronts?

    I assume you mean for one cabinet not a full kitchen.
    Last edited by Jared Sankovich; 05-03-2022 at 10:06 AM.

  9. #9
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    Ann Arbor, MI
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    i just shipped a job to Florida of 8 rooms of custom cabinets and furniture, all inset, natural cherry. two of the rooms were enormous (kitchen and office), 10' ceilings with uppers all the way up. plus all custom moulding, a passage door, etc. i work alone, no help. the inset cabinet doors and drawer fronts had over 700 parts by themselves. so, i use technology as much as possible to increase my efficiency and make such jobs possible... though this one stretched me to my limits. 176 doors/drawer fronts.

    the automated fence upgrade is to achieve speed. the problem with the pro scale is that obviously it's a manual adjustment, but then when you tighten it down, it moves, and you have to do this dance where you add .008 or so, tighten it, see where you land, back it off a bit, do it again, until you land at the number you want. it's fine... it's accurate, but it's slow, and i'm annoyed by it. the micro adjust on my Martin slider moves while it's locked, so it's trivial to get close and then dial it in. not the pro scale. the pro scale was always meant to be a temporary solution until i got something better... and the pro scale will be retrofitted as a front fence onto the slider to do parallel cuts. for that purpose (something i rarely do), i expect it to work just fine.

    so, is the automated fence worth it? no idea. haven't used it yet. as a pro, where speed, efficiency and accuracy matter, i'm certainly hoping it will be. lord knows the saw is accurate enough.

    as for the cost... yes, this is expensive stuff, but so is my time, and i'm generally not price sensitive when it comes to my tooling.

    -- dz

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