The SawStop miter gauge is widely maligned as unworthy compared to the accuracy and safety of the SawStop system as a whole. I did a few simple things to upgrade the gauge to a very functional component.
First, the complaints. Too much slop.
There are two sources of slop, the pivot bolt and the miter bar, both are easily addressed. The miter bar is designed to be adjustable. There are spring loaded bearings in the bar to maintain tension in the miter slot. The manual says they are adjusted at the factory. Many would disagree. It takes a 2.5 mm Allen wrench. I adjusted mine until I got noticeable interference, then backed them off a quarter turn.
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The next complaint is too much slop in the miter head. More specifically, the shoulder of the pivot bolt (circled in yellow) is much smaller than the hole for it in the miter head resulting in a head that rocks under load. We are not machinists but we are amateur plumbers. Some Teflon plumber’s tape around the shoulder of the shoulder bolt can snug up the shoulder bolt so there is no slop. I used 7 turns of red Teflon tape for a snug fit.
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Lastly, there is no sacrificial fence or flip stop for repeated cuts. This is true of most miter gauges supplied with saws. Here is my version using a flip stop I bought many years ago. The flip stop has no flex and has a low-tech but functional micro adjustment. This model is no longer available but there are many alternatives. I extended the fence past the blade. This supports short pieces. I added some blocks on the back of the sacrificial fence. These blocks serve a safety function by enclosing the blade as it exits the cut. They also prevent blow out on the back of a crosscut and direct dust below the table for collection. The kerf in the sacrificial fence provides a perfect reference for aligning a mark on the workpiece to the kerf for an accurate cut. The kerf in the fence tends to grow over time. I will eventually rout a recess for a replaceable, zero-clearance insert made of 1/4 plywood.
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To prevent cutting through the back of the safety block, I clamp a block to the rear rail and drop a 3/4” scrap of an appropriate length in the miter slot.
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