Harvey COMPASS RG-1/RG-2 Universal Roller Guides Question

[richard poitras]

I'd be interested as well. They seem interesting, but for the same price you can get the JessEm guides. The Harvey guides would have the advantage of working on multiple machines, at the expense of potentially not being as effective (losing the downwards and maybe the inward pressure).

Just an FYI they are double the price ... the price listed is for one. So a set would be around $500 with shipping and tax?

[Michael Burnside]

Thats okay, not my money and poster seems to care about money.

Feather boards work fine and did for all in the trade I know. Even if the latest gizmos existed back then they would spend the money on machines. You couldn't tell the difference between a piece of wood machined with those or a feather board. Comes down to the operator and how he feeds material. Its well made and well thought out and adjustable. Glad to see it posted to be aware of it, same time fine with what ive always used.

You're not wrong. Feather boards do work for most things but for really narrow rips and keeping a board square to the fence, I prefer the Compass. Is it necessary? No. Same can be said of the Domino. That said, I do like it as a luxury device and if you're like me and were replacing an old feather board and a cheaply made narrow rip guide, it's a good buy IMHO.

[Nick Lazz]

I second the mailing list suggestion. Currently you can save $50 on said guide.
They always have a promo it seems.
Very happy with my TS purchase.

[Bert McMahan]

Which expanding miter slots did you guys use? I have one of these as well (probably got it during the same promo) and it works well on my table saw/shaper but like you my bandsaw and router table don't have slots.

[Michael Burnside]

This weekend I performed final dimensioning of several drawer fronts. This is the first time I've used the compass (RG-1 in my case) on numerous repeat cuts, rather than thin rips. All I can say is that if I wasn't sold on it before, I am now. My drawer fronts varied in width and edge quality on the offcut side as they typically do. What I found cool is that I could setup the compass with it set to about 30-40% minimum setting before locking it down, giving you enough in/out play to accommodate varying thicknesses and edges. The process is quick and easy, lock down the miter bar after setting, set it back to 0, fit the piece by dialing the setting to be snug and ripping. I cut 12 drawers and the only thing I ever adjusted was the dial, which took less than 2 seconds each part. This wasn't something I thought about until I started working through it and it worked great! Super smooth and drawers came out perfectly.

I have the JessEm fence guides, and they are amazing, but the drawers were just a little too narrow, so I feel the compass complements them very well.

[Izzy Charo]

As an FYI: I just got these and discovered that the miter bar on the RG-1/RG-2 does NOT fit the straight miter slot in my MM16 bandsaw or my Delta 14 inch bandsaw. Harvey Customer Service was responsive, but does not have a miter bar for the standard 3/4 x 3/8 miter slots found in many bandsaws.

[stephen thomas]

I just keep learning about new tools i never heard of since signing up here!

That said, they look useful.
However, one set only is about 1/2 way to the cost of a mini-power feeder.
Which would seem to be even more useful and flexible?

(I have full size power feeders, so am familiar with +/- & the sometimes time consuming nature of an "interesting" set up to get it right. However, I really like the opportunity to keep my hands well away from cutters, and the smoothness of power feeding)

[Patrick McCarthy]

Harvey website has the RG-1 for $149 and the RG-2 for $169 today

[Robert Hayward]

Harvey website has the RG-1 for $149 and the RG-2 for $169 today

I grabbed an RG-2 a couple weeks ago. It was listed at $189 with an additional discount of $20 for some special deal. The screws were not square to the miter bar on the one I received. Causing the screws to rub/bind on the slots in the RG-2 body. A couple emails with pictures back and forth and they sent a new miter bar with screws. Works like it should now.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

As an FYI: I just got these and discovered that the miter bar on the RG-1/RG-2 does NOT fit the straight miter slot in my MM16 bandsaw or my Delta 14 inch bandsaw. Harvey Customer Service was responsive, but does not have a miter bar for the standard 3/4 x 3/8 miter slots found in many bandsaws.

I'm confused (a common condition), the Harvey website says compatible T-slot size is 3/4'x3/8'x1".

[Izzy Charo]

The miter bar is for a T-slot miter slot...the bottom of the bar is 1" wide. Therefore does not fit a standard 3/4 miter slot.

[eugene thomas]

was thinking of buying but cheapest shipping $32. will pass.

[Robert Hayward]

was thinking of buying but cheapest shipping $32. will pass.

Shipping was ~$27 to Florida a couple weeks ago when I bought the RG-2. Less than I expected. The high shipping rate Harvey charges has stopped me from buying other items in the past.

[eugene thomas]

And if buy both is $64..

[Tom Dalabon]

They have raised the cost of shipping though. Cost to the Boston area is $44.00, last one I bought was less than half for shipping.