SawGear Miter Saw Automated Stop Gauge

SawGear Automated Miter Saw Stop Gauge

I attended the Remodeling Show this past September in Baltimore, Maryland.  There were a lot of great products there, and some really cool things to see, but one booth in particular drew a lot of attention.  It was the SawGear booth where they were demonstrating an automated length measuring device for miter saws.  I have to say that the demonstration was impressive and people stayed for quite a while to see it work flawlessly over and over again.  So, it was no surprise when I learned that this tool actually won the Most Innovative Tool of 2010 at the Remodeling / Deck Expo.  This was no small accomplishment as the votes were cast by attendees of the show, which means remodelers who work in the field every day.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I need to let you know that no one at ToolSkool has actually put hands on one of these tools to do a physical test.  However, I did see the demonstration, talked with the pros at the show, and decided it was worth pointing out what this tool is designed to do and what that means to the building and remodeling industries.

Contractors confirmed that at least this part of what the folks at SawGear say is true.  While you may not actually take the time to add up all of the time spend on measuring and marking board during the framing and finishing processes, it is nonetheless a significant portion of each day on the job site.  If you could cut 15% - 30% off of that time, days would be far more productive, and more jobs would be completed in a shorter time frame, freeing up time for even more jobs, which means more money to the bottom line.

Here’s where SawGear comes in.  Basically, the SawGear is a computerized measuring system that attaches to your miter saw stand. It takes the guesswork out of cuts, which could save a lot of time and materials. One of the things the contractors at the show pointed out is that they constantly had new or sub workers at their sites, and often they had to stop what they were doing and train the new guy how to measure and cut correctly.  They felt this would help them save time by taking the training session out of their day, although they were all hesitant to say this would prevent you from having to learn how to do the math in your head or on paper altogether.

SawGear Comments

People that have gotten one and actually put it to the test, say that set up is very easy.  There are mounting brackets that go onto the extension wing, then the fence snaps into the brackets, where knobs lock it in place.  Then the controller (which is the computer part of the tool) mounts to the top of the fence, where it is locked into place.  Plug it in, turn it on and let the magic (or in this case the questions the computer asks) begin.  It will ask you which side of the saw your fence is on.  You can set it up on either side.  Then you choose your language and you’re ready to push the start button.

 

Once the controller has started, the flip stop moves to the end of the fence, measuring the length of the fence and sending that information to the controller.  You confirm the length of the fence, then push the buttons on the controller to calibrate the saw.  This step calculates the distance from the stop to the blade.  Once the length of the piece being cut is entered, press start, and start cutting butt-cuts.

SawGear Features

“With our patented, built-in Miter Calculator, the SawGear automatically compensates for all your miter cuts at any angle, with the simple push of a single button. Never pull a tape again when measuring and marking those hard-to-measure, inside "heel" dimensions on your material. Once you enter in your inside dimension into the keypad, the SawGear automatically moves to the long point, eliminating countless hours of time wasted measuring and marking every single cut.”

SawGear’s manufacturer also says that the SawGear will cut 25% - 30% off of job completion times.  The 8-foot system runs around $2200 and the 12-foot system is around $2500. The crown molding foot attachment is around $70.   That is pretty pricey, but if you really do cut even 15% off of the completion time of a job, you could see how it wouldn’t take all that long to make the cost of the tool back in extra income you could make.

Check price/availability on Amazon: CLICK HERE

For more info, check out www.sawgear.com

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