General - EB-3 Miter Gauge
Now made by General International, Osborne’s unique design features a support arm and settings for most common crosscut tasks.
The Osborne gauge has a unique design with a support arm that forms a triangle with the fence and guide bar. The arm adjusted quickly with accurate detents at common angles. However, the gauge allowed too much flex and yielded inaccurate cuts in certain situations.
One end of the fence connects to the center of the guide bar. The opposite end of the fence mounts to the support arm, which, in turn, is attached to the front of the guide bar. The parts pivot at each of these three attachment points.
Markings on the adjustable arm measure the angle, and a ball plunger holds the fence in place. The plunger allowed for a quick return to 90° or any of the preset angles in each direction.
The EB-3’s guide bar has three adjustment points to help provide a snug fit in the miter-gauge slot. The problem with the overall design is that wide stock pushes one of these points out of the miter slot, allowing the guide bar and entire miter gauge to flex.
The EB-3 incorporates an eccentric mounting point at the rear of the bar for the adjustment arm, allowing the user to fine-tune the angle settings. However, even with this mounting point tightened as much as possible, there was play in the mechanism and also at the point where the fence and bar meet, adding to the overall inaccuracy, especially when pushing long or heavy stock.
UPDATEd 11/27/2006: The EB-3 Miter Gauge is now being produced by General International.
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