Mr. Osborne III
Written: Dec 08 '05 (Updated Mar 02 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Accurate, easy to adjust, large capacity, some unique features, incredible service
Cons: Complex design, expensive, some problems early on
The Bottom Line: A popular choice and a very good gauge overall. It has terrific versatility and excellent capacity. Osborne stands behind their product too!
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| woody2's Full Review: Osborne EB-3 Miter Guide |
A few points of clarification and a brief story are in order to start this review, then I'll attempt to follow with some descriptions and opinions of this miter gauge. The EB-3 sitting in my shop was defective upon arrival, and was not accurate when angled, although was fine at 90 degrees. It was given to me by a friend who bought it new, had trouble with it, and went through several attempts with Osborne to get it right, then finally gave up out of frustration. He bought the gauge through a reputable online tool retailer for ~ $160. After getting it assembled and testing it for a while, he realized there was a problem that he verified using his Starrett combo square and through test cuts. The error is approximately 1-1/4 degrees at both 45 degree settings. He contacted Osborne and explained the problem with the gauge. An engineer from Osborne made several inquiries about the gauge then agreed it should be returned to Osborne for inspection. My friend was told at that time that if the gauge was found to be defective his shipping charges to send to the gauge to Canada would be refunded ($25). The gauge was returned about 3 weeks later. He was contacted by the engineer he spoke with initially, who claimed he had replaced a defective part and ran some test cuts himself to confirm it was accurate. Unfortunately the same problem still existed when the gauge arrived. By this time the 30 day refund period through the retailer had elapsed. With a refund out of the question, he contacted Osborne again, and was questioned some more by the Osborne team. They were more defensive this time and suggested there was a problem with his saw, but the problem was visible with several different combination squares and on two table saws (I witnessed this) ...no amount of adjustment could correct for the error at 45 degrees in each direction when the factory milled detent settings were used. Osborne agreed to send him a new gauge, and pay the return shipping on the original. (the refund for the initial shipping to Canada never did arrive). The second gauge arrived and had a very similar problem at 45 degrees, plus there was a slight bow in the miter bar which caused the fence to rock in the miter slot. Fortunately these problems were noted prior to sending the original gauge back. He contacted Osborne and was told to return new gauge that was defective, and that they'd send another replacement. They also offered to let him keep the original as compensation for his trouble (good for parts I guess). The third gauge arrived and had the same issue when angled as the first two. Osborne was still willing to look into the problems with the third gauge, but was getting increasingly less apologetic. A post on a woodworking website about this dilemna quickly attracted 9-10 other responses from people who had similar experiences, so it appeared there was truly a systemic manufacturing problem at some point in time and not just a fluke defect on one or two units. My friend stopped pursuing the problem out of frustration and used his gauge only sparingly. After a while he thought I might be able to get some use out of one of them and gave me the other gauge, so it gets used in a crosscut fence and primarily does 90 degree cuts.
Instructions for the EB-3 are quite good, although basic setup of the gauge is a bit more complex than some gauges. The EB-3 is very well made and has some clever design ideas. Many of the features have some unique design approaches to basic features which may get "lost in translation" here. One of those clever ideas is an eccentric adjustment for dialing in the body and fence to 90 degrees to the miter bar...it's a vertical pivoting cyclinder with an offset hole that gives a cam effect to it's rotation and offers very precise, easy to use, and effective adjustments to the main body. The gauge comes with a long miter bar that has width adjustments to dial in the fit to the miter track. It has a nice large push handle and an excellent extendable extruded aluminum fence with an adjustable flip stop that slides in a t-track at the top of the fence. Two thumb screws secure the fence in position to the main body of the gauge. There are a couple of rubber washers as part of the screw system that offer a nice even change of pressure as the screws are loosened or tightened. The fence can slide right or left to vary the proximity to the blade by loosening the screws and making any desired adjustments. It can also be setup for use on the left or right side of the blade, although it's not a simple enough process that I'd want to do it frequently between cuts. The angles are controlled by a support arm that forms a triangle from the back of the miter bar to the extension fence. It has factory milled detents for all the common angles and is quite easy to set. This arm also provides support to the fence to reduce flexing underload. The fence is about 24" when collapsed and extends out to over 36" using two steel rods that fit nicely in molded guide slots inside the fence body. Adjustments for the extension use a very similar thumb screw system as the fence body. The front of the fence offers an abrasive material with a self adhesive to prevent the workpiece from sliding during a cut. This is supplied by Osborne and applied by the user.
Once dialed into 90 degrees the EB-3 is very accurate and repeatable...at least for right angles. It's a pleasure to use, although with it's rather large fence is obviously more cumbersome than my smaller Incra V27. I've read many reports of people who are very pleased with their EB-3, and I know "his Normness" uses one in the New Yankee Workshop. I recently read of Osborne offering a new support arm mechanism to someone who had a defective unit similar to mine, which fixed the problem...so I may make an attempt to contact Osborne and will make an update to this review with the results of that inquiry.
It's easy to understand being disappointed with a defective $160 miter gauge. People expect accuracy at that price point, and were willing to pay for it. My friend has since purchased a Woodhaven Deluxe miter gauge with an extension fence in the same price range. In comparison to the EB-3 it's a much less complex device with more robust parts, and smacks of precision machining. Two different design approaches to accomplish the same task. He loves the Woodhaven. It's a beautifully made tool with considerable heft, impressive craftsmanship, flawless performance, and is even quite striking visually (if that matters!). I've read countless positive reports of the Incra 1000SE that has some similarities to my Incra V27, but adds an extruded aluminum extension fence. Based on my usage of the V27, it's easy to understand why people would be pleased with that gauge. I have yet to use a Kreg or Jessem, but have fondled them at stores...they appear to be well made and make a good impression. I've also read good reports about the JDS gauge, but have never seen one in person.
Edit: (a happy ending...)
There have been some major recent developments since the original body of this review was written - I contacted David Osborne directly and explained the problem with the gauge. He suggested I contact Excaliber because the gauge has a lifetime warranty through them. Excalibur simply asked which part numbers I needed and shipped them immediately....after about 45 minutes of disassembly and assembly the problem was solved! Apparently the detents on the extension arm were milled inaccurately on the first few gauges and were likely the cause of the same problem others had experienced. I now have an accurate miter guide with a nice fence system! Because of the cost of this gauge and the extent of the problem, I've opted to leave the original portion of the review unmodified...it seems justified. Now that the excitement has worn off a bit and I've had the chance to spend some time using the gauge, my opinion has improved considerably....it's a nice gauge after all (as I suspected it would be!). The length of the miter bar and the extension fence lend themselves to some function that the smaller Incra V27 do not, but that function comes at the price of the maneuverability. No real surprise there, but it does take some getting used to if you've been using a smaller gauge. The EB-3 is not difficult to adjust, but is also not as easy to adjust as the Incra. I haven't yet gained enough confidence in the Osborne's accuracy to not precheck angles, but I think that will come in time. I no longer have any reason not to recommend the EB-3, however it's still a fairly complex device for a miter gauge, especially when compared to a contending competitor like the Woodhaven Deluxe. It's only fair to note that I haven't spent enough time with the Woodhaven to learn it's weak points. Thanks to Osborne and Excaliber for offering the fix and coming through in the long run.
Additional edit, and an encore happy ending (3/1/08):
If you look at the comments you'll note that David Osborne personally responded to this review recently, and made good on a promise to deliver a new gauge to my friend who originally owned mine. He has the gauge in hand and it's functioning as intended. Incredible customer service and worthy of an update to the overall rating of the gauge. My original 3-star rating was heavily influenced by the trouble we had encountered. With those issues remedied in spades, I'm upgrading my rating to 4-stars for incredible customer service as well as excellent performance from the gauges. Thank you Mr. Osborne!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
woody2
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Location: Rochester, NY
Reviews written: 97
Trusted by: 19 members
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Thank God for God. Think life is tough now...try without him!
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