Re: Guide rail speed square... dedicated 90 for crosscutting and shelf dadoes.

[Qwas]

Thanks Steve. Looking at the pictures I thought it was. What is it made from?

 

[Christopher Fitch]

made of some aluminum alloy?

 

[Michael Kellough]

I haven't seen the Dewalt 90 degree unit but I have seen the vari-angle version
and it is made of cast aluminum. What impressed me though is the pivot,
it's a 25mm ball bearing! That's the lowest RPM application of a BB I've ever seen.
Sure is smooth and zero play. Seems to lock down better than the Festool
version too but I didn't have much leverage to test it with.

 

[Jonhilgen]

Please tell me these are shipping out soon!  The ink just dried on a contract for some built-ins, but I'm not going to start cross cutting my material until this arrives at my house.  ;D 

 

[Qwas]

John, We are still waiting on the production shop but they are slowly getting it done. I don't want to rush them now.  [smile]

We are hearing it could be any day now.  [big grin]

 

[Steve F]

This gets me thinking. What if you bought a 2400mm (92") rail and cut it to 1600mm (63") so it could be used with the Qwas rail fence to cut a full 48" sheet of ply. You'd have 800mm (31 1/2") piece left over for shorter cross cuts.

I know Timmy likes to go the extra mile for his customers so maybe he'd be able cut a 2400mm rail down to size and sell them as a package with the Qwas rail square. (Hay, Timmy, you like how I volunteered you ;D).

Well, it's just a thought.

I know I'm a bit late with this comment and others may have figured this out already, but buying a 1900 (75") and an 800 (32") would be cheaper than buying a single 2400 (92").  If anything, I assumed that the longer rails would be cheaper per mm, but the 1400 is actually the cheapest with a per mm premium for every other size.  Instead of working this afternoon, I played with Excel and there is no apparent  pattern to the premiums:

1400    No Premium
1040    15%
800      17%
1900    31%
5000    40%
3000    42%
2700    43%
2400    47%

Just thought I would share this before anyone started buying long rails to cut up. 

Steve

 

[RONWEN]

I haven't seen the Dewalt 90 degree unit but I have seen the vari-angle version
and it is made of cast aluminum. What impressed me though is the pivot,
it's a 25mm ball bearing! That's the lowest RPM application of a BB I've ever seen.
Sure is smooth and zero play. Seems to lock down better than the Festool
version too but I didn't have much leverage to test it with.

Is there a Dewalt square called the "Vari-angle" version or is this a reference to another product?

 

[peter halle]

Maybe this one: 

[attachimg=#]

Peter

 

[Qwas]

Good news everyone. We have received the Qwas Squares from the shop and they are looking great. Those of you that have pre-ordered, they will be shipping out tomorrow.  [drooling] [drooling] [drooling]

 

[danrush]

Great news.  I have a big job next week and I intend to try to max it out  ( in a good way)

Dan

 

[Jonhilgen]

Me too.  Large built-ins, then an outdoor kitchen.  Didn't pre-orders qualify for free overnight shipping?  [eek]

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Let me know how it works out for you Dan.

 

[danrush]

Received my Qwas Square yesterday.  Just in time to play before starting some production Monday. 

It is certainly a stout piece, well made, and squares up nicely with the guide rail.  One minor complaint:  Qwas products should have their quality control folks check for sharp edges along the milled areas of the square.  I now have a small cut on my hand where it brushed against the square.  Easily fixed with a fine file, and no real harm done.  Momentarily irritating, at most, but a flaw that could easily be avoided.

The square attaches easily, even without instructions.  It does seem to almost seat itself into square.  Very intuitive. 

At first it seemed a bit cumberson to use, but I chalk most of that up to my using guide rails without any attachments for the last few years.  After about a dozen cuts, the rail and square feel more natural. 

I cut a couple of 36" squares from 3/4" maple ply I had around.  Started with 1 fresh cut side, and continued the other 3 sides using the Qwas Square.  Now, I don't have all the fancy-pants-super-duper micro measure squares that some of you guys have; but I do have one heck of a framing square, and I will declare my test cuts to be square.  I also checked by measuring diagonally, and on the MFT using dogs as stops.  As close to perfectly square as I  ( carpenter/ cabinet maker) need to be.

As of this early writing, I have to declare the Qwas Square a success.  I'm starting a run of about 20 semi-custom built-ins next week.  Should be able to give it a good workout then.

Dan

 

[Brice Burrell]

Thanks for the report Dan. I should get mine on Monday, I'm looking forward to this thing.

 

[Qwas]

Thanks for the fine write up Dan and I'm glad it's going to help you.  [smile] I'm sorry about the minor cut.  [embarassed] The first one they made for me didn't have any burs or sharp edges at all. I will alert the shop to keep an eye open for that.

Brice, I thought for sure you would have had yours on Friday. I was looking forward to you having a chance to play with it over the weekend.

 

[Jonhilgen]

Received my Qwas Square yesterday.  Just in time to play before starting some production Monday. 

It is certainly a stout piece, well made, and squares up nicely with the guide rail.  One minor complaint:  Qwas products should have their quality control folks check for sharp edges along the milled areas of the square.  I now have a small cut on my hand where it brushed against the square.  Easily fixed with a fine file, and no real harm done.  Momentarily irritating, at most, but a flaw that could easily be avoided.

The square attaches easily, even without instructions.  It does seem to almost seat itself into square.  Very intuitive. 

At first it seemed a bit cumberson to use, but I chalk most of that up to my using guide rails without any attachments for the last few years.  After about a dozen cuts, the rail and square feel more natural. 

I cut a couple of 36" squares from 3/4" maple ply I had around.  Started with 1 fresh cut side, and continued the other 3 sides using the Qwas Square.  Now, I don't have all the fancy-pants-super-duper micro measure squares that some of you guys have; but I do have one heck of a framing square, and I will declare my test cuts to be square.  I also checked by measuring diagonally, and on the MFT using dogs as stops.  As close to perfectly square as I  ( carpenter/ cabinet maker) need to be.

As of this early writing, I have to declare the Qwas Square a success.  I'm starting a run of about 20 semi-custom built-ins next week.  Should be able to give it a good workout then.

Dan

I couldn't agree more with Dan.  Very little setup time, even without instructions.  Cuts are square and on the money.  It does feel a little awkward at first like Dan said, but only since I'm also not used to having any attachments to the rail.

Thanks Qwas, this one just made cutting cabinet parts much less frustrating and time consuming.  Definitely a success in my book.

Jon

 

[Brice Burrell]

I had a chance to use my Qwas square this week for a closet built-in. Cut four sheets with the parallel guides ad the Qwas square, all went together perfectly. One drawer bottom ever so slightly out of square (because of user error.) I'd still prefer it to be able to cut 45s and I'll likely modify mine to do just that. Easy product to use, I think it's worth the price.

Steve, when I get some free time I'll shoot you some ideas for next batch.   

 

[Qwas]

Brice, I have some ideas of my own for a new model maybe (45 degree angle on this one) but I'm always open to new ideas.  [smile]

Glad to hear it's working good for you.  [big grin]

 

[Qwas]

Tim, at Festool Junkie has received more Qwas Squares and is ready to sell them.

Festool Junkie

 

[RONWEN]

Steve,
Perhaps another handy accessory for your new rail square would be an adjustable length hook end (to the left side) for registering the guide rail to the work piece for repeat cuts (making multiple pieces the same width) also for making equally spaced dadoes with the router.