Review on Aluminum Dovetail Marker Woodworking Crafts by Allan Ryser

This is a review of the 90 degree version: This is a review of impressions, I just received the tool today, I'll try to continue after using it for a while. I also want to make it clear that I'm not being paid for this review, I'm just impressed with this tool and wanted to make sure others knew about it. I bought it during Prime Day (the price was low enough that I couldn't say no) but even at the regular price of $11.49 I'd say it's worth it. The housing is made of extruded aluminum profile and has a decent thickness. Anodized in matte black with brass hardware that looks great together. It seemed like it would be tasteless and flashy, but it isn't. Overall it looks like a quality tool, it's lightweight and looks like it can take some abuse, time will tell. Both have magnets with a diameter of 19 mm. side, which is good because I'm left-handed and it's nice when the tools are left-handed. The magnets aren't very strong (the magnets are only 2mm thick), at least not with the saw I use them with (Japanese pull saw), but the point is to keep the saw at the right angle, and it does ( I'll talk more about that in a moment). The back of the clip is detachable (not the legs of the clip which are attached to the main body of the track). I assume you can flip the main part of the rail, which seems more useful for angled versions. However, it is also possible that the saw cuts so hard into the guide that it is no longer correct. This means you can use your own clamp if you wish and the extrusion gauge will appear thick enough that you can apply adequate clamping force to the guide body without it bending. The clamp is sturdy and has what appears to be brass screws that look good against the matte black anodizing, again I thought it would look gaudy but it doesn't. Is the angle right? I used a constructed square for each corner, except for the corners facing outwards from the clamp legs, which taper slightly and appear to be part of the design. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the corners match the engineer square well! I even removed one of the side panels to get a better view of the magnets and how they latch and after replacing the plate that side was still correct which tells me this tool was designed for use and maintenance. I like it! As I said, the magnets are thin (2 mm) and sit in a slot in the profile. The machined slot has a width of 2 mm. I think I can add some smaller diameter magnets (about 14mm or 1/2 inch diameter to make sure they fit) to the back of the magnets to increase their pulling power, which should be a pretty easy upgrade. K&J sells the D86 magnet for $2.39 each, which will likely work perfectly, and for less than $5 (excluding shipping and tax) it will add enough pull to make the side cover plastic about double the size to make thick 1 mm) and still be strong enough. I want to be clear, this is just a guess, I didn't do it but I plan to. If you're using anything other than a carbon steel saw blade, you'll likely notice a noticeable drop in the attraction of the magnets. I have one complaint: I wish the little translucent overlays were thicker. The ones supplied are too thin and I've noticed that the saw sometimes rubs against the shanks of the ferrule. I understand to make the pads thicker so the magnets have to be thicker too and they cost significantly more than some plastic sheets. You can use a thicker pad, which will decrease the magnet's strength, but a thicker magnet will generally increase the strength (I won't calculate the gauss here). This increases the clamping force of the magnet and makes the pad twice as thick. Hooray, your saw and saw guide are saved!