Kreg Rip-Cut

[Jerry_in_SD]

Sometime ago out of impulse, I purchased a Kreg Rip-Cut (http://www.kregtool.com/RipCut-Prodview.html) knowing that I had my kitchen remodel to do. It was fairly inexpensive ($35) so I figured what the heck. After I got nearly $1000 worth of per-finished maple ply delivered to my house, I was a little hesitant to start cutting into my panels as the unit seems a little flimsy and relying on you keeping a small fence guide running across the end of the plywood. I was intending to rough cut the plywood and do the money cut on the table saw.

I did use the Rip-Cut and was pleasantly surprised. It was easy to set up and generally cut to within 1/16" (or better) on my cuts. It was fast and much better than laying out a straight edge or even circular saw guide for that matter.

At the end of a cut (2" or so), you loose the fence reference -- they should make it a little longer. I found the last 2" to be no problem to complete to the accuracy I needed.

I mostly used it for ripping the plywood but did do a few cross cuts that were <24" (maximum for the jig). My only complaint was that I had to repeatedly install and remove my circ saw from the device to do cross cuts that were >24". It only takes a minute, especially when you have done it a few times . If I had a spare saw sitting around AND I cut lots of panels (which I dislike...), I would keep one installed on this jig.

I would recommend this jig as an aid to rough cutting panel products as the accuracy is sufficient. It by no means replaces a table saw or a good quality track saw (read: Festool). It might be good enough for final cut in a construction application.

My panel cutting technique is to rip the panels to final width on table saw and then use a table saw sled to trim to length. On a few occasions when the panel was too wide or two long to put up on the sled, I was fortunate enough to verify that that two factory sides were square -- giving me one end from which I could reference.

[atratinus]

Thanks for the review. I received the Rip-It for Christmas, but sadly no circular saw. I will be getting one shortly, I hope, so I will add my comments to this thread then.