|
Product
Review MJ Splitter by Bernie Hunt of This review can also be found on June, 2004
Newsletter of |
|
Now that the show
is over, I can get back to spending my spare time in the shop and get to some
things that have been piling up.
One of those is to try out the MJ Splitter. I like the cut
I get on my table saw with a zero clearance insert plate, but having
experienced kick back once, I'm always nervous about not having a
splitter. I know there are some
neat riving knives and pop up splitters available, but at over $100, the
price is out of hand. In steps
Micro Jig. A while back when we
were all at Frank Klausz's shop, he recommends the
new concept in push sticks called a GRR-Ripper from a new company called
Micro Jig. I purchase a couple of
the GRR-Rippers and have found them to be invaluable! (Maybe one day I'll do a product
review on them also.) While recently
perusing Micro Jig's web site, www.microjig.com, I found they have a new
product called a MJ Splitter.
It's a simple but effective splitter solution for your zero clearance
insert plate. At $14.95 the price
is right! I ordered a couple of
them right away and then the show came up. This leaves us
up to today.
The MJ
Splitter comes in a small kit of parts.
Obviously the splitter is included, and also an alignment jig to help
in installing the splitter. In
the picture, you can see I've used a piece of ½" MDF and the
plastic alignment jig to set the drilling holes in the exact location
recommended in the instructions.
It was as simple as cutting the piece of MDF to the size specified and
then screwing the drilling jig to the MDF, aligning it with the blade. Now you drill three holes in the
bushings and you are set. Very
simple to install. The next
picture shows the splitter in place and ready to use. Simple but effective.
The MJ
Splitter offers another advantage in kick back reduction. The kit comes with actually two
splitter pieces. Either splitter
and be installed in either direction.
Each side of the splitter pieces are marked, " ",
"+", "++" and "+++". This indicates the amount of offset in
the splitter, from zero to three thousandths. This offset is between the splitter
and the fence. It creates a
feather board effect on the back side of the blade, keeping your cut piece
away from the back of the blade.
Nifty idea! The splitter
is also re-useable on your new zero clearance place,
once you've warn one out. It does
not work with the blade beveled or dado blades, but it is easily removed and
replaced as needed. The only
negative thing I found about it is that the included drill bit was not
straight. No big deal. Any woodworker without a set of drill
bits should turn in his table saw and take up knitting. All in all I
give this product a strong review.
It great, effective and inexpensive. I recommend it 100%. To find out more about the product, go
to Micro Jig's web site at www.microjig.com. |
