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When MIT Engineers Design a Power Tool Accessory
Yea or Nay?Reekon's M1 Caliber Measuring Tool
Reekon Tools is a Boston-based company started by MIT engineers. Their inaugural product is the M1 Caliber, a measuring tool you're meant to clamp to a miter saw fence:
Here's how they envision the tool being used:
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For repetitive cuts, I can't see this being faster than a stop block. For a series of non-repetitive cuts, I wonder how this would affect your average builder's workflow. For instance, the phrase "Measure twice, cut once" would not apply here, as there's no measuring and marking step; instead the builder would have to keep the number front and center in their mind as they make each cut--doesn't that mean they'd have to continually refer to notes or a blueprint, which might become cumbersome? I wonder if it truly would be faster and easier in the long run, versus having time set aside to mark, measure and double-check.
In any case, the demand for this device is apparently quite high: It was successfully crowdfunded by 25,286 backers, to the tune of $3.2 million. The device runs $130 a pop.
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Comments
For jobsite carpentry: this appeals to my builder friends! Where you need to do framing with a big cut list a wheel mounted to a rotary hall effect sensor is probably pretty convenient and reliable.
Well it's useless for crown but if you're just framing then sure why not.
Reflecting on my own workflows with a chopsaw, primarily rough cutting raw lumber from a cutlist for further processing, this thing does make sense. I completely agree that little beats a good stop block setup for repeated cuts. But for cutlists, which the video specifically calls out, this design destroys tape measures. That’s either a handheld tape measure, which is a hassle, or an adhesive tape mounted to a miter station. Either way, the user has to fuss with the tape and/or joggle back and forth along the workpiece, trying to eyeball the correct cut length badly. With this device, you just zero it and proceed to work down your cutlist as the workpiece is consumed.
This is a non-motorized version of SawGear as reviewed by Gary Katz in 2010 at https://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/07/30/sawgear-a-first-look/ . SawGear is about $3K+ and can be used in trades requiring production cutting lengths of product.