Review of the EZ Smart Guide System by Eurekazone 1st Page = Components     This Page = Set Up     3rd Page = Making the Cut
The first step in set up is to attach the base to your saw. They provide 2 methods. "Temporary installation" involves drilling the base and your saw plate and using the included t-nuts and bolts. You're looking at the bottom of the base, you can see the dimples for the T-nuts and the 2 grooves where it fits into the ' guide. The recommended method of attachment is easier - use the provided double faced foam tape. One slight problem - the tape is so strong, it sticks to the masking tape they use to hold the roll together. This method is called "permanent installation". The tape is stronger than carpet tape but does come off if it hasn't set too long. I was impressed with the thought and detail that they put into designing this process. Bolts come in 3 sizes and the base has dimples in every conceivable place so the t-nuts remain flush.
	Here's my saw mounted to the base. The base has a lip on the front and on the right. You'll be tempted to line the saw base up to those lips. WARNING! If you have a cheap saw like mine this may put the blade too far to the right. I had to move mine to the left a bit after I took this picture - that's how I know the tape is not too permanent. (When I moved it to the left I did line it up with the lip on the front.) The reason is that after a few more steps, you'll be putting the saw on the guide and cutting through the guide edge. This makes the edge flush with your blade - for alignment with your cut mark, and to keep the left edge of the cut from splintering. If the blade is too far to the right, it will miss the edge of the guide when it cuts.
You need the blade to be about 1.5in from the right of the base. Actually you need it about 3in from the LEFT of the groove that sits on the guide - but it's easier to measure in the other direction. Mine is a cheap Skil saw - most of the better saws I've seen have more plate to the right of the blade so mounting flush to the lip should be no problem.
	Once the saw is attached to the base, you put an insert in the base cut through it. This makes the base function like a Zero-Tolerance plate on a table saw for splinter free cuts. There are 2 types of inserts and you get 2 of each. Perhaps in case they wear out or if you use blades of different sizes you'll use a new insert cut for that blade. This is another way they've thought to give you everything you need rather than just what they can get away with. The gray inserts are flat, and are used for cutting with the base only - not using the guide
The green inserts have a ridge that equals the height of using the guide. The inserts only fit one way so you can't put them in wrong, and they snap in with a satisfying click.	>
	Raise your saw blade all the way up but leave the height lever unlocked. Put it on a piece of scrap, turn it on and plunge it through the insert and into the wood. The top view is before the cut from above the saw. The bottom view is after the cut from below.
Next you do the same plunge cut into the green insert. Now you're ready to cut the guide edge to be flush with your blade. Install the green insert in the base and put it on the guide, on top of some scrap wood. No need to do the plunge maneuver, but set the blade just a tad lower than the guide and cut through the white plastic edge piece down the whole length of the guide. The white strip under the arrow is the plastic edge piece that I'm cutting. There is one on each side of the guide making it totally reversible. You'll see the scrap I used was pretty narrow but the clamp that comes with the guide holds it on from underneath.
	Here is the end result. There are the two cuts I made using the same scrap board to trim both sides of the guide. I didn't cut very deep but they are quite clean.
One of the great things about the guide is the pair of clamps that come with it. They slide into either groove on the underside (the same grooves that the alignment bars use when you join two guides together.) You don't really need them for a straight cut on a wide board. The guide is heavy enough not to move. But for narrow boards or small pieces they are great. They are spring loaded with so when you loosen them they'll move around but not slide out of the groove. You can also remove the nut and slide the end of the clamp off the bolt and it will swivel for holding really narrow pieces. The kind you can't cut on a table saw without a jig, and push blocks.
Review of the EZ Smart Guide System by Eurekazone 1st Page = Components    This Page = Set Up     3rd Page = Making the Cut © 2004 John Seiffer. I'm a wood working hobbier who's happy to support the people and products that I enjoy. email: wood@sbcoach.com with any comments.