Tru-Line Aluminum Cutting Guide - J4900  Product Reviews

"I have tried three of these straight edges now and they all have a bend at the joint. I examined the last one with a machinist's square and found that none of the corners are square. I can cut a better right angle on my table saw. If you want two 4 ft straight edges it will work fine. You will have to have an 8 ft straight edge to hold the two 4 ft sections against while you clamp them together to make this device straight."

"Works as described, you do have to hold the center of the guide down while using to prevent it from bowing up over the saw base plate"

"I have used this guide often for ripping sheet stock with a circular saw. However, do not expect accurate cuts from this, especially when you are making 8' rips. The guide flexes WAY too much toward the middle. It has little to do with the connector. The guide is just not substantial enough to resist flexing. If you put any pressure against it with your circular saw (as one tends to do when using a tool guide), you will have a cut that bows outward in the middle on one piece, and concave on the other piece. I have recently retired this guide for more expensive and more substantial all-in-one clamp and tool guides that do not flex. Bottom line, if all you need is a quick and rough cut, this is a handy tool. But if you demand a straight cut, pay more money and get a tool guide that resists flexing. "

"One would think that there's no need to write a review about something as simple as a cutting guide. I wrote a review earlier about the Empire Level 900 Cutting Guide, because, with the Empire, I would have been as well off grabbing a 2x4 without checking to see if it was straight. The Empire was curved! The reason for this review is simply to point out that the Johnson Cutting Guide is straight and can be assembled and disassembled without having the connector piece coated with oil, as required by the Empire device. A fifth star would have been in order if a couple of nice touches had been included. First, the connector uses ordinary screws as set screws to secure the parts in place. Using a screwdriver is not a big deal, it only takes a quarter turn or so, but considering the price is rather steep for such a simple gadget, why not make a clever connector that does not require tools, using, say, a locking cam operated by a small lever. The other improvement could be replacing the two c-clamps, which are rather tedious and clumsy, with some type of speed clamp, such as "F-clamps." These are really minor points, but, hey, gotta save the fifth star for that really, really, great gadget."