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A while ago Mr. Richard Stottmann, the President of Stots Corporation sent me his Saw-Aid™ to test. The product is kind of a table saw multi tool made of a black, composite material. It’s most obvious function is a push stick but the designer has built in nine other functions as well.
In addition to acting as a push stick, the Saw-Aid™ also acts as a depth gauge for both the table saw and router, a 30/60° angle gauge, a 9 inch rule to assist in setting up your rip fence, a precision 45° angle gauge, a precision 90° angle gauge, a center finder for turning projects, and a 6 inch hook rule. That’s a lot of potential packed into one little tool.
As a depth gauge I found the Saw-Aid™ to function as advertised. It was easy to use and accurate enough for most uses. If I were making a cut where absolute precision were necessary, I would recommend double checking with a steel rule. However, I would do that with any depth gauge – especially when getting a perfect cut was critical. In all, I was very satisfied with this function.
I don’t often have use for a 30/60° angle gauge so I haven’t used this function. I will say that I have used the 45° gauge with great success on my sliding compound miter saw. I think all the 45° angles I’ve cut with my SCMS since I received the Saw-Aid™ have been done using its 45° angle function. This includes cutting quite pile of moldings for installation in the house and it worked well. I am sorry Mr. Stottman but I will never use the 90° angle feature as I subscribe to the group of woodworkers that believes the angle on the table saw should never be changed. Instead I prefer to make precision jigs that hold the work at an angle to the blade. Leaving the angle unchanged provides me with a greater degree of accuracy and saves time, and when I set it I prefer to use my engineer’s square.
I have a (pre-Delta buyout) Biesemeyer fence and I have it set to be dead-on accurate. I never have to measure when setting the rip fence because mine is so reliable. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t found a great use for the measuring capabilities of the Saw-Aid™. Although I don’t use the 9 inch scale very often, I use the 6 inch hook rule all the time. My jointer is a 6 inch model so when I am sizing boards for glue up into panels I like to use the Saw-Aid™ because it hooks nicely to one edge and allows me to layout bandsaw cut in rough lumber with ease. I’m not sure that this was what Mr. Stottman intended when he designed the Saw-Aid™, but it works for me. I use it often to assist in cutting things to rough dimension when preparing stock for a project. When I am marking out parts for cutting joinery, I do prefer to stick to my steel rule. When laying out finished dimensions you should stick to one measuring device for all your measurements as this will limit the amount of error in your layout. The Saw-Aid™ just isn’t large enough for that anyway.
The center finder feature works well. The only drawback is the recessed space on the back of the Saw-Aid™, which limits the size of stock to be used with it. If it fits in the recess, however, the center finder will do the job admirably.
I think I’ve covered just about everything except the push stick feature of the Saw-Aid™. The product is smooth and sturdy and fits well in my hand. The tool is handy enough already, if not for the fact that I has become my favorite push stick. This is probably the number one feature the Saw-Aid™ was designed for and it is well constructed for the purpose.
The Stots Saw-Aid™ has certainly found a home in my shop. It’s available online directly from Stots Corporation and also from Klingspor’s Woodworking Shop. At $14.95 it is an inexpensive and useful addition to the shop and makes a great gift for other tool users.
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