Vermont American 26777 Taper Jig

At the risk of having my head chopped off for writing a review before I received the product, I thought this was worth mentioning. I was looking for a tapering jig that would save me the time of having to build one. (Engineering time, etc.) For the cost of this unit, it seems like a no brainer. I looked at the Big Horn, which was number 140 in Amazons sales rank, so their are a lot of them sold. This Vermont American is a new listing. I noticed that the main comment of dissatisfaction with the Big Horn was the lightness of the unit. Their was a mention of being able to bend it in half. I noticed the shipping weight on the Big Horn was a mere 1.7 pounds. The shipping weight on this Vermont American is 2.75 pounds. That is a 60% increase in the weight of the unit. The extra pound plus probably means additional strength. The other thing I liked is the lifetime replacement warranty. Once I get the unit, I will post a more complete review. I gave it 4 stars because I felt it was a neutral outlook, and would be glad to give it a 5 if the unit measures up. Thanks for your time.
Wellllllllll here is the follow up. It arrived. Box weight 5 lbs. This unit you can not bend in half, unless you put it between cinderblocks and stand on it. Easy to set up.
I have come to love cast iron, lead sled, old fashioned, micro adjutable machinery. This is none of that, but it more than adequately does the job. It is made from formed sheet steel-painted. You can fine set it manually. By measuring off the trailing edge of the workpiece-touching the blade, you can get an exact setting. It comes with a measuring indicator, and that indicator leaves a little room for adjustment when tightening it down.
I was curious if the tapering jigs had a stop block on the workpiece side, and sure enough it does. This unit is reversible for both left and right tilt saws. It is designed to work with radial arm saws as well.
The foremost factor in this unit is that it does the job adequately and is so cheap, that if you bought it just for the mounting handle, and sliding adjuster, and built your own out of wood and a hinge, it would be worth it. I will use the unit, just the way it is. If I was tapering legs for a living, I would be looking for cast iron lead sled.
Some things you need a high quality piece of equipment. Some things, it is not as radically neccessary to have the best.
Here are the essentials. The unit adjusts very easily, and the adjustment locks up very true, and will not creep a setting. The unit lays flat on the table, and will not create a rocking piece while cutting, especially if pressed down onto the table while cutting.
In conclusion: I don't know how much need I will have to make tapering legs, but for this kind of money, it is reassuring to know that I have the capability. I don't want to make the Vermont Tapering jig to be more than it is, but it is well made to do the job more than adequately.

Old woodworkers never die, they just disappear one piece at a time.

That is what may happen if you try to use this jig. It is flimsy, poorly engineered, and is quite dangerous. I envision personal injury plaintiff attorneys salivating like Pavlov's dog over this device. There is no means by which to hold the workpiece against the side of the jig, requiring the user to hold the workpiece with the other hand. This places that hand in close proximity to the saw blade. A better design would have been to provide a flange beneath the workpiece and an adjustable toggle clamp on top to press the workpiece firmly in place. The user could then keep his/her hands on the handle and away from the blade. I attached a piece of 1/4" masonite to the bottom of mine to provide a flange, and added a much-needed toggle clamp.

The jig is flimsy, and twists easily, causing uneven cuts. One must take particular care not to apply torsional pressure to it while cutting. The jig could have been made more robust. In fact, a good glass-filled plastic or polycarbonate design would have been more stable than the extruded aluminum.

Do yourself a favor and make your own out of a couple 2x2s, some masonite board and a hinge.

Cheers.

What can I say about a product supposedly made of steel that quite literally breaks in half when taken out of its box?

I was going to use for the first time and was ready to asemble it, when I noticed that the two large sides sides had separated. It turns out the "metal" hinge between them had snapped right down the middle. The exposed surfaces had the texture of broken chalk and, obviously, this thing is just as brittle. Since I didn't exert any force on this thing and since I didn't hear any popping or cracking sound. I can only assume that it was package broken. I'm getting my money back.