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The Milescraft 1206 doesn't cost much money however, it is not worth the money. It is cheaply made to resemble something that might work. I have been a wood shop teacher for 20 years and used many jigs for wood working. This one did not even get one sign made.
when I got the unit I was surprized to say the least. and have been happy 99% of the time. I found holes that 'about' fit. I did some research via the internet on getting a new sign making template set.
after 5 letters the plastic template guide melted ( I was cutting into cedar with the new bit that was in the package). and what I saw from Craftsman was what looked the same as what I bought "MILESCRAFT 1206". since I am retired and on a fixed income and have to watch my $$ I bought this unit from Amazon and saved $20 from SEARS price. I have used Craftsman since the mid 1960's. as well as a few hours of design and driving to store time I did distroy the 2 plastic template bushings as well as add holes to the plate and cut the metal letter template rails. after solving that , I went to put the new base plate on my Craftsman route.
a bit of enlarged holes made the fit. then the thickness of the base made the router bit only make a cut of less the 1/8 inch.
so I am not even trying to return the MILESCRAFT 1206 SignCrafter kit.it is all my bad.and I should have listened to the bad reviews on the unit. and yes I have broken Craftsman tools and received new replacements with out question.
so far all I can use is the $10 worth of letter templates.I also have spent another $45 in buying stock lexan to make a base plate and a small set of template bushing guides. nothing lined up as my old Craftsman set did(if my kids had not lost some letter templates I would still be using the set I bought in 1970) the templates are just fine.
the alighnment rack has very little adjustment and can NOT just do less then 18" of material. so my savings of $20 is long lost.
both here on Amazon and on Sears Craftsman web page.save Your money.Marty Harris.a woodworker for pleasure since 1954
I've had this device laying around for a couple years. Flimsy plastic parts, wobbly aluminum rail, no reasonable way to clamp things (I end up SCREWING the whole thing to my bench) and you need six hands to do some of it. If you can spend some time literally re-building it you can muddle your way through some nice signs. You will quickly learn that the basic concept is excellent but it all went downhill from there. Somewhere out there there's gotta be a better way to do this. If this basic device was made with care and good materials, even if it cost more, it would be a nice little toy.
WONDERFUL SIGN MAKING KIT,THE TURNLOCK BASE WILL FIT 99% OF ROUTERS,USE THIS BASE WITH ALL YOUR MILESCRAFT PRODUCTS,THE CLAMPS ARE GREAT JUST CLAMP AND GO WITHOUT CHANGING POSITION OF CLAMPS,I LOVE THIS ONE. 5 OUT OF 5
It takes some practice for sure.The lettering font is obviously very basic and not as nice as the wooden letters I'd found for templates. Anyway, as part of the design, I thought carving a name plate as a "faux" drawer front would make a nice addition. I'm not joking.With that said, I was really impressed with my find and eager to give it a go. Anyway, the system does work well though.In action the rail setup is flimsy and needs additional clamping for certain. I must admit that after two practice runs I have not completed a sign that is without flaws. I came across this kit in one of the Big box stores after resigning to the notion of not being able to do the nameplate. Unfortunately, none were of size that I needed.
Now, I was already familiar with the product and had considered buying it, but the cost wasn't justifiable taking into account that I really only needed it for this project (and already overbudget). Long story short, today I found this in the "Blue" box store for $10 on clearance. Well, I've been working on a chest of drawers for my son for longer than I'd like to admit. It was a fairly straightforward process.I will say I was impressed with the number of parts and extras that were included (router bit, extra letters, etc). The Turnlock system is pretty neat, but I don't like the idea of plastic bushings (my router came with brass ones). Once everything is secured, it works. However, truth be told, it gets the job done with modest modification and a bit of practice. Wooden letters to spell out my son's name cost nearly as much from the box Hobby store.If I'd spent the full price for this set, I'd be dissappointed.
Well, I decided wooden letters would make a cheap and easy template. So a drawback is definitely the limitation of fonts with this system. I got home and started assembly. I really only used the directions to check orientation of the rails and a few other tasks. Again, for basic signs it gets it done.I would prefer a better system if woodworking/signmaking were my bread and butter; but for the occassional forray into signmaking and for the price I paid for this kit ($10), it was well worth it.
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