Mantis & Mini-Mantis

Innovative Engineering and Business Solutions

 

Mantis Photos
Mini Mantis Photos



Mantis and Mini-Manti Products.

Overview:

Almost all woodworking equipment has a "supportive reference surface" that supports the wood as it is cut or shaped. The cutting tool on this equipment is then elevated to some height relative to this "supportive reference surface". As an example, the supportive reference surface for a table saw is the tabletop and we raise and lower the blade to make cuts. Likewise the supportive reference surface for a router is the base plate of the router, and we raise and lower the cutter relative to the base plate.

When setting the depth of cut on woodworking equipment, craftsmen spend a lot of time adjusting cutter height and measuring test cuts until the desired cutting depth is achieved. Often this is done with a pocket scale or some of the other product most of which are not very accurate. The procedure is often frustrating because getting the correct cutting depth is often difficult to achieve. Additionally, if you get to the end of a project and have to go back and remake a piece that didn’t turn out correctly, it is always more difficult to reproduce the earlier setup.

The Mantis  and the Mini-Mantis provide a very simple solution to accurate and repeatable depth of cut setting on common woodworking tools. The Mantis design provides a way to use a precision dial indicator to dynamically monitor the elevation of a cutting tool above the supportive reference surface of common woodworking tools.

The Mantis is a triangular plate with a set of tapped holes, which are machined perpendicular to the machined face of the plate and accept 3 fixed length legs in a triangular pattern. The Mantis has machined bosses for holding a SHAN ™ precision dial indicator so that it is perpendicular to the plane of the Mantis Plate. Screwing 3 equal length support legs, one into each of three angular axes, the Mantis assembly is placed on a flat reference surface and the dial indicator is zeroed. The Mantis assembly can then be placed on the woodworking tool so that the Anvil of the dial indicator sits on the cutting tip of the tool. The spring loaded dial indicator will then follow the cutter as the elevation is changed and finally locked down. This allows you to dynamically monitor the height of the tool cutter as you adjust it and provides precise setting of the depth of cut for fine woodworking.

Mantis Features

Measures precise elevation of cutters from 0-3" 
Works on table saws, routers, shapers, router tables, jointers
Measures elevation of tilted table saw blades
Uses a  SHAN ™ 512-168, 2" precision dial Indicator

Mini-Mantis Features

Measures precise elevation of  un-tilted table saws from 0-1" .
Measures precise tool elevations on table saws, routers, and router tables from 9-1"
Uses a SHAN ™ 512-166, 1" precision dial Indicator

 

Pricing

Product Price
Mantis $79.95+SH
Mini-Mantis $59.95+SH
Metric Mantis $89.95+SH
Metric Mini-Mantis $69.95+SH

 

 

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