Man, that stubborn streak runs deep in this trade. I watched a guy in Fresno lose his crew because he refused to touch anything but dog-eared cedar, swore the new composite stuff was a fad. Two years later half his old customers had gone to the guys who would actually build what people were asking for. The market doesn't care what you think looks cheap, it just walks down the street to whoever says yes.

Is saving 40 minutes on a set of stairs really that big a deal when you still gotta cut and fit every tread anyway? I get that the templates give you repeatable cuts, but you said yourself you were only chasing an 1/8 inch gap before. That sounds more like a skill issue than a tool issue if we are being honest. A framing square costs 12 bucks and fits in your pouch, meanwhile now you got plywood templates cluttering up the truck that only work for one rise and run combo. Sounds like you traded a small problem for a bigger one the first time a job calls for 7 1/4 or an 11 inch tread.