Crosscut sled vs Incra Miter1000 for cutting miters joints for boxes

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

So I have been building a lot of small boxes (jewelry, keepsake, etc) lately and have been doing miter corners for the boxes

I build a crosscut sled for the 45 miters, but it is a bit of a pain-e.g. taking it on and off, etc.

I have looking at the Incra Miter1000 and have been wondering about using it instead.

Does anyone have any experience using it to cut miters for boxes? (not for picture frames, but for the corners for the boxes)

The sled is nice because it is a sled, so the work piece rides on the sled whereas with the Incra there is the friction between the table and the work piece. I am worried that as I am cutting longer piece, so 6 or 8 inches, the board will shift during the cut and my miter will be out.

[Cary Falk]

I have the Incra 1000HD and love it. I also have a Miter express for a sled. That being said for box sides I have the blade tilted at 45 and the box flat and at 90 degrees. Am I missing something? Are your box sides less than 3.5" tall? I find that trying to do this with the box side upright any slight rocking of the part throws off the miter.

[Nick Decker]

Todd,

I struggled with cutting miters on box sides for a long time. The Incra Miter Express gives the advantage of using hold down clamps during the cut, as the angle of the saw blade at 45 degrees wants to pull the piece as it cuts.

That said, I've gone to using a 45 degree chamfer bit and my router table for the mitered cuts. Of course, that means very careful set up as well as a coping sled for the router table, but the miters are dead nuts 45 degrees and very cleanly cut.

I should add that my jobsite table saw is probably a limitation, accuracy-wise.

[Prashun Patel]

I have an INCRA miter1000se. It's very accurate for angled and straight cuts. For box bevels you will have an issue of still having to set up the blade @ 45 degree bevel. The INCRA will push it straight through and the stop will prevent the piece from pushing away from the blade. However, the fence is aluminum, so you'll have to set up an auxiliary fence so the blade won't touch and ruin itself. The bottom side of the cut will also require ZCI to prevent tearout.

Personally, I prefer a sled here (so I'd also get the miter express).

Another option to improve the accuracy of your boxes is to make and learn to use an angled shooting board to be used with an appropriate hand plane on it's side.