Incra LS Positioner - but what size?

[Jim Leslie]

I am considering adding the LS positioner for my router table. I have a Jessem router lift already installed and the Incra will replace the MDF fence I am using now. But the big question: what size to buy; 17" or 25" ?? The price difference is minimal, but mounting the 25" may be a pain due to my layout. Has anyone any comments on which to get? Anyone bought the 17" and had a need for 25" or vice versa? Why would 25" ever be needed? I'm looking to use it for box making, making moulding, etc. I'd hate to get the 17" and then find 6 months from now a use for the extra inches..

[Thomas L. Miller]

Jim,
I put the 17" LS setup on a Rockler/Jessem table lift combination. It works fine. I had to add an extension and the 17" was about all the space I wanted to dedicate to it. So far, it's worked great and I haven't felt the need for a bigger setup.

[Don Bullock]

Jim, it really depends on what you plan to make using the fence, your budget and space available. I only plan to use mine for drawers and boxes, my budget is limited and so is my space so I bought the INCRA Ultra Lite Fence System (12.5" Range). If you're planning on using the fence for joints on large projects like chests you would need the 25" system. Just remember that with the INCRA systems you need the length of the positioner behind your table to be able to use the full capability of the system.

I saw an instillation in one shop where the guy actually had to cut a whole in his exterior wall to fully extend the positioner on his router table. While it was an extreme situation the job he did looked great and worked for him.

[Jerome Hanby]

Bigger is better. If you are using the templates for doing joinerythen you can dovetail a two foot tall blanket chest (for example) without having to work out how to measure from both ends.

[Mark Carlson]

I went with the 17 LS and would get that again. Trying to do a 24in blanket chest size board with the incra is not something I've ever contemplated.

~mark

[ian maybury]

Against that I went for 25in positioner and the joinery system. On the basis that while I might not need all the travel that it was less risky (given my uncertainty regarding the sort of work I might end up asking it to handle) to have it than not.

I figured too that if I was ever going to sell it on that a 25in positioner might be more attractive to somebody who might also want to use it as a rip fence on a table saw.

Cost and space (both router table size and room for the positioner overhang) seemed to me to be the two basic considerations, and the cost difference is minimal.

Another point to think about is that the largest Incra router table (a 27x43) allows 19in of travel with the 25in unit - unless you add some sort of extension to enable the mounting bracket to overhang the edge of the table. .

Ian

[David Giles]

I used a 32" Incra LS to build an 18" deep chest at one point. I won't do it again. Routing those dovetails with a 3ft high board on end was enough to make me appreciate the simplicity of a dedicated dovetail jig. I would vote for 17" being a perfectly adequate size.

[Jim Leslie]

Thanks everybody for the responses and thoughts. I am tending now to go with the 17". I know it's only about $20 less, but the reason David and Mark mentions re: routing a 3ft high board on end, is not something I'd like to try. I do have a space issue with my router table, and 17" is a better fit all things considered.