Mitre gauges--Incra and Jessem..

[Phil Winn]

Incra TSLS has been ordered, now looking at a Mitre Gauges...I have played with a few, seems that the Incra 300SE, and the Jessem mitre gauge seemed to catch my eye. I read a few reviews including FWW 10/03 and American Woodworker 8/00, which were a bit harsh on the Incra mitre gauges...the Jessem is relatively new....any thoughts?

I do own the Jessem router table set-up...and now/soon the Incra TS--and find
that both companies make high-quality products.
Thanks,
Phil

[Jim Becker]

JessEm doesn't "underengineer" anything. While I haven't seen their miter guage, I don't doubt it's a good quality project. I have the Incra 1000SE and it's a nice tool, but it does have a rather light-weight construction if you're prone to "throwing these things around". (Not recommended for any of them, of course...)

My real favorite was the BenchDog which went off the market before I could snap one up. THAT was a wonderful project, albeit expensive...

[Bob Johnson2]

I just rx'ed the Jessem yesterday, it feels and looks very well built and seems to be accurate with no play anywhere in it, keep in mind I've had very limited use of it yet. The only adj I don't see is getting the fence 90 degrees to the table top, going to try shimming it a bit this weekend as it's off a bit. Can tell you more after the weekend if your interested. It only does 45 thru 45, as opposed to the 90-90 that some do if that matters to you. It's $179 on special as opposed to the normal $219.

[Michael Pfau]

[Phil, I am in the same boat, shopping for one of the two you have talked about. A few years ago I bought the Rockler guage, and its a piece of work. I am about to toss it out. Let me know what you find out on these guages.

[Larry Norton]

I have the Incra 1000, and I have a JessEm Router Lift FX. After seeing and using the quality of the JessEm, I'm seriously considering buying the JessEm miter gauge and relegating the Incra to the pile of tools I'm going to sell one of these days.

[Mike Hedges]

I have the Jessem ,heavy ,well built , works like a charm. Well worth the money ... excellent feel, easy to adjust great tools..

[Tony Falotico]

I have the Incra v27 and the JDS Accu-miter. The Incra is lightweight, I grab it for smaller pieces and quick cuts, great miter gauge and very accurate. But, as Jim stated above, it's lightweight. When dealing with bigger, heavier pieces, or when I want to use the stop for accuracy or repeatability, down comes the JDS Accu-miter. Heavy, solid, well built, steady and dead on accurate. I use the JDS more often than the Incra.

So in answer to your question, if you just do small quick cuts (like picture frames) go for the lightweight Incra, But if your looking for a workhorse, go for something heavier and solid.