Problem with Incra Miter Gauge

[Joe Beaulieu]

I have the Incra 1000 miter gauge which I use on my Sawstop Pro table saw. It's a fine gauge. I have a sacrificial fence added to it for additional support. The problem I have is on any stock wider than about 12" or so. When I pull the gauge back to allow the stock to fit between the fence and the blade on a 90 degree cut the left hand side of the gauge, which extends out to my left about 18" or so, falls off the table towards the rails for the saw rip fence. It is very difficult with one hand to hold the stock to the gauge and then lift the cross member up again to get it back on the table. Am I explaining this well enough? The gauge twists in the slot and the weight of the cross member causes it to fall well below the surface of the table. It is really a dangerous and very annoying issue. Anyone have a similar experience, and if so, any ideas for a solution? Thanks folks.

BTW - I imagine I will be told to use a cross cut sled. This issue occurs with dados and rabbets. I am building a case and was dadoing the shelves into the sides today. The case is 13 " wide and that meant every time I pulled the gauge back to fit the stock into it it would fall. I have a sled for cross cuts.

Thanks.

JB

[dan petroski]

I have the Incra 1000 miter gauge which I use on my Sawstop Pro table saw. It's a fine gauge. I have a sacrificial fence added to it for additional support. The problem I have is on any stock wider than about 12" or so. When I pull the gauge back to allow the stock to fit between the fence and the blade on a 90 degree cut the left hand side of the gauge, which extends out to my left about 18" or so, falls off the table towards the rails for the saw rip fence. It is very difficult with one hand to hold the stock to the gauge and then lift the cross member up again to get it back on the table. Am I explaining this well enough? The gauge twists in the slot and the weight of the cross member causes it to fall well below the surface of the table. It is really a dangerous and very annoying issue. Anyone have a similar experience, and if so, any ideas for a solution? Thanks folks.

BTW - I imagine I will be told to use a cross cut sled. This issue occurs with dados and rabbets. I am building a case and was dadoing the shelves into the sides today. The case is 13 " wide and that meant every time I pulled the gauge back to fit the stock into it it would fall. I have a sled for cross cuts.

Thanks.

JB

turn your miter gauge around 180 and put a spring clamp on your extension snug to your stock and "pull" your wider stock through. spring clamp keeps your gauge extension from dropping down. this works up to a point so don't crowd it. dan

[Prashun Patel]

I have a PCS and an Incra gauge and have the exact same issue. And yes, I use a sled for wide things. Even if the gauge runner were super long, the bigger issue for me is that the weight of a wide piece causes it to hang over the front of the saw. I am at odds between bearing down on the front edge of the piece to provide stability or to provide weight on the rear of the piece to keep it registered to the fence.

Therefore, for things wider than 12", I like to use a reverse sled with the fence on the leading edge of the cut. The Incra gauge is best for short width crosscuts or angled cuts that allow more of the mass of the gauge to be over the saw.

[glenn bradley]

I too use a sled for larger crosscuts although I employ this for your situation and for my larger sled. Your problem is not specific to any particular gauge and I have never really cared fort he little "T" attachment at the end of the bar to supposedly keep the gauge from falling when pulled back too far.

327869 . 327870 . 327871

This one happens to fit between the miter slot travel paths but, you could make a wider one and route a miter slot into it. This would provide better support if you wanted it specifically for miter gauge use.

[Curt Harms]

One of the benefits of using a router and jig to cut dados. 13" is a decent width, would you be comfortable using the fence even though you're putting the 'short' end against the fence?

[Cary Falk]

I agree that a router would be easier to use for dados on your book case. The Incra Miter Express is your solution the miter gauge problem:
http://www.incra.com/miter_gauges-miter_express.html

[Jon Nuckles]

Even with a Kreg miter gauge, which gives a bit more room than the Incra, I still have the same issue. I use a sled where I can, but have been thinking of making an infeed support for the miter gauge. I much prefer using a relatively quiet table saw with good dust collection over using a router whenever possible.

[Ben Rivel]

Yea I think infeed support is definitely the solution to this issue. Or use a SCMS when you can. Though that wouldnt help with non-through cuts and is a lot messier.

[joseph dake]

I use am Irwin spring clamp to keep the board level with the table as long as it is longer the the 18 inches to the left I have had no problems with it yet.