Miter Saw Fence and Kreg Stops

[Michael Zerance]

I am in the middle of building a mobile miter saw station to replace my current built-in system. I would like to add a scale and stop to the fence. I have two extra 4' lengths of Kreg track that I could use but I have a few concerns with using their stops.

It appears that the indicator does not line up with the edge of the stop. If that is correct, then the scale would be useless for lining up one-off pieces by eye. Is that how they are? Also, the reviews state that the flip stop has some play in it. Has anyone else noticed that?

I think I would prefer just a table mounted scale, close to the fence with a more solid flip stop like the peachtree one. That would allow me to line up pieces with the scale without having to use the stop. Peachtree also has the 8' one-piece track for a decent price. Any thoughts on these?

One of the ideas I was playing around with was to make the fence low, maybe about 3/4" high to work with the Woodpeckers drill press fence flip stops. I don't really see the benefit of having the high fence. The low fence would also allow me to easily raise long curved boards over top of it by sliding a scrap of 3/4" under the material right at the blade.

The main table is 8' long and the work surface wings will extend 2' on either side of that. I am thinking 7' to the left of the blade and 5' to the right.

Any input would be appreciated.

[Randy Henry]

I did what this guy did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTChfAd_Q5M. However, I bought a lot cheaper t-track from Orange Aluminum. I was skeptical at first that the t-track would be decent quality, but at $8.00 for 4 ft., I figured I would try it. It is an excellent product, with fast shipping. I made the stop block like in the link, but I also use my Rockler flip stop that I use off my drill press fence. Works great and very stout. I read the reviews on the Kreg flip stop and it seems people complain that there is too much slop in it. The Rockler one is firm, no slop. I don't think it would take people slamming wood into it all day, but I'm the only one that uses it, so it will work just fine. I considered the Kreg system, but for what you get (only 8 ft. of track) and stops that I made or already had, I couldn't justify the cost. I ended up buying 6 pieces of t-track from Orange Aluminum for less than $60 including shipping. I got the Sterrett tape scale from Amazon.

[Harvey Miller]

I went with the Kreg production stop for that reason with no regrets. It's beefy, solid and quick to clamp to the fence (or unclamp). As to the scale you're correct. If your eyes are ok you could read directly off the side of the production stop, and do away with the magnified cursor (no offset error), or just add a direct reading tape to the front of the fence....

[glenn bradley]

The requirement of your stop block will vary with the material you are cutting. Folks cutting 2x6's need something that can take the occasional accidental, but serious, whack. The rest of us can use things with a little more elegance (and I use that word with some reserve :)).

Shop made has proven the best solution for me:

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Add cursors, tick marks or whatever you require.

[Jon Nuckles]

If the t-track and stops you are looking at are the same as those on the Kreg miter gauge, it is true that the tape lines up with a magnified cursor and not with the edge of the stop, so you cannot use the tape to "eyeball" a cut. The stops work well and without slop for the size of stock one typically cuts with a miter gauge. I think they'd be ok to cut most things on a miter saw, but I might be worried about damaging them with some of the big pieces I rough cut at the miter saw (like 10/4 x 8" x 12' that is not easy to gently slide into a stop).

[Martin Wasner]

I wish the Biesmeyer fence and stop was still being produced. That was a simple and relatively inexpensive setup that was good enough.

[sebastian phillips]

Hi Michael, not sure exactly how/where you are going to use your setup, but the Sawhelper system I linked is the best setup I have used for a combination shop and install setup. It breaks down and sets up in a few minutes, and always goes back together with the same index. There are provisions for two tape scales (one for the flip stop, and one for lining up by eye). It can be moved from room to room, or site to shop easily.
I realize it's out of production, but if mine went missing, I would be hunting e-bay/craigslist.
I would want minimum 8' to the left for 7' casing legs cut to a stop.
Good Luck, Seb
http://www.amazon.com/SawHELPER-UltraFence-U88-Slider-Tables/dp/B00070B6MO

[Peter Aeschliman]

I have the Kreg system with their flip stop. Yeah, the stop does have more play than I would like. It's one of the small things in my shop that I don't hate, but wouldn't buy again.

I do like the flip stop idea though, because you can set the stop, slide your workpiece under the stop so that the stop is out of the way, make a cut to square one end of the board, flip it end for end, and make your dimensioning cut using the stop.

But it's that flipping action that adds complication, which introduces the play. Surely they could make it beefier though.

For the stop like the one in the Jay Bates video linked above, if you have lots of identical pieces to cut, you just need to square up one end of the workpieces (and mark them well so that you remember which end still needs to be cut) before you set your stop. No biggie. Just takes a smidge more foresight.

[Michael Zerance]

Thanks fellas.

I ordered the Woodpeckers steel stops so that I can keep the fence low. I am going to try to use them on the Kreg track that I have. The entire fence will be repositionable and removeable so if the low fence doesn't work out I can make a new one.

Here's the finished main table sitting in front of the built-in station that it will be replacing. It's made entirely from left-over material from various projects.

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[Ben Rivel]

I just started looking at Woodpeckers offerings. Did you see these: LINK (http://www.woodpeck.com/supertrackflipstop.html)?

[Michael Zerance]

I just started looking at Woodpeckers offerings. Did you see these: LINK (http://www.woodpeck.com/supertrackflipstop.html)?

I saw those but I want to keep the fence low. I got these: http://www.woodpeck.com/ssflipstop.html#2922

[Marc Burt]

Mind if I ask why you're trying to keep the fence so low?

[Michael Zerance]

Mind if I ask why you're trying to keep the fence so low?

I've been using my built-in setup with a 5" tall fence for a couple years now. Sometimes, when cutting long pieces, a slight bow in the piece would prevent me from setting the piece tight against the saw's fence. Sometimes the piece could be flipped but sometimes not. To get around this I would have to pull the saw forward and then realign it after the piece was cut. It ended up being such a common occurrence that I just left the saw forward of the fence extension by about an 1/8". This made me wonder why I needed a fence extension at all.

I decided that the only function I need from the fence extension is the ability to align pieces to a stop and I only need a fence high enough to hold the flip stops. If I do have a bowed piece, I can just slip a scrap piece of 3/4" material underneath and let the bowed end ride over top of the fence.

The low fence will also provide for easier access to the main table area behind the fence extensions.

Of course, this is all theory. I'll be making the fence independent from the work table so that I can easily rebuild and replace it later, if need be. As of now, I am not even sure that the Woodpecker's flip stops will work as they were designed for a drill press table. We'll see how it goes.

[Michael Zerance]

I finished my miter saw table and figured I would post an update.

I used the Woodpecker flip stops. They are small, rock solid, accurate, and have zero slop. I had to grind the edge of the flip stop wing a little to fit over the profile of the Kreg top track (these stops were made for a Woodpecker's drill press table).

The fence is removable and can be re-positioned if needed. The work surface is a separate piece that can be removed and replaced as needed.

There is a little over 8' supported to the left of the blade and about 5' to the right (plus the 2' of table surface from the pocket cutter which sits at the same height). I have room to cut about 11' to the right and about 16'.

While I was at it, I added the DeWalt XPS LED light to the saw. It works great.

The low fence seems to work really well. It is easier to position the work piece and hold it tight against the saws fence; I can grip the piece from the top with my hand wrapped around it rather than having to push it tight to the fence and table with my finger tips. The low fence also gives me clearance to use the included material clamp and although I've never used it, I am sure that I will (on select cuts) now that it is readily accessible.

Another bonus, unexpected, is that the Kreg top track has a slight bevel inwards at the bottom. This prevents sawdust from getting caught between the work piece and the fence. The only issue would be for cutting thin material like 1/4" plywood but I use the saw's fence for alignment anyway.

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