Got some Christmas money to spend-- Help Me

[John Terefenko]

I was thinking of buying this for a few years now and I think I am going to take the plunge. I am looking at an accurate miter guage and keep hearing good things about the Incra line in particular the #5000. I would like to hear comments about this or if there are better options and maybe a link or photo of some sort.

I have a 10" Delta contractors saw that is about 30 years old. It is a good saw and serves me well. Would a Incra miter guage be something that can be used on this saw. Does it have to be zeroed in somehow to my saw and is it easy to do. Thanks in advance for the replys.

[Nick Decker]

If your saw has a standard 3/4 x 3/8" miter slot, the Incra gauge will work fine. Very simple to calibrate/square it to your saw's blade.

[Paul Richard]

Hi John,

I think I have the same setup as you do. I have a 30 yr old Delta contractor saw and I added a new Vega fence and an Incra miter gauge about 5 years ago. It effectively turned the saw into a much more accurate and efficient tool. I highly recommend both to freshen your saw, plus if you upgrade the saw at a later date you can typically move both to a new saw.

I also added dust collection to my saw, which really helped with mess. It's still dusty, but it helped a bunch. Have you done that yet?

Regards,
Paul

[Rich Riddle]

You will like the Incra as it comes out on top of the people's choice reviews. Another Fine Woodworking rated higher was the JDS Accru-miter.

[John Terefenko]

Hi John,

I think I have the same setup as you do. I have a 30 yr old Delta contractor saw and I added a new Vega fence and an Incra miter gauge about 5 years ago. It effectively turned the saw into a much more accurate and efficient tool. I highly recommend both to freshen your saw, plus if you upgrade the saw at a later date you can typically move both to a new saw.

I also added dust collection to my saw, which really helped with mess. It's still dusty, but it helped a bunch. Have you done that yet?

Regards,
Paul

Yes Paul I have the Vega fence on it for many years now along with dust collector system. I also use the Dubby jigs and have an extension fence on the miter gauge. I use a digital angle finder to get my angles now. But I thought something like this would be a nice fit for exactness and quickness. Have a woodworking show coming in Feb so trying to do some homework in case I pull the trigger on it. Thanks.

[Bill Adamsen]

You can make a jig out of baltic birch and a strip of hard maple that will be just as effective. Use the money to buy wood for a project.

[Jim Dwight]

I like my Osborne gauge. Worth considering. It's very easy to adjust to a specific angle and comes with a flip up stop.

[Robert Parent]

I bought one of the Kreg models a couple years back, but honestly used it maybe twice. It works fine, just have not used it and currently is hiding in a pile of dust.

I would give thought to making a nice sliding sled rather than a fancy miter gauge. Not sure that it would be used, but likely could not be used any less. I believe they all have to be adjusted a little for each saw.

Robert

[Cary Falk]

I had a sled and hated it. It was big, heavy and not as accurate as I wanted. I now have an Incra 1000HD and a Miter Express. I love it. One sled and any angle I want accurately. It tucks away under my table saw wing. I anc only imagine that the 5000 would be as great. I have Jessem Mast-R-Slide for the bigger stuff.

[Nick Decker]

Cary, I use the same combo and love it. Mine hangs on a very sturdy peg board when not in use.