Any Sawstop owners who've installed the Incra LS TS positioner

[Johnny Barr]

I'm interested in installing the incra LSTS positioner on my Sawstop. I know there is a long wait at the moment due to demand but I'm keen to hear from people who have changed their fence to the Incra. It has features that appeal to me and they way I work including a more accurate way of sneaking up on a cut without tapping the fence.
So a few questions.....
Is it easy to install on a Sawtop? Any tips?
Did you support the end rails with legs? If not do the Incra rails sag without that support.
Are you happy with it?

[George Yetka]

I had originally wanted to do this but after a while of using the SS fence I found I liked it and the results were good.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Have an Incra LSTS on my Sawstop for about 2-3 years. Love it.

I like the ability to go to a specific setting, minutes, weeks, etc. after making a previous cut.

I find it to be very accurate, the fence, being an extrusion, makes attaching sub fences very easy.

I initially went with the imperial version, but in 2020, converted it to metric. Having multiple fence rulers, still allows me to have a secondary ruler that I can rough reference back to imperial.

The fine adjust works well, and again, is very repeatable.

I have mine setup with the router table in the right end of the saw. It's relatively easy to flip the fence around, 180 degrees, to use it as the router fence. The fence has positive registration stops for quick alignment in both router and saw positions.

You do have to clamp the fence down at the front edge before making a cut, but that becomes second nature after a bit of use.

I have no regrets. They also gave me the long lead time, but it arrived in about 3 weeks.

[Brad Rucker]

I put on an Incra LSTS on my Sawstop about 18 months ago. My only regret is that I didn't do it years and years ago.

I used to have to batch parts together and cut everything that was the same width all at once. Lord help me if I messed up a part later and had to redo it - it was never the exact same width as the others. The LSTS solved that for me. Now I can cut the parts I want - when I want. And repeatability is never an issue. The LSTS dials in in 1/1000th increments and is very easy to adjust. Also, it's easy to take on and off my saw when I need to do a really long cross cut.

I bought the Incra support legs and they work great. I have a right hand side extension table on my Sawstop, so I just replaced the Sawstop legs with the Incra legs.

If I remember correctly, it took me about 4 hours to take off the Sawstop rails and put the Incra LSTS on and dial it in. Part of that time was disconnecting my outfeed table and moving it out of the way.

I liked the Incra setup so well that I bought their router table product and built a new router table for it.

I wouldn't go back to the Sawstop fence.

Hope this helps.

[Johnny Barr]

It certainly does help, Brad and Chris. Thanks! I was concerned with the amount of extra room needed on the RS of the saw to allow for movement of the arm. Not great in a small workshop, in fact at the moment the RS of my saw is against a wall but it wouldn't be difficult with a simple rearrangement. I was also concerned with the amount of rail that's unsupported and the possibility of sag so the use of legs would solve that. Brad wouldn't it be possible to use the Sawstop legs with the Incra rails?
Chris, I've watched most videos on the LSTS and many don't clamp the fence down using the front edge clamp they just use the main clamp. Is it absolutely necessary?
Also how much rip distance do you loose? At the moment I can get about 33/34" (860mm)

[ChrisA Edwards]

Where the LSTS Clamps is a long way away from the blade. Without the front clamp, I can get about an 1/8" of movement at the fence. Sometimes I forget to clamp it and it rarely messes up my piece, but when clamped, it's rock solid.

There is no flex in the LSTS arm. It mounts center on the fence and the fence ends ride on the front and rear rails respectively. The kit comes with the adjustable front screw clamp and an allen bolt for the rear clamp. I bought an extra adjustable clamp and also use that on the rear.

The front fence clamp is about the only thing I think Incra could have designed better. It works, but only has a small edge that rides under part of the fence extrusion and is held in place by being spring loaded. It pops out of position occasionally, not when clamped, but when moving the position of the fence, and you just have to fiddle to get it back in place. Just a minor nit pick.

[Brad Rucker]

I don't know about the Sawstop legs and the Incra rails. I didn't try it since the extra expense (as I remember it) for the Incra feet was pretty minimal (maybe $65?).

ChrisA is absolutely right about the Incra fence front clamp. I didn't use it much at all until I started cutting 2" thick hard maple and found out the hard way that it moves under pressure. Now, admittedly, cutting 2" maple it was a LOT of pressure. I, too, now lock my front fence clamp down for anything of any size.

ChrisA - great idea about getting the extra front clamp and using it on the rear. I'm going to look into doing that. Thanks!

[Christopher Charles]

Hi Johnny,

i had the TSLS for about a dozen years and liked it a lot. However, I sold it when I got a SS because it is a space hog. And because I almost never need to index for a specific dimension. Would have kept it if my space was larger (I have about 400 sq ft).

[Jim Barstow]

Had one for about 12 years and cannot imagine life without it. Calibrating it to be parallel to the blade is a little tedious but I don’t have to do it very often. You definitely need to lock it down to the front rail after positioning but that becomes second nature.

[Johnny Barr]

Just ordered from a local supplier thanks to all your comments. They ordered these last November so it should arrive fairly soon. I also ordered the legs even though they said I didn't need them.

One last question .... what did you do with Sawstop's extension table? It obviously has to be removed to install the Incra rails. I noticed in the Incra manual it shows how to add your own extension table, is that what you guys did or did you reattach Sawstop's table or just leave it open?

[ChrisA Edwards]

I ordered the router table and installed that, along with the Incra legs

[Christopher Charles]

Glad to hear your's will arrive in a reasonable time frame and I don't think you'll be disappointed, it is a nice piece of kit. If I had the room, i'd have followed Chris' path and order the router table.

Best,
Chris

[Pat Rice]

When I purchased my SawStop ICS several years ago, you could buy the ICS without a fence which was great for me as I ordered the Incra fence for it.
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[Greg Parrish]

Is there a way to use the sawstop outfeed table and floating over blade dust tube with the incra setup? Just finished watching a few video's and I'm really liking it but wonder if those items would be still functional.

[Johnny Barr]

Great pics Pat, thank you. Interesting you placed one of the Incra brackets on either side of the extension table and used the Sawstop legs. Great idea. That answers my question from above.
Is that the 32" or 52" version? Looks like 52"

[Johnny Barr]

One statistic I couldn't find in the manual or on Incra's web site was the length of the arm. Can someone tell me the distance from the front of the fence to the end of the arm on the 32" version of the LSTS, not the carriage.

I have to move my saw as the right end is against a wall and I'm trying to figure out how far to move it. I know the rails can be in different positions relative to the surface of the Saw. Not everyone has their rails in the same place and not everyone has the carriage in the same place so knowing the arm distance allows me to work it out more accurately from there.

[ChrisA Edwards]

From the front of the fence to the end of the rail is 43"

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i452/cedwards874/SawstopFenceLength.jpg

[Johnny Barr]

Thanks Chris, based on that I moved the saw a minimum 33" from the wall (I have a small shop) to give maximum rip but then again I've never ripped over 32" and in the rare event I needed too then I guess I could lift off the positioner and clamp a straight edge or just use a circular saw. Now all I need is to have have it delivered :rolleyes:

[Johnny Barr]

Greg, I currently have an outfeed table which is bolted to the sawstop rails but given the Incra rails are an extrusion with spare T tracks I would think installing a folding or not folding outfeed table would be easy. I have a couple of those auto locking shelf brackets which I can mount to a board which is mounted to the rails.
Anyone else mounted an outfeed table to the Incra rails?

[Clint Baxter]

My outfeed table is mounted to my Incra rails. The table rests atop a couple pieces of aluminum angle that are fastened to the vertical face of the Incra rail. I sourced weld nuts and short bolts from Fastenal, to allow the pieces of angle to fasten to the slot in the Incra rail.

My table saw sits on a "made to size pallet" so I can use my pallet jack to move it around. I use a couple support arms that angle up from the pallet to the far edge of the outfield table for support.

Let me know if you'd like pictures. I would have grabbed a couple for this post, but didn't feel like wandering out to the shop through the spring blizzard we're currently in the middle of, LOL.

HTH, Clint

[Johnny Barr]

Let me know if you'd like pictures.

HTH, Clint

Yes please Clint, allowing for the weather of course