Jessem Mite-R-Excel II - Questions About How Well it Works Compared to Incra

[Mike Shields]

I've got an Incra 1000 miter gauge, and have struggled with (at least) 3 characteristics, that have me considering a replacement. For those that have the Jessem Mite-R-Excel II, can you answer these questions:

- what is used to set the fence stop to the scale? from the website pics, it (vaguely) shows what appears to be a black "tab", and I'm wondering is this accurate enough.
- does the flip stop deflect?
- do you use the micro adjuster? with the fence stop being infinitely adjustable (where the Incra uses the 32nd grooved thingy), why do you micro-adjust?

The WW did an vid comparison, but did not address all my concerns.

Thanks.

[Justin Rapp]

I was going back and forth between Incra (didn't even pick a model yet) and Jessem's miter gauge. I heard good things about both and have other Jessem and Incra products and felt Jessem is a notch above. So I ordered the Jessem. It hasn't arrived yet so I can't answer your questions from first hand experience with the produce in-hand.

[Michael Burnside]

- I don’t completely follow this question, but nothing on the gauge is “inaccurate” or flimsy.

- No, fixed or micro version both work great.

- I occasionally use it, but it’s pretty rare.

It’s very well made and does the job well.

[Roger Feeley]

I have one of the original miter x cels and I see the same problem with the ME2. Jessem has two very nice knobs that holds the aluminum extrusion. The problem is that there’s no easy visual indication that the extrusion is securely attached. I learned this the hard way. I was hogging out a half lap using a stacked dado set. As I moved the wood over for the repeated cuts, I didn’t realize that I was also moving the extrusion. Did I mention that I was working on a SawStop? Yeah…. So I wrecked a stacked dado set. The nice Jessem knobs went in a drawer, replaced by two baby blue Rockler lever clamps. Now there’s no question that the extrusion is secure.

[Mike Shields]

- I don’t completely follow this question...

It appears from the only picture that actually shows this on the Jessem site, that the fence stop uses a black tab (not a fine red line like on table saw fences, or even an Incra TS-LS that uses a solid black line) to reference against the scale. How accurate is this tab to the scale? TWW recently made a video bashing the Jessem miter gauge because the indicator for zero was too far away and made determining the angle difficult. If there were at least one more pic on the Jessem site showing the black tab, it would answer my question, or was this purposely omitted?

I can't explain it anymore than that.

[Michael Burnside]

It appears from the only picture that actually shows this on the Jessem site, that the fence stop uses a black tab (not a fine red line like on table saw fences, or even an Incra TS-LS that uses a solid black line) to reference against the scale. How accurate is this tab to the scale? TWW recently made a video bashing the Jessem miter gauge because the indicator for zero was too far away and made determining the angle difficult. If there were at least one more pic on the Jessem site showing the black tab, it would answer my question, or was this purposely omitted?

I can't explain it anymore than that.

It's perfectly accurate. It wasn't even something I even considered a problem, nor do I understand Mark's comment on TWW. The "black tab" is part of the main assembly and floats maybe 1/32 above the scale itself. IMHO looking straight down yields little to no parallax compared to the red line on my SawStop, which I also find easy to find the desired dimension.

https://i.postimg.cc/MGGL43Fc/Jessem1.jpg


https://i.postimg.cc/5tkrM5hs/Jessem2.jpg

It is also very easy to "zero" the scale relative to your saw and the stop facilitates the use of 1/2" stock for a zero clearance setup, which I often use.

https://i.postimg.cc/BnpymfM9/Jessem3.jpg

[Justin Rapp]

Mine finally arrived yesterday. I put it together but didn't do the adjustments yet. However, at first impression without using it, it's a very fine made piece of equipment.

[George Yetka]

I have the Jessem and gave away my miter5000 once I got it and got it tuned. I havent used a 1000 but the 5000 took up so much space and I kept tripping over it. Like everything Jessem the quality was awesome

[Justin Rapp]

Well what do you know, something that is square and true right out of the box. I don't know why I didn't buy a better miter gauge a long time ago.

[Michael Burnside]

Yep, I didn't have to adjust mine for square either, though I check it periodically. Only thing I had to do was adjust the scale for my saw.

[Justin Rapp]

Yep, I didn't have to adjust mine for square either, though I check it periodically. Only thing I had to do was adjust the scale for my saw.

Even the scale was dead on to my blade :)

[Michael Burnside]

Hey, this is woodworking! We need NASA accuracy! Don't you know you're supposed to do the venerable "5 cut method" 25 times, measure length of cut with 0.0001" accuracy and absolutely sweat the squareness to 0.001 degrees with precision calipers?

Joking aside, good for you man, that's pretty lucky. I will say that each time I've checked for squareness with my "golden" square the Jessem is always dead on. I actually used it last weekend just to piss off my Kapex that doesn't get used very often.

[Justin Rapp]

Hey, this is woodworking! We need NASA accuracy! Don't you know you're supposed to do the venerable "5 cut method" 25 times, measure length of cut with 0.0001" accuracy and absolutely sweat the squareness to 0.001 degrees with precision calipers?

Joking aside, good for you man, that's pretty lucky. I will say that each time I've checked for squareness with my "golden" square the Jessem is always dead on. I actually used it last weekend just to piss off my Kapex that doesn't get used very often.

What is funny is I was just watching a woodworking show, well a few of them, and I think it was Tommy Mac from Rough Cut (if I remember right), said something about the human eye can detect a 0.001 gap in a joint. I guess that is why we have saw dust and glue to make filler :) But i try my best to be have accuracy as best I can.

[George Yetka]

Hey, this is woodworking! We need NASA accuracy! Don't you know you're supposed to do the venerable "5 cut method" 25 times, measure length of cut with 0.0001" accuracy and absolutely sweat the squareness to 0.001 degrees with precision calipers?

Joking aside, good for you man, that's pretty lucky. I will say that each time I've checked for squareness with my "golden" square the Jessem is always dead on. I actually used it last weekend just to piss off my Kapex that doesn't get used very often.

I did the 5 cut on mine and was a little off at the start. I redid it 15 times to get it perfect then realized i didnt get the microadjust I was supposed to get so I sent it back and reordered from jessem direct. And got the microadjust I paid for. the second one was dead on.

[Mike Shields]

Mike,

Thanks for sharing those pics. You must have an older version of the stop gauge, because of all the pictures on the Jessem site, only one clearly shows a black "tab" that is used on the scale. On your gauge, it is a much larger, flat black piece. Attached is the pic from Jessem that shows the tab.

These gauges aren't cheap, so I'm really hesitant to drop $350 on a different gauge, if that is one of the primary reasons why I want to "upgrade" from the Incra.

514305

[Larry Frank]

I try to ask myself when looking at a new tool if it makes me a better woodworker. And does the increase in accuracy really mean anything?

[Mike Shields]

I was going back and forth between Incra (didn't even pick a model yet) and Jessem's miter gauge. I heard good things about both and have other Jessem and Incra products and felt Jessem is a notch above. So I ordered the Jessem. It hasn't arrived yet so I can't answer your questions from first hand experience with the produce in-hand.

One issue I have with the Incra (or any Incra fence with the the 32nd adjustment), it isn't infinitely adjustable. And with that, the stop has to be lifted away from the 32nd teething to be moved, which after a couple years gets real old.