Miter Gauges

[Jerry Bittner]

Noticed Woodcraft had ten percent off on the Kreg miter gauge -- regular $159. Visited the store and almost bought it but after looking at a similar priced Incra gauge ($155), I could not make up my mind although I'm now leaning to the Incra.

Anybody familar with either of these two? Would appreciate advice.

[Dave Lehnert]

I own the Incra 1000SE it is the one with the flip stop fence. I like it a lot. One of them tools I should have purchased a long time ago. 100% dead on accurate. I purchased it from Amazon on sale for $98.00 a few months ago. Check first but I think Amazon has $30 off any order of $125.00 or more right now so that would make it $109.94.


(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007UQ2EQ/103-9937286-9888640?v=glance&n=228013)

[Michael Ballent]

Jerry, if the Incra is a 2000 I would pass on it... it is accurate and works as advertised, but you need to disassemble it to use on the other side of the blade, which is a pain. I would recommend the 1000 or 3000 if those are options available to you.



Noticed Woodcraft had ten percent off on the Kreg miter gauge -- regular $159. Visited the store and almost bought it but after looking at a similar priced Incra gauge ($155), I could not make up my mind although I'm now leaning to the Incra.

Anybody familar with either of these two? Would appreciate advice.

[Dewayne Baker]

This is what I bought and I love it. 31570 Jointec smart miter.

A bit fussy to get dialed in first time but very accurate and and easy to use.

[Alan Burhop]

This is what I bought and I love it. Jointec smart miter.

A bit fussy to get dialed in first time but very accurate and and easy to use.

Do you like yours? this is on my list of tools to buy, just not at the top.

[Brian Hale]

I'm not happry with my Kreg. While it's very accurate, the aluminum bar that rides in the tablesaw miter slot is too flimsly. Even when it's adjusted for a good fit, you can jiggle the end of the fence and see the bar flex. Also, i managed to bend the bar once when i lifted the whole thing straight up off the table. I must have had it cocked a bit and the bar bent where the adjustment screw goes through the bar.

I suggest you get a gauge with a steel bar. I may make one at work for my Kreg if i can get some time.

Brian :)

[Michael Ballent]

Brian Incra sells miter guage bars... I think that they are available through Rockler, and I am pretty sure from Woodpeckers.


I'm not happry with my Kreg. While it's very accurate, the aluminum bar that rides in the tablesaw miter slot is too flimsly. Even when it's adjusted for a good fit, you can jiggle the end of the fence and see the bar flex. Also, i managed to bend the bar once when i lifted the whole thing straight up off the table. I must have had it cocked a bit and the bar bent where the adjustment screw goes through the bar.

I suggest you get a gauge with a steel bar. I may make one at work for my Kreg if i can get some time.

Brian :)

[Fred Voorhees]

Jerry, if the Incra is a 2000 I would pass on it... it is accurate and works as advertised, but you need to disassemble it to use on the other side of the blade, which is a pain. I would recommend the 1000 or 3000 if those are options available to you.

Michael, I have the Incra 2000 and consider it some of the best money I have invested into my shop. While I have changed it over from one side to another many, many times, I have never considered it a real PITA to do. I would say that on average, it might take me a minute and a half to make the change. One thing that I would like to mention though is that the miter bar IS NOT square with the table surface of my saw. That hasn't really been a factor in my experience, but it is worthwhile mentioning to a potential user/purchaser. It is an easy fix by shimming and I do plan on doing that some time soon. All in all though, I love the Incra 2000 and it does cut dead on with angles.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I haven't used the Kreg, but I'll heartily endorse the Incra 1000SE. I have one and use it a lot, with what I consider to be good results.

- Vaughn

[Jimmy Newman]

I'd really be interested to hear from anyone who has any experience with the JessEm Mite-R-Excel. I've been trying to convince myself to buy a nice miter gauge/fence for months, and am thinking hard about buying the JessEm over one of the Incras.

Thanks,
Jimmy

[Keith Christopher]

I have two mitre gauges. The first is the Osborne, I love this mitre gauge, it is well built and DEAD accurate. This one however lacks in certain areas which is why I bought the woodhaven mitre gauge, and I have to tell you, the wood haven is quickly catching up to the osborne gauge in my book. It is solid accurate adjustable and has ALOT of options for it if I decide to upgrade. I stand behind the wood haven mitre gauge it is worth every penny. If I bought this one before the osborne, I would not have bought the osborne. This is not to say the osborne is bad, it performs it's duty VERY well and VERY accurately. I find the wood haven one to be more versitle over all.


Keith

[Doug Shepard]

I've got a JDS miter gauge on my TS and it's just OK. After picking up an Incra V27 for Christmas (basically just the head and bar) for use on my bandsaw, I'd take a pretty hard look at the bigger Incra units if I ever decide to upgrade the one on my TS. I'm real impressed with the accuracy of the V27 and it seems built pretty well. I checked the angles with some machinist angled setup blocks and the V27 was right on the nose.

[Gary Herrmann]

which is why I bought the woodhaven mitre gauge, and I have to tell you, the wood haven is quickly catching up to the osborne gauge in my book. It is solid accurate adjustable and has ALOT of options for it if I decide to upgrade.

Keith

Keith, I've added a fence and flipstop to my woodhaven deluxe. Been very happy with everything I've bought from them.

[Jim W. White]

I upgraded to an Incra 1000 about 3 years ago and I can say without any hesitation that it's probably one of the best upgrades I've done to any of my equipment.

[Brian Dormer]

I'll second the Incra V27. I added a length of extruded aluminum track as the miter fence and I'm as happy as can be. I added a flip stop and it's great. Dead accurate and can be adjusted quickly.

The only snag I hit was that out of the box, the miter bar had a burr on the end under the miter head. The burr caused the whole rig to jam in the miter slot. THAT made life interesting for a few minutes. So I had to dissassemble everything, tap the bar out of the slot with a hammer and use my stationary sander to take the burr off. After that, the bar fit perfect.

bd

[CPeter James]

I have the V27. I thought I was going to buy the 1000SE, but found that the simpler V27 actually better fits my needs. I have both an Exactor sliding table and a Dubby sled if I need to split angles, but the repeatability if the V27 are real great. Some of the bigger and more expensive jigs are just too complicated to use all the time, IMHO.

Also on the V27 all the adjusting disks are on the same side of the bat, so after you engage the first one in the slot, the bar is tight. on the others you need to get 3 disks into the slot before the bar is tight.


CPeter

[Howard Rosenberg]

Rochester NY at the WoodCraft branch there and LOVE it.

Accurate.
Bulletproof.
Miles ahead of the stock mitre gauge that came with my TS.
Easy to adjust when it's dropped (damhikt).
Takes fixtures easily.

I'd feel comfortable recomending their stuff any day.

My 2C.
Howard

[Dewayne Baker]

Do you like yours? this is on my list of tools to buy, just not at the top.

Yes I like it very much. besides accurate repetitive miters I use it as a crosscut sled for smaller things like cutting loose tenons to length.

[Matt Meiser]

I'll throw in another vote for the Incra. I got mine a couple weeks ago and have found it to be very solid, accurate, and easy to set up.

[Gregg Mason]

another happy owner of the Incra 1000SE. Have not tried the Kreg. Also got it on sale for about $100.00.

[Lou Morrissette]

I've had the Incra 2000 for about a year and am very happy with the accuracy and repeatability.

Lou

[Jim Davenport]

I'll add my vote for the "Incra 1000-SE". I bought one at the Woodcraft 10% off sale. I looked at the "Kreg", and Jessem". The Kreg didn't look as sturdy. and the Jessem cost a bunch more. I've used the Incra for about a week now, and so far I'm very impressed with it.

[Guy Germaine]

I also have the 1000SE and wouldn't trade it for the world. I LOVE that thing.

[Matt King]

Add me to the list of happy 1000SE owners - the flip stop is quite handy, as is the extendable fence. The thing is dead on accurate. It was the second 'real' tool I bought for my shop (the first was a Forrest WWI to swap between the RAS and the table saw) and it has enabled me to cut PERFECT miters with zero effort, something I couldn't manage at all before!

What were the main points about the Kreg that impressed you?

Matt

[Maurice Ungaro]

I have a hybrid set up:
A JDS miter, and an Incra Miter Express (http://www.woodpeck.com/incramiterexpress.html) The combination is really damn rock solid.

[Noel Hegan]

Hi Maurice, any chance of a picture of your set-up? I've the JDS mitre guage and as Incra stuff is like hen's teeth this side of the Atlantic I'd be very interested.
Rgds

Noel

[Maurice Ungaro]

Noel,
Here you - it's a shot from the loft area looking down to my tablesaw, and unfortunately, is the only photo I have at this point showing the Incra miter express slider. The miter express is quite a solid unit, and bolts together very quickly. Incra states that it will accept ANY miter gauge on the market. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Noel Hegan]

Many thanks Maurice for the picture and your prompt response. Much appreciated.

Rgds

Noel

[Guy Germaine]

Hey Maurice! Put the toilet seat down!! :rolleyes:

[Michael Gabbay]

I have thre original Incra 1000. It is great, dead on accurate. I am upgrading to the longer fence with the extension and the flip stop at the next WW show.

Maurice - how do you like the Miter Express? It looks like a good alternative to a cross cut sled.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Guy,
Unfortunately, my shop is now closed up, as we have moved from there, and my tools are all in storage. Be that as it may, my shop afforded me the luxury of a toilet. The shop belonged to me, a male. Inside our house, I'm always courteous, and lower the seat after using the toilet in the standing position. With the advent of a wonderful dog to our household, I even close the lid to prevent the pooch from drinking from the toilet.

Having said all of that, MY shop was the domain of a MAN and his dog:D . We both prefered to use that particular toilet standing. It was shop policy - yours may be different :eek: .


Michael,
I really enjoy the Miter Exppress. It's solid, yet not bulky. Many prefer to use a dedicated sled (you know, the box type) for 90 degree cuts, but this has the felxibility of fully utlizing your miter gauge for angled cuts as well. I picked it up at Rockler during a sale weekend. If I didnt have the JDS, I would have taken them up on the combo deal of the Miter Express and an Incra V27, for $139. As it was, I go tthe ME for $95. Not too shabby.