TS Miter gauge/Sled ?

[Stephen Dixon]

I am beginning the process of upgrading my tablesaw miter gauge. I would like the Creek's opinion on the way I should go. I currently have a Grizzly 1023SL and use the stock gauge that came with it.

Should I buy an aftermarket gauge, i.e. JessEm, Kreg, Rockler, Incra, etc. or should I get a sled such as a Dubby, Incra 5000, etc., or do you think the new JessEm MasterSlide is the answer.

Any and all comments, suggestions, hints, or recommendations will be appreciated, so you'all weigh in now, ya'hear.

Steve

[Dan Stuewe]

I'm interested to see where this discussion goes.

My take is that since they all do basically the same thing, cost is the biggest factor. Good quality after market miter gauges or sleds should give the same results, but I believe the sleds are easier since the wood is more securly attached to the jig. As for add on sliding tables, aside from cost, my biggest concern is working with smaller pieces. If the piece is mostly sliding on the table top, is the result going to be as good as a sled or a miter gauge where the support is better placed? A significant benifit to the sliding table is that you shouldn't have to put it anywhere when not in use.

[Howard Rosenberg]

I bought it at the Woodcraft in Rochester NY.
Added a sacrificial fence and a sliding DeStaco clamp to grip the stock.

I love it.
It's way more accurate than the stock mitre gauge that came with my TS - truly set it and forget it.

BUT.....
Most of what I cut is sheet goods (MDF).
I've now got my eye on a third-party slider for three reasons:
1 - more length in front of the blade - useful in wide crosscut situations
2 - safer and even more accurate
3 - no blade height loss as in a Dubby or similar sled

In response to your question, the Jessem IS very impressive.
I had a chance to drill the mfr and play with one last week at a WW show.
While it may look like alot of dollars, it's well-engineered and strikes me as a great value.

However, there IS another Canadian company that manufactures a slider.
It's the same company that manufactures the Mule AccuSquare.
John Lucas at woodshopdemos gave it very positive reviews a while back.

For the record, I have no affiliation with Mule AccuSquare other than being an extremely satisfied owner of their TS fence.

HTH
Howard

[Marc Ward]

Steve,

I have a very nice Woodhaven miter gauge I can sell you. I spent a lot of money on this package http://www.woodhaven.com/detail.aspx?ID=2063
and I will be happy to sell all or part of it to you.

The reason it is for sale is because I have another and I am trying to free up some money to buy a Leigh jig.

[willie sobat]

I have a Unisaw and have almost never used the miter guage. I use either a shop-made cross-cut sled (with scrap fences nailed in place for odd angles) or a shop-made miter sled. I am pleased enough with their performance that I would not consider an upgrade to the miter guage. That said the new Jessem sliding table looks attractive to me.

[Frank Pellow]

I bought the Jessem Mite-R-Excel 5 days ago and, at first, I was not sure that I had done the right thing. See the thread: http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=32459.

But, I gave it a really good test yesterday, and now I am sold. It was $229 (Cdn) well spent.

By the way, my saw is a General 650 and the factory miter guage on it is excellent - it is just too small.

[Vaughn McMillan]

At the relative bottom end of the price scale, I've been very happy with the results I get from the Incra Miter 1000SE and the adjustability it offers. Haven't used any of the others you listed, but for my purposes (mostly small stuff) the Incra has been great.

- Vaughn

[John Huber]

Hello Stephen,

I have both an Incra 1000 SE miter gage and a home-made miter sled. I use them for different tasks. What is it that you want to do that your stock gage doesn't do well enough?

If I am making 45 degree cuts (for a picture frame for example), I like the miter sled. The workpiece is supported in two planes right up to the saw blade (there is no sliding motion between the workpiece and the table). Cut one end, flip the workpiece and cut the other end. No need to rearrange the miter gage.

If I am making cuts at another angle, I like the Incra for obvious reasons.

If I am making several cross-cuts that need to match EXACTLY, I like the Incra and its Flip Stop.

[Tom Hintz]

I also use the Incra 100SE and am very happy with it. It is very accurate, has a ton of preset angle detents and the fence is expandable. I have a review of the 1000SE with photos and more on the details at the link below. I think you will find this is a very popular aftermarket miter guide.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/incra1000servu.html

[Guy Germaine]

Another vote here for the 1000SE. I've had mine for several months and love it. I also use a homemade crosscut sled and miter sled when the needs arise.

[Ken Miller]

I have the dubby sled and I am very happy with it. I like the ability to clamp the work down, increased capacity of crosscuts, length and ease of use of stop block, and the ease of use of the scale. Located along the left edge of the sled, it is very easy to read and very accurate. It may not have increments of 1/10000" but every degree is good enough for me.

[Stephen Dixon]

It looks like the consensus is to buy a miter gauge and then build a cutoff sled ala Norm. That's my intention.
Thanks for all the help.

Steve

[Brian Clevenger]

I like the Jessem. I paid a little less for mine when it was on sale, but I've never regretted it. The Incra 1000se is also a good choice, but I returned the Incra for the Jessem. I wanted to like the Incra (it's made right across town), but the Jessem was just that much better IMO.

[richard poitras]

I have a eb-3 by Osborn I realy like mine, I have had mine for about two years now . I have had no problems with it. Here is a web site you might want to look at.
http://thewoodshop.20m.com/osborne_eb3.htm

[Mark Singer]

I have made several sleds and have even given a couple to friends and made bew ones.....if you have a square cut sled and a miter sled you are pretty well set for building furniture and woodworking.... I like the home made sleds and the accuracy they offer.

[Mike Goetzke]

I recently bought an Incra 1000SE and really like it but for 45's you can't beat a sled. I just framed the molding on this column tonight in about 1-1/2 hours. Even though all frams should have been the same size I still needed to tweek a few pieces and goofed one up and had to re-cut it. This went real quick becaust the sled is like having a pre-set miter gauge on both sides of the saw (oops - didn't know my garage/shop looked that messy, well just finished sanding):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/IMG_1875_2_1_1.jpg