Accuracy of incra miter guage compared to....

[Josh Goldsmith]

Hello all i have been making some picture frames for a friend that looks like they will be moving fairly regulary. I asked a few questions on previous threads and a few of you replied back that i should buy a designated miter cuter designed for 45deg cuts. My question is if incra sayes it is .002deg accurate then why do you need a miter cutter. I hope i am making sence. I was looking at buying the incra #5000 which is the 60" crosscuting miter guage with a sled. Thanks Josh

[Roy Wall]

Josh,

I have only made a few 45* miter joints with my Incra 1000SE - but it was dead on and made a nice joint.

For dedicated use, I agree a larger "sled" configuration should be the ticket - whether a home built one or this Incra....but the Incra should also give you the accuracy you need along with more versatility. If not, return it.

[Mike Johnson - Chicago]

The other question here is the interface of a sled with your table saw.

What I mean is...some saws have channels that will multiply that .002" error. My saw's channels have very slightly irregular widths, which makes me have to adjust the runners to the thinnest dimension to avoid binding...which in turn causes looseness in the other areas. Think *wiggle*.

In the end, I found that the edges closest to the blade (in each channel) were more consitently spaced than the other edge of the channels! So I built a sled that adjust off of those surfaces and am able to get reliable 45deg frame cuts off that sled.

Just thought you may want to know this type of thing exist before you got a nice precision jig :)

Regards,
M.J.

[Doug Shepard]

I dont know about the Incra model you're looking at but I picked up a Incra V27 around Christmas for use on the BS. I suspect the overall design of the head portions are designed the same way. While I didn't take any measurements I checked mine against machinists angle blocks (various ones) and couldn't see any difference (no gaps) at any of the angles I tested. Each block I tried was checked on both sides of zero. I sure couldn't see a difference. The whole design seems very well thought out and is super-accurate. The bar on mine has offset adjusters that snug up against either side of the miter bar slot. If there's any slop in mine it's less than anything I can measure with the tools I have.

[Tim Armstrong]

Josh - you may want to give Incra a call on that 5000. My dad was looking into that one recently and there are a few things to think about. For starters, if you ever wanted to take the miter guage off to use without the sled, it's a real pain. Also, I think they may be redesigning that one soon.

I have the Incra Miter Express sled with the 3000SE guage and it's great for my needs. This is also the one Incra was encouraging my dad to check out. Hope that's helpful. I think it's an ideal tool for picture frame work.

Tim