ProMiter-100

[Bill Elliott]

Has anyone had a chance to try out the ProMiter-100? It looks like a great idea, but I wonder how rugged and accurate it is.

[Bruce Benjamin]

Sorry, I don't own one nor have I ever seen one in person. But I did check it out on their website. Wow! $360? That's a lot of $$ for a miter gauge. Granted, the digital part is pretty cool, (assuming it's accurate) but otherwise it's just a miter gauge. The blade angle function is nice but you can do it easier with the Wixey for about $40 shipped. And you can use the Wixey on other tools. If you want 0.1 degree of accuracy and adjustability you can buy the Incra Miter 1000SE for $125 shipped from Amazon. Combine the two and you're $195 ahead and the 1000SE comes with a very nice extendable fence with fancy flipstops and all of the bells and whistles. If you want to spend a little more and get a lot more for your money you can buy the Incra 1000SE combined with the Miter Express sled for $229 from Hartville Tool. Combine that with the Wixey gauge and you're still almost $100 ahead of the digital miter gauge. It's a cool tool and I like gadgets as much as the next guy but that's a bunch of money for a miter gauge that can be matched and even beaten for a lot less money. Just my opinion though. By the way, is it made of plastic or metal? It was sort of hard to tell. I'd assume it's metal but I've been surprised before.

Bruce

[Bill Elliott]

Thanks for your opinion. I agree with you that the ProMiter is way over priced. It makes my stack of Festools look like a bargain. Cost aside, I wonder about the accuracy of this and other aftermarket digital read-out devices including the Wixey. I have a set of digital calipers and they work fine but I don’t subject it to the hard use my miter gauge and table saw fence get. I still think a digital miter guage is in my future... just not right now. In reference to your Incra recommendation, I finally sold my Incra Miter 2000 after alignment problems with the fence-mounting bracket. The only way I could get the fence to line up square with my saw top was to add shims. But, each time I shifted the fence from one side to the other, I had to re-shim it. This got really old. I was able to get another mounting bracket but still had problems, though not as severe. I’ve noticed that Incra uses that same mounting bracket on all of their fences so I’m a little gun-shy of trying it again. I am interested in the Jessem Mite-R-Excel miter gauge. I really like how well made it is but I’m a little concerned about pin type indexing system. I think Incra has a better system with the notches. Do you have any thoughts?

[Bruce Benjamin]

I can believe that you had problems having to switch the fence back and forth but that wouldn't be a problem with any of the other Incra fences. I think the Incra 2000 is the only one where you switch the fence back and forth versus just getting it set up correctly once and leaving it. But I don't have any personal experience with either the Incra or Jessum gauges. I guess I should've made that clear in my previous post. I was just trying to point out that there are alternatives available that at least appear to offer as much or more for less money. The Incra gauges have, for the most part, received very good reviews. The Pro-Miter doesn't appear to have any advantage over any other gauge with an attached fence, including the Jessum, when it comes to inaccuracies when it comes to attaching a fence. The indexed pin system isn't unique to the Jessum. I can see that it's either going to be accurate from the factory or not. If each pin hole is off by the same amount then you can shim to adjust it. If they aren't consistent then I don't think there would be much you could do. Sorry I can't offer real world experience. But if I were going for an indexing system and I was concerned with the indexing being off I would probably go with the one I'd heard the most good things about. Either that, or the one that was easiest to return.:rolleyes:

Bruce



I finally sold my Incra Miter 2000 after alignment problems with the fence-mounting bracket. The only way I could get the fence to line up square with my saw top was to add shims. But, each time I shifted the fence from one side to the other, I had to re-shim it. This got really old. I was able to get another mounting bracket but still had problems, though not as severe. I’ve noticed that Incra uses that same mounting bracket on all of their fences so I’m a little gun-shy of trying it again. I am interested in the Jessem Mite-R-Excel miter gauge. I really like how well made it is but I’m a little concerned about pin type indexing system. I think Incra has a better system with the notches. Do you have any thoughts?