Miter Guage: Multiple machines?

[Danny Thompson]

How practical is it to use a single miter guage across various machines--e.g., table saw, band saw, router table, sander? Do you find you need a dedicated miter guage for each machine?

[Sean Kinn]

I say if it fits, clears the blade, and yields acceptable results go for it. I don't like spending money on duplicate tools. You may just have to adjust for any slight differences in widths of the miter slots in the different castings. Only other question is if all of your machines have T-slot miter grooves or not. It might just also add a hair of setup and verification time in between machines. After some early issues I make it a habit to always check everything for square since my machines get moved around a lot in my one car garage.

[Bill Huber]

I have a INCRA v27 Miter Gauge that I use on the table saw, router table and the sander and it works very well.

I did cut a T slot in some 3/4 in. MDF for a face so I can move it back and forth when needed.

The only problem that I have is it fits the table saw and router table very well but it is a little loose in the sander. I don't use it that much in the sander so its not a big thing to me.

[Bruce Benjamin]

The only problem I've had when I've tried this with my stock miter gauge between my tablesaw and router table is the varying width of the miter slots. The General gauge has adjustable ball bearings to take up the slop and that's fine for the tablesaw slots. But the slots on my router table are Incra brand inserts and slightly wider that the tablesaw slots so I have to readjust the gauge to fit tighter in the router table.

I've found that not only is this inconvenient but it's a possible source of slight misalignment because when I readjust the gauge to fit snug in the table saw slot I sometimes don't quite adjust the ball bearings exactly the same amount. That can very slightly cock the miter bar a little in the slot, thus introducing a slight amount of error in how square the gauge is to the blade. Obviously this wouldn't be a problem if you don't have to do any adjustment between miter slots but I've found that very few are exactly the same width.

I now have an Incra 1000SE mounted in an Incra sled for the table saw and the stock General gauge is adjusted fit the router table. I don't use it too often but if I need to I don't need to spend any extra time adjusting it.

Bruce

[Art Mann]

I got the Incra 1000SE miter gauge to use exclusively on the tablesaw. The original miter gauge that came with the saw is now used on my bandsaw and belt sander miter grooves. I don't use a miter gauge on the router table because I found that a jig that holds the workpiece and slides along the fence is more accurate and easier to use for cross grain applications like cutting stiles.