Incra 1000 miter gauge fix

[Frank Pratt]

I've seen a couple of threads recently that have to do with the adjustments on the bar on the Incra 1000 miter gauge. For such an expensive item, I expect better. I've used mine on 2 saws, a Jet contractor & a SawStop PCS. On both the bar was ridiculously undersized & required that the plastic washers be fully compressed & even then there was a very small amount of play. But the washers wear quickly to the point where there's a lot of slop. After rotating them multiple times, I finally got fed up enough to do something about it.

My solution? I removed the black washers from one side and applied 2 layers (yes, it took 2 layers & still there was play) of low friction tape to that side. The split washers are now able to take up the slack with room to tighten them more as the washers wear. The bar slides easily with no play at all. Happy me

Here's the stuff I used.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop...e?item=25U0401

Another complaint I had was that the gauge came from the factory with the fence not perfectly perpendicular to the table. I was able to fix that with bad words & some shim stock. Like I said, for that money, I expect better. The gauge now performs beautifully, but I'm not sure I'd buy Incra again.

[al ladd]

I agree the bar is a bogus design. For me the bar is a pretty good fit, so I can adjust it quickly, but it wears fast, and even with a very good fit to start I can only retighten to expand the washers maybe 3x before I can't get any more out of them. I can rotate them maybe twice more. When I complained about this to Incra they did send me a free pile of them. But for someone who's often cross cutting hours a day it's really not an acceptable design. if you think about it, at first tightening you have just a smidgeon of nylon giving you the fit you want, so of course it wears fast, and even after a couple tightenings for wear it's maybe an 1/8" at best flat surface, and then once it wears more, it's useless.

I've been developing a table sled product/kit design, and have worked out a birch plywood runner with wooden "springs" that I might actually switch out my Incra Miter bar for some day, now that I'm thinking about that. Stay tuned for a demo/tutorial of my miter bar design. I found it interesting that Woodpecker thought along the same lines, (mutually independently I might add!,) and they're trying to sell a $69 miter bar:https://www.woodpeck.com/miter-bar-e90-mb.html

[Frank Pratt]

Wow, they are sure proud of that bar! But that's the way with Woodpeckers. No doubt they make some nice stuff, but I just don't see the value. I'd like to see a bar that is split lengthwise with a few adjustment points along the way. The advantage being that there is a continuous surface that runs along the miter slot for less wear & smoother, more consistent movement.

[Kurt Wyberanec]

I have the 1000SE and I recently had a post about freeing those retaining screws because they were frozen. I don't know if you read the original sheet that came with the bar but it is designed to be used in 3 configurations and it is undersized on purpose to fit various manufactures slots. The different disc combinations give it the ability to make up that slop. Now I do agree that they wear, but mine lasted a pretty long time before I needed to adjust, but everyone's needs and wear will be different. You can use the discs 3 different ways....you can probably find it online somewhere.

I think they could have come up with a better material for the discs though....perhaps a set of different sized hardened steel washers would have been better that could get you close, or even an eccentric slot with a steel to slide and tighten....the other thing is the tiny allen head screw....gee that won't strip or your tool won't....PIA