Should I bother finding a saw with a DRO or figure out how to attach my Incra?

[Kurt Wyberanec]

Both my Unifence and Beismeyer fences are repeatable to a very small fraction of that. It would be a mighty poor fence that would only get you within 1/32".
Why complicate things by searching for a unicorn?

After I switched from my beis to the incra I can't tell you the difference it makes... it is imo a far superior fence having used both and the uni styles as you I cannot go back... it will be either a typical rod micro adjust slider fence with a dro or implementing the incra... yes I could use a regular fence and still do good work but it is not even close to as consistent and a lot matters what kind of work you're doing....

If I were making typical case goods or furniture I completely agree with you, but some of my stuff deals with incorporating metal chassis cut to thousandths then wrapped with vinyl in very arbitrary measurements again in thousandths and then I have to leave very exact relief... yes I can eyeball a line and probably hit it the majority of the time but doing it over dozens of components you're bound to miss 1 here or there the wrong way and then you've lost time and $, this is one of the biggest reasons production facilities have switched to cnc style saws to gain precision, reduce waste, and reduce time.

So yes, you can do gorgeous work with a traditional fence but it's not necessarily the most consistent or reliable way... but that depends a lot on use and needs

Again just looking for opinions on one vs the other not really interested in using a regular fence anymore. But thanks for the thoughts.

[Phillip Mitchell]

You might consider looking at / talking with Accurate Technologies and their Pro Scale DROs. Among the best in the business and they certainly have an option that you could adapt to a sliding saw rip or crosscut fence and be just as accurate or more so than your Incra.

[Kevin Jenness]

The Incra fence system looks pretty slick, accurate and adjustable in small increments. I can see why you like it. I would find it a poor fit in my shop with the space required to get a 48" rip width but maybe you have the room or don't need the greater rip capacity.

I don't see any problems using a decent dro as long as you check the registration. If you need a slider and you need precision settings then the cost of a saw and dros are the cost of doing business.

I think if you do get a slider you will find that a dro on the crosscut fence will be at least as useful as on the rip fence. I often do repetitive crosscuts using the rip fence as a stop then make the last cut using the crosscut stop which has to match exactly. I get by with the stock fence/stops but if I needed the added precision I would budget $1500 for a couple of dros without sweating over it.

[Kurt Wyberanec]

The Incra fence system looks pretty slick, accurate and adjustable in small increments. I can see why you like it. I would find it a poor fit in my shop with the space required to get a 48" rip width but maybe you have the room or don't need the greater rip capacity.

I don't see any problems using a decent dro as long as you check the registration. If you need a slider and you need precision settings then the cost of a saw and dros are the cost of doing business.

I think if you do get a slider you will find that a dro on the crosscut fence will be at least as useful as on the rip fence. I often do repetitive crosscuts using the rip fence as a stop then make the last cut using the crosscut stop which has to match exactly. I get by with the stock fence/stops but if I needed the added precision I would budget $1500 for a couple of dros without sweating over it.

Completely agree... I've gotten by for a lot of my cross cutting with my miter bar which is only a mid grade incra 1000se... reason I love that too is because it's also indexed too the 32nd so you're never wondering... works very well but only supports 27 inches anything over that goes on my radial with a stop.

I also agree that the crosscut dro may in fact be more important but none in my price range come with it so it will be an add on down the road... still have to settle on a saw lol

[Greg Parrish]

Here is a saw with all digital read out's if that's what you are after. Not my listing but just noticed it. Very nice looking saw though.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...9-593c0aa07ce3

[Kurt Wyberanec]

Here is a saw with all digital read out's if that's what you are after. Not my listing but just noticed it. Very nice looking saw though.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...9-593c0aa07ce3

That's a sweet machine but way out of my budget... not really looking for the whole automatic thing just the read outs. Thanks!

[Derek Cohen]

After I switched from my beis to the incra I can't tell you the difference it makes...

Kurt, there appear to be a couple of misconceptions about a slider that come up in your posts.

The most important one is that you are considering the rip fence to be so supremely important. The value of a slider lies in its broad range of abilities, one is for the wagon to crosscut, and another is for the wagon to rip. I have a short stroke slider (Hammer K3 with 1250 wagon), which suits my needs (and space) better than a longer wagon, however I can and do rip on the wagon.

The choice of guide for ripping on the wagon varies from using a shoe at the end, to a parallel guide and to a Fritz and Franz fixture. Your Incra could make a good parallel guide.

Here is a short article I short on the F&F vs a parallel guide: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Powered...FandFvsPG.html

I very much doubt that you will find a slider with a factory installed DRO unless it is very expensive or top of a range.

Your original interest in adding a DRO to the main tip fence is still a sound one. While some have sworn off their ripping this way, I use my rip fence as well, and not just as a bump stop. The fence which came with my K3 is a particularly good one, and has the ability to slide back and shorten, to fold down to reduce its profile, and has a micro-adjust, which is simply superb. I added a Wixey DRO (I have 72 year old eyes) and this has proved to be wonderfully reliable and made repeatable settings easier.

For this eagle eyes, this was taken before the micro-adjust was added …



And here is a close up with the micro-adjust …



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

Derek, your mention of the high/low fence that's typical on sliders also would come into play with any kind of DRO...it would really complicate things because there would be a need for two different "zeros" due to the fact that the fence is a different width when in the high position than when in the low position. I can absolutely see the benefit of a DRO on an outrigger fence for crosscut, etc., however.

[Derek Cohen]

I can absolutely see the benefit of a DRO on an outrigger fence for crosscut, etc.

Jim, I completely agree with you. This would be great - I am not yet clear on how to attach one to mine.

What I do have is a very clear scale with a dead accurate stop. It is easy to set. Plus I built and added a micro-adjust to the stop, and this enable cuts to be adjusted literally in microns should it be needed.



Not elegant, but it works very well.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

I never had an issue getting a stop fixed accurately on my outrigger or my short miter fence on the slider and for the amount of use I put on the machines, a DRO wouldn't pay on that tool. (It would pay on the thicknesser and I do have one on my drum sander) But folks who are doing a lot of adjustments on the stops for production work would likely benefit from the DRO setup as it would be easier to get it spot on at a glance where "time is money".

[Chris Parks]

I never had an issue getting a stop fixed accurately on my outrigger or my short miter fence on the slider and for the amount of use I put on the machines, a DRO wouldn't pay on that tool. (It would pay on the thicknesser and I do have one on my drum sander) But folks who are doing a lot of adjustments on the stops for production work would likely benefit from the DRO setup as it would be easier to get it spot on at a glance where "time is money".

I think there is a terminology problem creeping in to sliding table saw discussions in general that creates some problems for new users. Wagon/sliding table, mitre fence/cross cut fence and most probably more.

DRO's have a particular problem, The DRO can be set up for one particular fence/blade configuration on the rip fence but change any part of that configuration as pointed out above and the DRO loses zero. I have multiple blades and change them as needed and using the Wixey DRO it is a PIA to re-calibrate it to zero for a couple of cuts. When I initially put the Wixey on the saw many years ago the problem did not exist because I never found the need to change the blade.

I have been playing around with a DRO on the K3 outrigger CC fence for a few years now I think I may have the answer but with the frustration created by blade changes I have not rushed into it. I am trying to think of a quick method of calibration using a different DRO to make the change a simple matter. Maybe a calibrated length of material to set the flip stop then zero the fence has been floating around in the brain cells lately.

[Mark e Kessler]

Only issue with adding an encoder strip DRO to a slider is it is clunky and not as clean as integrated, doesn’t mean it won’t work as I have done it both ways.

Problem with the aftermarket on the rip (except a mag strip dro) is that you can’t rotate the fence out of the way without mickey mousing the install then mickey mousing around to make it work. Not a big deal but i like to be able to do that when needed.

Problem on the xcut is the encoder rail needs to be mounted on the face of the fence so now you can’t use it in the forward position, I had an scmi with an accurate technology dro for many years mounted like this but only used that saw for busting up sheet goods all day long every day. Now i use the fence in the forward position most of the time working with hardwoods and only move it if i need to straight line long lumber or sheet goods. Plus one benefit for me is I actually have more space to move around in my tight shop as it moves the fence back and i move the outrigger back some so the slider is always kinda centered with the blade if that makes any sense. Also with the encoder on the face of the fence and the readout mounted on a bracket makes removing it a little more tricky.

It is best to have dro on the xcut and the rip with them both agreeing

Your work getting better because you have DRO is debatable, but efficiency, repeatability is not

[Mark e Kessler]

Jim with some Dro’s (maybe all?) have an offset that you can input. Mine does just that, I have a block of x dim and I simply bump the fence in the high or low position against that block (block goes against a fixed part on the saw) push a button and it is set. Of course on higher end saws there is a sensor (or limit switch of some sort) that detects the position and adjusts the dro accordingly (assuming out of price range of op…)

Derek, your mention of the high/low fence that's typical on sliders also would come into play with any kind of DRO...it would really complicate things because there would be a need for two different "zeros" due to the fact that the fence is a different width when in the high position than when in the low position. I can absolutely see the benefit of a DRO on an outrigger fence for crosscut, etc., however.

[Jim Becker]

Chris, I eliminated any issues with blade width by standardizing on a blade that's .125" kerf...in my case Forrest...for any configurations I use. It just so happens that the high-tooth count blade that shipped with the slider I owned was also exactly .125" kerf for whatever reason. Folks who use a variety of blades from a variety of manufacturers most certainly will have to deal with what you describe for any DRO situation where blade width comes into play.