Bored Borg wrote:
On Fri, 5 Sep 2008 20:33:22 +0100, Larry Blanchard wrote
(in article ):


I have the original Incra jig and I wasn't impressed with its use
on
a router table. I stil occasionally use it as a guide to
repositioning my tablesaw rip fence.

The high priced rigs do the job, but if you only use the
capabilities
occaionally it'll take a while to recover the cost.

This is the sort of info / opinion I sought, Thanks.

What dissatisfied you with the jig - function, ergonomics,
floppiness? Do you just think that the basic concept is overkill?

If your router table has a miter slot, you can easily rig up a dial
indicator or the like that rides on the miter slot and can ensure
the
fence is parallel to the slot. Would that do the job for you?

Hmm.. it's not the parallelism per se that is important, it's more
the
_convenient_ repeatable accuracy. Not a great fan of mitre slots, to
be honest.

I've got the original Incra and the LS. The LS bolted to the router
table, the original is attached to a piece of MDF that gets clamped
down wherever I need it (usually the RAS, sometimes the drill press).

The _major_ limitation on the original is the travel. If you do
pieces wider than 8 inches or so it's going to be a hassle, where the
LS can do 17 or 25 depending on model. On the other hand the LS has
numerous improvements that make it much, much more convenient to
use--changing position involves flipping a lever rather than
unscrewing a knob (doesn't sound like much but you do a lot of
repositioning when you're cutting dovetails or box joints), the
template channels have grooves on the sides that hold the templates
securely vs having to stick them down and there's a hairline cursor
that makes the position easier to read than using the edge of the
mating part like on the original, the 5 template channels mean that
you can have several "convenience" templates loaded in addition to the
one specific to the joint you are making, the lead screw makes initial
setup _much_ easier (you just adjust the lead screw rather than having
to nudge the jig a tiny fraction of an inch), just much nicer all
around. But other than the travel the LS won't actually _do_ anything
that the original won't.

It's not going to be nearly as fast to use as an Omnijig or the like,
but it's much more versatile.

Hidden expense--you _need_ the "Master Reference Guide and Template
Library" for $25US and should get and work through the "Projects and
Techniques" book as well--order both of those when you order the jig.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)