I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing
that it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts
were slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was
not the miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack
isn't accurate and I've decided to replace it with a tool which
hopefully is accurate, or can be tweaked to become accurate.

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

TIA
Rick

I have the incra 1000se... love it.
I had to shim the fence to get it 90 to the table, but the miter was 90
to the slot. So it is in my opinion what I was looking for.
My friend has the 3000 and loves it. I think I got the better deal with
the 1000SE for a lot less money.

Rick wrote:
I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing
that it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts
were slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was
not the miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack
isn't accurate and I've decided to replace it with a tool which
hopefully is accurate, or can be tweaked to become accurate.

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

TIA
Rick

I have the incra 1000se... love it.
I had to shim the fence to get it 90 to the table, but the miter was 90
to the slot. So it is in my opinion what I was looking for.
My friend has the 3000 and loves it. I think I got the better deal with
the 1000SE for a lot less money.

Rick wrote:
I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing
that it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts
were slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was
not the miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack
isn't accurate and I've decided to replace it with a tool which
hopefully is accurate, or can be tweaked to become accurate.

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

TIA
Rick

Rick said:

I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing
that it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts
were slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was
not the miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack
isn't accurate and I've decided to replace it with a tool which
hopefully is accurate, or can be tweaked to become accurate.
........
Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

I use a geared protractor with long arms to verify accuracy on various
tools, and I wonder if all those who rely on that Wixley Digital angle
gauge are going to be bitten by the same misplaced trust in modern
manufacturing and marketing hype. As for the mitre gauges, after being
bitten by inaccurate stops - as well as drooping router plates,
non-linear tapes, etc. - I have resigned to making my own jigs for
common angles, or tightening tolerances on and aligning stock parts.

Not a very useful answer to your query, I know, but verify, then
trust. I have noticed that many items vary by run. Try them all 'till
you find one that IS accurate - it should stay that way barring
physical damage.

FWIW,

Greg G.

In article , Rick wrote:

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

Incra is, at any rate. My first aftermarket miter gauge was an Incra 1000, and
I'm currently using an Incra 3000. Both are as close to dead-on perfect as I'm
able to measure, and, what's more, they're repeatable, too: make a few cuts at
90 degrees, then change it to 45, or 30, or 15, then back to 90, and it's
still dead nuts square.

Never used either of the others, so can't say if they're as good.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Jan 15, 3:04*pm, Rick wrote:
I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing
that it was quite accurate . . . more fool me!

Don't waste money trying to buy an accurate 90 degree
gizmo. Tune the one you've got.

I have a Starret combination square that isn't true.
It wasted a lot of my time and effort until I checked and
found the fault. Check your squares ALWAYS, and
perhaps even often.

Rick wrote:
I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing
that it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts
were slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was
not the miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack
isn't accurate and I've decided to replace it with a tool which
hopefully is accurate, or can be tweaked to become accurate.

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

TIA
Rick

Like Greg's response, mine doesn't
address your question, but offers
another viewpoint.

My saw didn't come with a mitre gauge. I
made a crosscut sled to run in the two
slots. The only other angle I've needed
to cut on my TS is 45, so I made one of
those sleds too.

I'm sure if I were doing a lot of other
angle cutting, I'd be looking at the
list above, but for my needs the sleds
do the job.

--
Tanus

This is not really a sig.

http://www.home.mycybernet.net/~waugh/shop/

Rick wrote:
I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing
that it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts
were slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was
not the miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack
isn't accurate and I've decided to replace it with a tool which
hopefully is accurate, or can be tweaked to become accurate.

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

TIA
Rick

I've been using the JessEm Mite-R-Excel
It is very accurate, easy to use and has stood up to what I would
consider as normal abuse.

LdB

On Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:42:28 -0500, Greg G. wrote:

I use a geared protractor with long arms to verify accuracy on various
tools, and I wonder if all those who rely on that Wixley Digital angle
gauge are going to be bitten by the same misplaced trust in modern
manufacturing and marketing hype.

FWIW, I checked my Wixey gauge with some very accurate squares and
triangles and found that within its limitation of 0.1 degrees it was spot
on. YMMV.

On Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:04:46 -0600, Rick
wrote:

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra

We use a couple different versions of the Incra on the job daily. You
won't be disappointed with it's accuracy.

Mike O.

Rick wrote:

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra


I've got 5+ years experience with an Incra 1000. I'd buy it again.

Caveat: I do all my 90 cuts with sleds. The miter guage only gets
used for non-90's.

"Rick" wrote in message
...
I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing that
it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts were
slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was not the
miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack isn't accurate
and I've decided to replace it with a tool which hopefully is accurate, or
can be tweaked to become accurate.

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

TIA
Rick

IIRC, Kreg bought the FasTrack miter gauge and sells it with the Kreg name.

I went through this a few years ago, I wanted a miter gauge to be dead on
accurate and stupid simple to set on common angles. While the Kreg does
lock in at predetermined settings it has a Vernier scale and can be zeroed
in with out the indexing pin if need be.

I went through 2 or 4 Kregs before being satisfied with the 90 degree locked
in setting. Kreg worked closely with me to get this problem resolved. I
will add that Kreg had just bought the FasTrack miter gauge and was still in
the process of getting consistent results in the product when I bought mine.
I also tried Osborne and was greatly disappointed in the product, Osborne 3,
and disappointed with the owners comments with the inherent problem it has.
He has since sold the company. Basically the gauge has/had lots of slop
when the gauge was in the 45 degree setting with the adjustment arm fully
extended. You could wiggle the far end of the fence about 3/16" in that
setting and that was true with all of the ones in my suppliers stick. Other
than that the miter gauge was really neat.
For me the Incra's take up way too much real-estate behind the fence and
limit the width of the board or panel you can cut if you want to have the
business end of the miter gauge setting on the TS table at the beginning of
the cut.

Concerning your current miter gauge, IIRC it is very much like the current
Kreg and has an aluminum fence. this fence can be very slippery and I find
that my miters can be off also IF I do not insure that there is absolutely
no slipping of the material during the cut. If I use the "Stop" the cuts
are dead on. If I don't use the stop and cut a wider board the cut may or
may not be dead on. You might double check with a stop to insure that you
are not letting your board slip during the cut. I am seriously considering
adding some PSA sand paper to the fence face to prevent slippage.

For repeated and my normal miter cuts I use a Dubby miter sled. I typically
only use the regular miter gauge to square the ends of stock.

Why do you need the protractor sitting on the table.
The fence would be all that is required. My fence has a strip of UMHW on
the bottom, so that is all I would need to keep on. I have pulled it
back further, and in those cases I always put the miter slot cross piece
back in.

Leon wrote:
"Rick" wrote in message
...
I have used a "Fastrack" fixed 90degree miter for 10 years, believing that
it was quite accurate . . . more fool me! Frequently my crosscuts were
slightly non-square, but I've always assumed that the problem was not the
miter gauge. Bottom line is that the non-adjustable Fastrack isn't accurate
and I've decided to replace it with a tool which hopefully is accurate, or
can be tweaked to become accurate.

My question: Does anyone in the group have direct experience with:

1. Incra
2. Kreg
3. JessEm

Are they as accurate as the promotion would have you believe?

TIA
Rick

IIRC, Kreg bought the FasTrack miter gauge and sells it with the Kreg name.

I went through this a few years ago, I wanted a miter gauge to be dead on
accurate and stupid simple to set on common angles. While the Kreg does
lock in at predetermined settings it has a Vernier scale and can be zeroed
in with out the indexing pin if need be.

I went through 2 or 4 Kregs before being satisfied with the 90 degree locked
in setting. Kreg worked closely with me to get this problem resolved. I
will add that Kreg had just bought the FasTrack miter gauge and was still in
the process of getting consistent results in the product when I bought mine.
I also tried Osborne and was greatly disappointed in the product, Osborne 3,
and disappointed with the owners comments with the inherent problem it has.
He has since sold the company. Basically the gauge has/had lots of slop
when the gauge was in the 45 degree setting with the adjustment arm fully
extended. You could wiggle the far end of the fence about 3/16" in that
setting and that was true with all of the ones in my suppliers stick. Other
than that the miter gauge was really neat.
For me the Incra's take up way too much real-estate behind the fence and
limit the width of the board or panel you can cut if you want to have the
business end of the miter gauge setting on the TS table at the beginning of
the cut.

Concerning your current miter gauge, IIRC it is very much like the current
Kreg and has an aluminum fence. this fence can be very slippery and I find
that my miters can be off also IF I do not insure that there is absolutely
no slipping of the material during the cut. If I use the "Stop" the cuts
are dead on. If I don't use the stop and cut a wider board the cut may or
may not be dead on. You might double check with a stop to insure that you
are not letting your board slip during the cut. I am seriously considering
adding some PSA sand paper to the fence face to prevent slippage.

For repeated and my normal miter cuts I use a Dubby miter sled. I typically
only use the regular miter gauge to square the ends of stock.

"tiredofspam" nospam.nospam.com wrote in message
...
Why do you need the protractor sitting on the table.
The fence would be all that is required. My fence has a strip of UMHW on
the bottom, so that is all I would need to keep on. I have pulled it back
further, and in those cases I always put the miter slot cross piece back
in.

The protractor probably does not "have" to be setting on the table however
it typically sets on a lot of the guide bar. If the guide bar is not being
fully engauged in the slot, "play", can be exagerated. Additionally I
prefer to not use the washer on the front end of the guide bar and with the
protractor hanging off of the front of the saw the gauge could tip. It's
more of a preference thing for me.

Does anyone know Where a person can get steel bar that fits a table saw miter
gauge slot?

"Just Wondering" wrote in message
Does anyone know Where a person can get steel bar that fits a table saw
miter
gauge slot?

Woodhaven has some adjustable that fit in 3/4" miter slots:

http://www.woodhaven.com/Category.asp?Id=68


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/14/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Just Wondering wrote:
Does anyone know Where a person can get steel bar that fits a table saw
miter gauge slot?

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...4&filter=miter

http://www.incra.com/product_buildit_miterslider.htm

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2008/Main/361

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Swingman said:


"Just Wondering" wrote in message
Does anyone know Where a person can get steel bar that fits a table saw
miter
gauge slot?

Woodhaven has some adjustable that fit in 3/4" miter slots:

http://www.woodhaven.com/Category.asp?Id=68

Man, at $30 ea. I'll stick with lacquered oak or HDPE runners.


Greg G.

"Just Wondering" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know Where a person can get steel bar that fits a table saw
miter gauge slot?

Well, usually the miter gauge you are replacing has one.

Greg G. wrote:

Man, at $30 ea. I'll stick with lacquered oak or HDPE runners.

Same here.

I use maple, birch, oak, walnut, HDPE...

"B A R R Y" wrote:

I use maple, birch, oak, walnut, HDPE...


Might want to add Delrin to your list.

More thermally stable than many plastics, especially UHMWPE.

Not sure about HDPE.

Lew

For accuracy you can't beat sleds. I have several homemade sleds as
well as a "dubby" for angles. The benefit of a sled is that the stock
can be held very steady. I still use the miter gauge that came with my
rockwell contractor's saw for small pieces, It's quite accurate.