Miter Guage - Help Needed

[EricRN]

Hi all, I have an Incra miter gauge. Here's my dilemma: I love the gauge itself. The positive stops every angle are genius. It's dialed in perfectly. Sits well in the miter track. Easy to use. Here's the problem: I HATE the fence that came with it. It's difficult to adjust. The flip stop is a pain to use. The track with the little teeth on top is horrible. I extremely dislike that the two flip stops are connected, limiting the size of boards you can cut using both. (I like to do boxes where I set one flip stop to the short lenth, and another flip stop to the long length. Makes it easier to cut waterfall edges around the box, but the connected flip stops of the Incra gauge make it impossible to use.) I also cannot stand the fact that the little bars that you're supposed to use for microadjust are awful, and don't index to the scale on the fence if you are using them to stop a mitered edge. The microadjust knob at the top by the fence works better, though.

I've thought about replacing the whole fence and can't find something that has everything I want. So I'm going to try and build my own fence. Has anyone done this? Will the standard Rockler fence material attach to the Incra gauge. What flip stops did you use? Finding a good flip stop with all the features I want has been tough--Must have no deflection; must reach all the way to the base of the saw so that it provides a positive stop keyed to the tape measure when pushing a mitered end up to it; must have microadjust.

Any suggstions?

 

[BULLWINKLE]

I'd call Incra, express my issues and ask for their support in a fence that meets your requirements. If nothing else they should be able to help you out by providing you with information on a compatible fence that will fit the gauge.
The Incra gauge is the best out there but I agree with you that the fence is a mediocre design with many limitations .

 

[jttheclockman]

My thoughts on miter gauges is that they are fine for cut off work but nothing will beat a well built sled that rides in both miter slots. You control all the narratives where you want cut off stops, angles to depth of cuts. A miter gauge can not do that. if you make a specific type box and do many it is worth the time and effort. Rockler is good for selling tracks, hold downs and many other options. You can make cuts from both sides of the blade easily. Just my opinion.

 

[rherrell]

I have a real nice miter gage that just hangs on the wall, I hate using it...

I must agree with John on this one, I made sleds for all my crosscuts because IMO it's the safest way to go

This is the one that stays parked on my saw, it's for 90 degree cuts on anything up to 25"...

This is for segmenting and small pieces...

This is for all the oddball stuff, you can set it to hold any angle...

And this is my picture frame jig, it's set to a perfect 45 degrees...

I made some extensions with a stop for longer repetitive cuts...

I can't remember the last time I used my miter gage but it's been years.

 

[jttheclockman]

Some nice jigs there. My miter gauge sits on the jointer top and I grab it for quick cutoffs that are not really needed to be dead on accurate. It falls on the floor and is not tuned to saw. I have one gauge that is tuned and has a fence that I made but any stop blocks I use clamps with pieces of wood. I even have 2 complete sets of the Dubby cut off sleds that I hardly ever use. I just make jigs as shown also. So much more accurate and easy repeating of cuts.

 

[EricRN]

Agreed, Rick. Your jigs are as nice as your lathe tools!

 

[MRDucks2]

I bought this one from Woodcraft for less than $100 on some kind of sale.

Woodcraft Miter Guage

At that price it met my needs for something better than what came with my old rigid contractor saw without being too big for the smaller table. The aluminum rail also trims nicely on my saw.

I probably wouldn't pay the $150 for it but from reviews and comparisons, most of the upgrade gauges aren't that great at any price. I just needed more support for pushing crosscuts.

Now that I have the Laguna F2 a sled will be in my future. I found that an "upgrade" miter guage for $100 or less doesn't exist. I didn't need anything fancy but there is a gap there.

 

[MRDucks2]

Hey, Eric - while traveling through Springfield, Missouri this week I just happened to stop by the Grizzly showroom. In the catalog I grabbed on the way out, I noticed they sell an upgrade miter gauge similar to the one I linked from Woodcraft for $90 item number T32868.