Woodcraft has both these on sale for the next few days. The V27 is going for about $50, the 1000SE for about $120.
Anybody out there with experience with (hopefully) both of these miter gauges?? Either would be an improvement on what I have (stock miter gauge on a1980 vintage Emerson saw). I'm fixing to retire in a few years and am upgrading equipment. T/S still to be upgraded. I expect to work on cabinets, furniture, boxes, etc in my dotage.
Much obliged for any input, recommendations, or bad experiences. Is the 1000SE really worth the extra $70, or would I be better off spending that money on wood?
No experience with either however I was in the market 2 years ago and felt that all of the Incra models simply took up too much real-estate on the saw table top. I felt that cutting wide boards and panels would result in too much of the miter gauge hanging off the front end of the saw.
I answered yes to the siren call that said, "Wes, you haven't bought a new tool lately, don't you think it's time?
Now I wonder why I bought the 1000SE. I can't imagine using all of the "features", like the length stops, vernier angle adjustment, etc.
Usually what I want is something that is 90 degrees to the miter slot and for longer or wider stock, I use a homemade sled for that.
The Incra has a lot of drag on the table and on my Delta cabinet saw with the blade at full height there's only 10" between the blade and the face of the miter gauge when the gauge is far enough onto the table to not tip off onto the floor. With the Delta gauge, there's
12".
To be fair, the Incra comes with a follower on the bar to run in the tee slot on the table and that would prevent this problem, however, my homemade outfeed table doesn't have a tee slot, so I have to remove the follower.
We've had both on the job for about a year and here are a few observations. The V-27 is easy to set-up and IMHO an improvement over the stock Delta gage that I've used for years. The 27 has a smaller foot print than the 1000 as it won't turn much past 60 degrees or so. It is very limited on repeatability at odd angles since there is no pointer to give you say 37 degrees. The protractor portion has stops at every 5 degrees with a few added at 22 1/2 etc. You can set it to any angle between the 5 degree increments bit it's a guess as to what angle that really is. I was aware of this limitation when I bought it but bought it because I don't need to repeat the odd angle very often and have another gage that will do that. The biggest drawback is that the bar is too short for my taste. If you have a T slot, it comes with removable piece that slides in the slot. The gage doesn't take up any more room than the stock gage and you can use an Incra fence, make your own, or get one from another vendor (more on that later). It is very accurate at any of the pre-set angles but more of a generic gage. I bought a shop stop fence for the V-27. The stop part is sitting in a drawer somewhere as I've never used it. The biggest problem was that the Shop Stop fence stock was not square. Very disappointing! The fence on the gage is square ( to the table) but the added Shop Stop Fence is not square to itself. Their tech department told me that this was normal, that fence stock varied, and the solution (which is described in the instructions) is to shim between the v-27 fence and the protractor so that it will now accept the new out of square fence stock. Not my idea of very good quality since replacement fence stock (from another vendor) is quite square and much cheaper. I am very happy with the durability of the gage and given it's limitations I still think it's a good buy. I would not buy the fence again.
We also have the 1000 SE on the job. This fence is much more versatile as it will turn past 90 degrees. If you need to repeat a 75 degree cut, this gage will do it. The situation this creates is that the protractor is very large. Even though the bar is longer, there is not much more bar forward of the protractor than there is on the V-27. A little short for my taste but again the t slot helps. This gage is repeatable at any angle as it does have a pointer showing you to the
1/10th of a degree. Both gages have adjustment to tighten to your table slot. The V-27 has only three adjusters pushing all in one direction. The 1000 SE has 4 sets(if I remember) of 2 adjusters which adjust in both directions. I find this somewhat redundant but we also find that this weakens the bar on the SE considerably. It's not uncommon for us to have to straighten this bar. Not side to side but up and down. If you lift the gage before the t slot piece is out of the slot or have much weight on the gage as it hangs off the front of the table the gage can be bent. Our opinion is that with two adjusters right next to each other (there are 4 sets) so much material is removed from the bar that it loses strength at these points. We have never experienced this problem with the V-27 bar (or any other gage for that matter). The SE came with the Flip Stop expanding fence and Flip Stop. Again, the Flip Stop is in a drawer somewhere and so is the fence extension. Interestingly The Flip Stop fence stock on the SE was square and the gage was ready to go out of the package with no tuning (or shimming) required.
If you need a generic "beater" gage, get the V-27 and buy some fence stock elsewhere.
If you need a more versatile gage, with more precision at odd angles, the 1000 SE is the way to go.
On Fri, 26 May 2006 09:44:25 -0600, Leon wrote (in article ):
I have a 1000. Big move up from the factory Delta unit. All the gripes reported here are valid but in my opinion they are really just minor annoyances. SInce I bought the 1000, many more types/designs have shown up in the market place so you do have a choice.
To cut wider parts and potentially avoid the conditon Leon states above, I reverse the miter gauge in the slot so it rests against the outfeed edge of the board (i.e. "pull" the board through the cut).
My gauge has three slot width "adjusters" and the most annoying thing is when one of them leaves the slot at the end or beginning of a cut, the gauge tends to shift slightly to one side.
I have both the 1000 and the 2000 models and would not trade either of them for a different brand. The 1000 is used for the smaller, normal work for typical projects. But you said you would be making cabinets and such where you'll most likely be cutting some large panels and working with some heavy woods. The 2000 is a work horse and rock solid ! Accuracy is a given and dead-on.
When I purchased these about 4 years ago, Woodpeckers was offering a deal on the fence's (18", 36" and 52") and stops. I have and use all 3 lengths and both types of stops. The 2000 with the 54" fence and a stop is great for cutting panels and cutting large, heavy pieces.
While I agree with the other Bob...(I have a 2000) I really do not like it...just too heavy, and too cumbersome to use....
I've had mine for years (10 is a good rough guess) and for at least 9 of those years I wish I had bought the 1000.... which I still have NOT purchased....
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