I have been using a Kreg miter gauge for about 6-8 years now and have been berry happy with it. Until now.
Today I pulled the brass idexing pin out and adjusted for a 22.5 degree cut and replaced the indexing pin. Felt tight. With difficulty I pulled it out after the cut and returned it to the 90 degree setting. Then I had to make that 22.5 degree cut again and the brass indexing pin would not come out. Pliers and finally vice grips would not do any thing but twist the pin. I finally had to use a drift to bound the pin out from the bottom side and the pin is still way too tight to put back down the hole.
Any recommendations on another brand?
Those that might suggest the Osbourne or the Delta version need not do so, been there done that.
Incra has been a consideration but I do often cut wide boards and I don't want the gauge hanging off the table.
JessEm looks great but is out of production, apparently they could not maintain tolerances.
First thing I'd do is call Kreg and see if they have any sage advice.
I don't understand what you mean by "hanging off the table". If you mean you want a gage without an attached fence, Incra has several of them, and the fence can be removed from any of them without any difficulty.
I am actually looking real hard at that one, on line. ;~)
Which side of the blade do you use yours? My Kreg was easily and quickly switchable, it took 3 or 4 seconds to readjust the fence from one side to the other.
I prefer cutting on the left side of the blade but for longer pieces I switch over to the right side.
Say your board is 12" wide, most all but the smallest of gauges have to hang off the front side of the fence to allow room for the board to sit. The higher end Incras typically stick out way back behind the fence. Basically I am not too sure how much of the guide bar ends up being out of the slot.
About as much as on the miter gage that typically comes with the saw.
You're not obligated to use the Incra fence with the Incra miter gage. If it's too thick you can bolt on a piece of blind stop molding or whatever else you find to be of appropriate thickness.
So far you would have to be a mind reader to have a clue what I am talking about, that is not your fault. ;~)
What I am really trying to say is I am more concerned with what is actually behind the miter gauge fence. The fence is not the problem as much as the miter gauge it self, behind the fence.
My Kreg jig guide bar is 24" long, 16" is in front of the fence and the gauge itself is only 6" deep. The incra jigs tend to use up a lot of the bar behind the fence. It appears in the pictures that perhaps a much greater portion of some Incra guide bars may be hanging off the front edge of the TS when cutting wide boards or panels. I see that a possible problem if only 10~12 inches of the bar is in front of the fence. Ill have to take a hands on look.
Looks like a less expensive re-branded Osborne to me!
I personally use an Osborne and really like it for accuracy and stability but, I also keep a sled handy and use it far more than I ever thought I would.
Basicaly an Osbourn. I had an EB-2 Osbourne several years ago for a couple of days. The concept is good but the execution has an inherant flaw. The fence will swing to 45 degrees both ways. The telescoping arm in its closed position, 45 degree setting is plenty sturdy. That all goes out the window then going to the other 45 degree setting with the telescoping arm extended to its extreme. The one I had and the others in the store were very wobbly with the arm telescoped out. You could easily grab the fence and move it back and forth.
Might explain why you can get the real MaCoy these days for under $100. IIRC I paid about $180.
After some recommendations here on TS accessories, I went a bump up and got the Incra 1000SE. Waiting and looking, it came to me locally for 120 + the government. The HD was a contender. But the superior refinements of degree selection on the SE, confirmed by comparing accounts of experiences, prodded the decision.
I like it. My saw is left-tilt and it goes on the left side. No operation has commanded positioning it on the right yet. I'd guess it might take 5 minutes to switch it the first time, and a lot less once you get the motions on autoprogram.
The adjustable, expansive Teflon washers to snug up the miter bar in the slot had one out of position and three that did need the indicated tuning. If you expand them so the slot gets into the no-go zone, flip them up and set the slit line back further before adjusting.
If you want to cut degrees into tenths, it will. You can use the flip stop as a hold down on your board for operations where you aren't using it as a stop.
There was one slip in the directions. You need to loosen the clamp knob before peforming continuous angle adjustments in step 2 of "Changing Angle Settings". Honestly, if you a guy that far and didn't do it, put the traffic cone on the head...but they mentioned it where appropriate elsewhere and should have there.
A ball hex key is supplied for various adjustments. Were I to make a lot of them, I'd be replacing some of the frequently involved hex screws with thumbscrews. If the stop rods were graduated, that would have been nice too. The unit works well without those improvements. Will you be able to make finicky cuts measuring better than you can measuring and making a trial cut? No.
There's a toothed engagement strip to fix the positioning of the flip stop when it's moved. They give you a lifetime replacment on said strip. But if you honestly loosen the flip stop enough so it clears the strip when you move it, you'll never have to use the guarantee.
Would I buy it again? Hear the hearbeat. And I checked a range of reviews with a unanimous report of the same cardiac response.
Thanks for the review. At the moment my biggest problem with the Incras equiped with the flip stop and expandable fence is the hassle of switching sides.
The Kreg takes a couple of seconds with no tools, but it is not expandable. The Incra appears to take perhaps 5 minutes to switch from the left to the right side of the blade. And yes I use both sides about evenly.
You mention the HD as a contender, which one is that?
If I need to do accurate miters, I use my Dubby sled, each degree of adjustment requires about 1/4" of fence movement, basically it would be difficult to miss a setting with that much movement needed to change the angle 1 degree. The degree scale is at the opposite end of the fence pivot point.
Basically I like the flip stops and am not that concerned about multiple angle cuts since 99.9% of my cuts are at 90 degrees. I just want to know that if it looks like the gauge is set on 90 it absolutely is. The Kreg indexing pin assured me of that.
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