Table Saw Miter Gauge Help or Suggestions?

I am looking at this miter gauge:

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have any experience and some feedback on it? I am primarily interested in it's durability with getting moved around very often, and with the accuracy of the miters.

I'm open to other suggestions too. Have always made do in the past, but looking for something a little better now. I CAN tell you that the stock miter gauge on my DW744 is terrible. No holes for attaching a longer guide, not much in the way of positive stops, etc., etc., etc....

Best place to buy would be helpful too. Thanks for any help or suggestions on it.

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Reply to
Xlat
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I used to have the 2000. Sold it a couple years ago, and upgraded to a 3000. The 2000 is a great tool, that served me well for several years, but the 3000 fits my needs better.

Both are of extremely high quality. Durability should not be an issue at all, as long as you treat it with the care that is appropriate to any precision tool.

Accuracy? Once you align your saw properly, and then align the miter gauge to the saw, they're dead-on perfect. There is no loss of accuracy whatsoever from changing angles repeatedly: switch to 45 deg to cut a few miters, then come back to 90 deg for crosscuts, back to 45, or any other angle, back to 90, as often as you want, and it's still dead-on perfect.

I found the design of the 2000 to have two significant drawbacks:

1) Moving the gauge from the left side of the blade to the right side, or vice versa, requires that the unit be partially disassembled. After reassembly, you need to realign it to the blade. This is a real PITA, and it is one of the reasons I switched to the 3000, which can be changed over from left-side to right-side use in moments by loosening two screws, moving the fence, and retightening the screws, all with no loss of accuracy. 2) Miters must be cut in the "closed" position (in which the force exerted on the wood by the sawblade tends to pull the stock *away* from the length stop). It's impossible to cut miters in the "open" position with the 2000.

Another difference between the 2000 and the 3000 that you shouldn't ignore is that the standard length stop on the 3000 (the FlipStop) is *waaaaaay* better than the standard stop on the 2000. (That's another reason I switched.)

If you haven't guessed by now... my principal suggestion for an alternative would be the Incra 3000.

Wouldn't hurt to have a look at the Dubby, too.

This might also be of some help: (watch for wrap)

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>Best place to buy would be helpful too. Thanks for any help or

Best place to buy either the Incra 2000 or the 3000 seems to be Woodpeckers .

At $160 for the 2000, and $179 for the 3000, IMO the 3000 is a no-brainer. It's easier to use, and the FlipStop alone is *easily* worth the extra $19.

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

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Reply to
Doug Miller

Thanks Doug, yep, for that little money difference, I'd go for the

3000 too from what you are telling me. I'll look into the dubby, and hoping for more feedback yet too. I'd bet you are right on the money though, because of your experience with the 2000 and 3000. Thanks again!!

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Reply to
Xlat

The miter gauge that comes with the PM66 was pretty useless and I bought the 2000. I've had it for a couple years and it still does everything I need. True, switching it from left to right is a PITA but I've done that exactly twice. If I need a right sider, I normally use the stock miter that I set carefully to the position I need. mahalo, jo4hn

Reply to
jo4hn

========================== I have owned this miter guage (Incra 2000) for maybe 5 years now..

Is it accurate...

you bet it is...no complaints on that score ..none at all

Is it easy to move around allot.... .

Royal pain in the A$$...too heavy, too combersome. Honestly mine gets very little use because it is NOT a tool that I enjoy pulling out... just a pain.

I though about replacing it with the low cost model... that Incra makes... I do not need all those angles...

Bob Griffiths

Reply to
Bob G.

Personally, have never felt the overwhelming need to spend money on accessories, so have no opinion on the above.

When it comes to cutting miters on a table saw, I use a sled and a batten tacked to the sled unless it is your basic 45 degree miter, then I use a special purpose sled designed specifically to cut these miters.

Layout the miter cut using trig dimensions, forget the angles, they simply allow for too much error, then attach batten to meet the line drawn on the sled and have at it.

A good drafting pencil and a straight edge are very helpful.

Very accurate and low cost.

HTH

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

I actually prefer the Miter 1000, with a sandpapered MDF fence, if I'm using a miter gauge.

99.99% of my 90 degree cuts are done with shop made sleds. A sled is a $20.00 90 degree sliding table.

Barry

Reply to
Ba r r y

takes up on the TS table top behind the fence? Last summer I upgraded to a better miter gauge and I was not impressed with the limitations of width that this miter gauge imposes. Anything over 8" wide and the gauge is hanging half way off the TS top. Something to consider. FWIW I ended up with the Kreg miter gauge.

Reply to
Leon

I mentioned my comments on this gauge on another post. But since you mention the Dubby also. I have had both left and right hand sides of the Dubby for about 4 years now. They work great. Simple, accurate, and VERY useful.

Reply to
Leon

I've had the 2000 for a number of years. It's VERY accurate but it's a pain to switch from angle cuts/left to angle cuts/right. Unless you have a need for 1 degree increments I suggest the Incra 1000SE.

Reply to
no(SPAM)vasys

I have an Incra 3000 that I plan to put on eBay -- would let it go for $150 plus shipping from 85282. will send pictures and full description if you are interested. Reason I'm selling is that I switched to a JoinTech SmartMiter.

Reply to
Herb Robinson

Well, I ordered the 3000 last night, thanks for the information and offers, but I think I'll be happy with the 3000, (or happier anyway!!)

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Reply to
Xlat

Woodhaven Deluxe. FWW gave it high marks.

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Reply to
Never Enough Money

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One poster mentioned he uses a sled for all his 90 degree cross cuts ...I do also...and I also have a sled set up for doing all my 45 degree miters... That reduces "my" need for using my Incra 2000 a hell of a lot.... If I ever decide to buy another Miter guage it will be something like the low priced Incra 1000 (couple of letters)

Never had much need to switch from the left side of the blade to the other ...IF I did ... I would not be very happy I guess...

Enjoy your 3000 ....

Bob Griffiths.

Reply to
Bob G.

I recently purchased the Kreg, and I gotta tell you, its very impressive. I'd been looking at the 2000 and the Excaliber, and had actually planned on purchasing the latter, but the local woodworker's store had stopped carrying them, and started carrying the Kreg. I had read reviews on them all, and decided WTH, why not. The kreg is a nice piece, and not too intrusive size-wise. There's a brass pin that locks the mitre at common angles, which is helpful and quick. Only drawback is that if you're not using one of those common angles, there's really no place to put the pin. Otherwise, it's a great accessory.

Reply to
Frank A

Another advantage, as I see it, is the Kreg allows you to tweak angles to almost any degree. If you needed a 22-sided box, for instance....

Reply to
Bruce Barnett

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