Incra TS-LS - 32" max rip??

[Ian Scofield]

I've seen numerous people say they can rip things wider than 32" on their
Incra TS-LS 32" fence. Anyone that has one, what's the widest you can rip?

I'm debating between the 32/52 but if the 32 can do wider cuts that may be
the perfect middleground.

[Todd Burch]

<Not answering your question, but…>

I recently spent a lot of time on the INCRA website, studying this fence system.

If I typically made smaller items, I would have sprung for this. But, I work with a lot of sheet goods and the FENCE itself didn't seem long enough (at 36" long) to support ripping or crosscutting sheets as good as other fences that have a longer (~42"+) FENCE.

[Earl McLain]

I've not done it Ian, but to achieve the additional capacity you would shift the rails to the right. On my saw, i could gain 8" just sliding over to the first mounting bracket, about 12" if i moved the left-most brackets over (didn't measure that).

@ Todd--i've got a 48" 80/20 extrusion that i've used a few times for that purpose--i just reset the main rule to allow for the difference. (first time i used it i just added the difference in thickness--wrong. Which is why i take the 10 seconds to move the tape measure!!)
earl

[Todd Burch]

Earl, I had no idea you could attach the 80/20 to the incra. Sun a beach. Sheet.

[J. Greg Jones]

You will want to watch the videos on the Incra site-it is designed for the carriage to be quickly moved on the fence rails to get the over 32" capacity. I have no plans to ever use the fence on the left of the blade, so I gained even more capacity by mounting the rails further to the right side of the saw. I measured it once-I believe I have about 58" of rip capacity with this setup. Also, I've never needed the fence to be longer-I've never had an issue ripping sheet goods.

[Earl McLain]

Earl, I had no idea you could attach the 80/20 to the incra. Sun a beach. Sheet.

Yep, best to use 80/20's t-nuts, but a pack of 20 or 25 was not too expensive and looks like a life-time supply. I think they come with either 1/4" or 10-32 threads, i use the 1/4" but it's a tight fit on the mounting plate. The slots on the Incra mounting plate offer an inch or so of vertical travel so you can adjust to fit. The Kreg fence extrusions work well also, i've used the one from my miter gauge, but can't recall why at the moment!!
earl

[ian maybury]

I have the 32in TS LS (metric version) on my Hammer K3 Perform with an 8ft slider - and cut 8x4 ply sheets from time to time. The extra long fence proves very handy at times. (see pic)

The slider changes the scene a little compared to a cabinet saw, in that most cuts are made with the ply clamped to the slider and aligned off the cross cut fence. I use the rip fence often too - it's very good when you want strips of a precise width because it requires much less set up than the slider, and is less error prone. (it's not dependent on getting two measurements accurately referenced off the slider to get a parallel cut) It's since it's supported from the centre good and rigid too. The positioning capability of the TS LS once experienced is hard to walk away from - both when rip cutting, and when using the rip fence as a stop to cut e.g. slots in a cabinet side using a dado cutter.

The issue of rip capacity still arises on the slider, because even when cutting off the slider you still need enough room for up to 48in of a sheet to pass over the rip table when cutting up an 8x4.

To the question. The slight inconvenience with the Incra in this situation is that the long travel version of the TS LS only has 32 in of travel. Which means that the paired T knobs on the mounting base have to be undone and the whole unit removed to make room or to reposition it for wider rips. On a cabinet saw it's a case of repositioning the TS LS against a second set of stops at the RH/rip end of the rails as in Greg's photo. Up to 32 in capacity uses a pair of stops at mid distance along the rails.

My biggest concern with doing this was that repositioning/re-installing the TS LS risks disturbing the saw blade toe out setting. It's taken a year and more for me to finally accept that handled right it's not an issue. I've found that while it needs care (making sure that the mounting base is pushed hard up against the stops, and also fully down into position - and making sure the fence assembly doesn't get heavily bumped or dropped while it's off the saw) that it somehow (remarkable for a set of aluminium extrusions) goes back every time to within around about 0.001in or so of blade toe out. (measured using a Woodpeckers saw dial gauge - I have the check off to a tee now so it only takes a minute or two)

It's very important if you are chasing accuracy with the TS LS to do a careful installation job - to ensure that the rails end up very accurately parallel to each other in both axes, in the same plane and at the same height so that there's no twisting of the TS LS. So that it lies 'dead' on the rail and stays exactly where it's put. I've a feeling that this may be the cause of the very odd negative review the unit gets - most that use one seem quickly to fall in love…

k3 with incra rip fence.jpg

PS there's a simple mod i posted before that makes setting toe out on the TS LS very simple and predictable...

[Earl Rumans]

I have the TS/LS on my Jet Xacta saw and although I don't have my rails shifted as much J Greg does, I get 31¾ in cut without moving anything. I could still move the bolts back a little and get a full 32 inches, this is with the fence being able to extend all the way to the blade. Or I could put a set of bolts at the end of the rails and gain about another 8 inches, for a 40 inch cut but the fence wouldn't reach the blade in this position. The Incra fence is amazing with all the capability's it has. Here is a pic of my setup, at 31¾, with my router table extension.

[Earl McLain]

I have the TS/LS on my Jet Xacta saw and although I don't have my rails shifted as much J Greg does, I get 31¾ in cut without moving anything. I could still move the bolts back a little and get a full 32 inches, this is with the fence being able to extend all the way to the blade. Or I could put a set of bolts at the end of the rails and gain about another 8 inches, for a 40 inch cut but the fence wouldn't reach the blade in this position. The Incra fence is amazing with all the capability's it has. Here is a pic of my setup, at 31¾, with my router table extension.

Nice set-up Earl R. For those looking--the silver bolt head on the rail at the end of the miter slot is a stop. Loosen 4 wing knobs on the carriage (2 on each end, black), lift the carriage and fence, rotate 180 degrees, set it against the stop bolts and he's centered on the router table. Maybe a one minute job to flip around.

With my shop configuration, i'm going to replace my left wing with a router table, then all i'll have to do is set a stop, loosen the carriage and slide it to the left stop. Only hitch in my approach is that i'll have to remember to lower the saw blade!!

earl

[Earl Rumans]

Earl that is the easier method but you can't do that with the Jet because the motor is on the left. I tried the router setup that Incra recommends and just didn't like trying to work in the middle of the table. I flipped the table around and it's just like having a separate router table. Like you said it only take a couple of minutes to flip the fence around and the beauty of the system is everything remains in perfect alignment. I can go back and forth between saw and router without worrying about anything changing on the fence. When I go back to saw mode, from router mode, the fence is in perfect alignment. I have checked it many time when I first set this up and it was always perfect. Here is a pic of the fence in router mode.

[Ian Scofield]

Thank you all for the detailed responses and the pictures. What a few of the users have done is exactly what I plan on doing in combining my table saw and router table since I'm working out of my garage which drastically limits space.

I had another question regarding if you could flip the slider around to use the fence the other way for a routing table, but you guys addressed that as well. I'm excited to pull the trigger on the TS LS fence and combine it to finally get my router table built.

Thanks for all the replies