Should I bother finding a saw with a DRO or figure out how to attach my Incra?

[Kurt Wyberanec]

Kurt my take on this ,you need to connect with someone to try out a sliding saw. You are way over thinking every aspect of what and how and why that would be crystal clear in like half an hour of use. I found so many things were so intuitive as soon as I made a few cuts. Myself I use the whole saw, what I mean is that I figure the rip fence on the right is meant to be used. I rip with it, use it constantly as a bump stop to cut quick repeatable pieces and if I need a piece say 24''x 30" I will set my crosscut fence for one dimension on the wagon and my rip fence for the other. Make one cut then flip piece 90 degrees and make the other cut. I think that just using what is there to begin with will alter your world, worry about upgrades after you have a slider and have used it for a while. Hope this helps you.

Thanks Mike, I totally hear you and I have played around with a few... most of my questions are related to the purchase not the use... I'm frustrated with trying to find a used saw that has everything in looking for (only 1 or 2 so far and couldn't get them) and most new ones are beyond my budget...I guess what I'm looking for is people's opinions who have used both dro and incra and can help me decide which is better for what I need

As I said I already have the incra so would be great to use it unless I sell it but it might be more frustration trying to adapt it than it's worth, a dro might prove an even better option or more difficult I don't know. I used one recently and it was accurate but I noted 2 things....a) it was definitely slower to dial in than my incra b) because they have difference reference ability it might be easier to make mistakes if I don't take the time to notice which origin.

Right now I have 3 saws on my plate, 2 would require either an add on dro or adaptation of the incra, the other comes with a dro.... problem is comparing that with their relative prices to what they would cost me all in.... balancing act trying to figure out which features are worth what to me