Phils Thien's miter sled and Incra gauge

[Michael Weber]

New thread so I don't highjack Phil's thread on his Miter sled. Nice job by the way Phil. His was the only reference I have read that said the Incra miter gauge was not spot on. Perhaps those references were to the 90 degree position only. I was planning on buying one of their models (probably the 1000SE) but now I am having doubts. Does anyone have any experience with the Incra miter gauge being inaccurate at any angle similiar to Phil's experience? Thanks, Mike

[Phil Thien]

So today I experimented a little with my Incra gauge. I used my Starrett to make sure that the miter bar was 90-degrees to the head. This is a little difficult due to the way the head on my Inca was made (it is a bent piece of steel that is thick enough that the bottom edge has a significant radius. I used a rule from one Starrett combination square (using it as a straight edge) to compensate for the radius, and used another Starrett combination square to check the angle between the bar and the head. I was positive I had it set to 90-degrees, but when I made a test cut my cut wasn't square (maybe off by 1-degree).

I tried using sandpaper to make sure the scrap I was cutting wasn't shifting during the cut. I tried making several cuts. The results were always off, but by what seemed like a consistent amount.

So I set the gauge to 45-degrees and did another test cut. My results were off by about the same as the 90-degree cut.

I imagine I am doing something wrong. But I'm happy with the miter sled. I set it to either 90 or 45 with the triangle or protractor and the cuts are always exactly what I expect. I was happy with the old miter sled but the new miter sled adjusts much more quickly.

[Tim Johnson]

I have a Incra miter gauge and once I set it up and squared it up, it has been a great performer. The only suggestion I would have is to make sure that everything is square and accurate before adding the miter gauge, so when you set the miter gauge up, everything will work correctly.

[Bill Wyko]

It had to be set up incorrectly. Incra is just dead on if you properly calibrate it.