Incra Mitre Gauge or Sliding Carriage for Table Saw?

[bp122]

Hello everyone.

I'm a newbie to both, UKWorkshop and Woodworking with power tools.

After moving from a second floor flat to a house with a garage, I finally got myself a small Table saw (Axminster AC216TS)
Made a stand for it to sit on, just about assembled it to realize that the saw didn't come with a mitre gauge (even an entry level one)

I looked online, there are a few options out there.
Everyone raves about the Incra mitre gauges (V120 / V27) which cost about £99 and £75 respectively from wood workers workshop.
I also looked at the Axminster sliding carriage, which is £129.

Now some people say making a sled from scratch is better, some say making a sled with Incra or other precision mitre gauge is better, others say sliding carriage is better and safer. I intend to buy once and get the best I can possibly afford (new or used!)

What would be a real difference to a newbie like me where the cost difference is just £30? The extra space for the sliding carriage isn't a huge issue for me either.

The main projects I'm planning are small cabinets, boxes, photo frames, shelves, slats - in the short term.
Long term I want to expand on these.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards and thank you.
bp

 

[Lonsdale73]

I have an Incra V120 and I love it. I added an Incra telescopic fence and flip stop to it which took it's total cost way beyond £129.

I also have a dual function sled; put it in one way and it gives me zero clearence cuts at 90 degrees, rotate it 180 degrees and it allows 45 degree cuts. Incra style sliders can be bought off that well known auction site for around £9 for an 18" length.

I don't have and never have had a sliding carriage. I think one clear advantage they offer over either a mitre gauge or sled is a capacity to handle wider boards/longer cuts. As an example, if I have the Incra in its such that it is secure (ie SAFE) and doesn't have the handle hanging off the front of the saw, the maximum width of wood I can cut safely is determined by the distance between front face of the fence and the leading (cutting) edgeof the blade, which in my case was about 10". You might find that a bit limited for cabinet making and (I think) the sliding carriage might prove a better option.

 

[Honest John]

I use incra mitres on my Axi TS250. I had to engineer new sliders for it as the TS250 slots are not 19mm. I took some trouble to get the slider accurate and adjustable as the original was and this works very well for smaller cuts as had already been alluded to. I have the Axi sliding table for this saw and after setting up and fine adjusting works very well for bigger but not very bigger cuts. The major downside to it is the enormous size increase of the saw, just in case I need to cut something that won’t fit between the blade and the mitre. In the end I took the sliding table off and use a track saw for the few occasions that I need the bigger capacity. I also use a Festool Kapex sliding mitre for comfortably cutting stock that is uncomfortably wide for the table saw and mitre. The table saw excels at some tasks, ripping, cutting segments on a wedgie sled for instance, but requires a huge amount of space and extra tables if you are going crosscut work of any size. I can’t afford that in my small workspace, so the otherwise excellent sliding table (for me) is a non starter just because of the space requirements. I use an Incra 1000 (with home engineered slider) on my table saw and also the incra fence and flip stop. I also use a v120 on my bandsaw and disc sander which both have 19mm slots. The build of the Incras is superb, and even on my bandsaw allows very repeatable cuts when for instance when building patterned or segmented pen blanks like Celtic knots for example. The repeatability is important here rather than the exact angle. If you’ve got loads of room then the sliding table would be very good. If you haven’t then I would look at other options. I wouldn’t like to be without a table saw, but mine never seemed to work out like Norm Abraham’s where he has acres of space and huge infeed and out feed tables. Just my experience, and I hope it may be of help to you.

 

[MikeJhn]

I have the TS250 fitted with the sliding table, I don't think I have every used the mitre gauge as the arm from the sliding table will reach the blade so distance is not an issue, one thing though no matter how you set up or whatever sliding device you make it will not be accurate enough for making picture frames whose joints come under intense scrutiny, a Nobex hand mitre saw is just about accurate enough, but a guillotine to finish off with is even better.

 

[bp122]

Thank you very much for your responses, Lonsdale73 and Honest John,

What you both said has been very helpful.
I would prefer if my mitre cutting system (sliding carriage or the Incra) take up as little space as possible (as anyone else would), and what you both said about the sliding carriage not being able to do a great deal more than a much smaller in size Incra, I feel Incra is a smarter choice. Plus I also have a track saw which I can use for really wide stuff.

With the Incra then, which model would you recommend:
1. V27 / V120 and build the slider, stop and the fence using standard bits available online
2. Just save up and fork out on the 1000HD/SE to have all the bells and whistles

As someone who has never used any of them, I don't know what I don't know about them to make a smart choice, other than the fact that they differ in cost.

I understand these may be irritating questions which would make the veterans here roll their eyes and think, "here we go again, another silly person who's asking about buying rather than working or making", but I would like to get set up quickly and get to the aforementioned "working" sooner rather than later

Really appreciate your help.

 

[bp122]

I have the TS250 fitted with the sliding table, I don't think I have every used the mitre gauge as the arm from the sliding table will reach the blade so distance is not an issue, one thing though no matter how you set up or whatever sliding device you make it will not be accurate enough for making picture frames whose joints come under intense scrutiny, a Nobex hand mitre saw is just about accurate enough, but a guillotine to finish off with is even better.

Thank you, MikeJhn for your response.

I didn't know picture frames needed to be that thorough!
I'll keep what you said in mind.

 

[MikeJhn]

Its best to keep in mind that when someone is looking at a picture, they are also looking at the frame, ugly gaps in the mitre joint can spoil the whole effect.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Hello everyone.

I'm a newbie to both, UKWorkshop and Woodworking with power tools.

After moving from a second floor flat to a house with a garage, I finally got myself a small Table saw (Axminster AC216TS)
Made a stand for it to sit on, just about assembled it to realize that the saw didn't come with a mitre gauge (even an entry level one)

I looked online, there are a few options out there.
Everyone raves about the Incra mitre gauges (V120 / V27) which cost about £99 and £75 respectively from wood workers workshop.
I also looked at the Axminster sliding carriage, which is £129.

Now some people say making a sled from scratch is better, some say making a sled with Incra or other precision mitre gauge is better, others say sliding carriage is better and safer. I intend to buy once and get the best I can possibly afford (new or used!)

What would be a real difference to a newbie like me where the cost difference is just £30? The extra space for the sliding carriage isn't a huge issue for me either.

The main projects I'm planning are small cabinets, boxes, photo frames, shelves, slats - in the short term.
Long term I want to expand on these.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards and thank you.
bp

Interesting: I have the same saw, the same level of (non) skill, and the same plans for the future. I also didn't read the small print, so don't have a mitre guage for the saw.

Because I am not worried about size, I have been leaning toward getting the sliding table kit, for exactly the reasons you present - i.e. £30 extra, for bespoke kit for the saw, rather than a little knob with a plastic compass attached, which is all a mitre guage seem to be (bear in mind that I don't have one to judge). It seems to me that the sliding table will given better results on longer work - door stiles etc. Currently I cut everything down using some inaccurate hand saw, chop saw, circular saw etc, and then resaw on the table using a not-perfectly-accurate sled, which is accurate if you remember to pull it to one side (sloppy rails). This is fine, until the work gets over a couple of feet long, and then gravity sucks, as they say. A sliding table would resolve this, whereas a mitre guage wouldn't, especially as the table saw is skinny as a supermodel.

Please note that I don't have either guage or sliding table, but am also about to bite the bullet, so I am looking for advice leaning toward the sliding table, to "confirm my thinking" :lol:

 

[MikeJhn]

Double post.

 

[MikeJhn]

I have the TS250 fitted with the sliding table, I don't think I have every used the mitre gauge as the arm from the sliding table will reach the blade so distance is not an issue, one thing though no matter how you set up or whatever sliding device you make it will not be accurate enough for making picture frames whose joints come under intense scrutiny, a Nobex hand mitre saw is just about accurate enough, but a guillotine to finish off with is even better.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

BP, when I purchased my first tablesaw 25 years ago, I went for a Triton 2000, simply because that is what I had been using (borrowed) for 5 years before this. The Triton came with a mitre gauge, and with the option of an attachable/removable sliding table. I decided to purchase this as well.

It did not take long to realise that the slider was far superior to the mitre gauge for crosscutting boards. The problem was that I did not have much space and needed to slide the tablesaw against a wall to make room for a car (today the car lives outside! ). I wanted the slider and I wanted the car, and so I recognised that it would only work if the slider was compact. This led to my selling the Triton system and purchasing a tablesaw with a better attachable slider/crosscut system. The Axminster version is actually better than the one I had.

Two years ago I upgraded the tablesaw after using it for about 20-odd years. It was replaced by a Hammer K3 slider. That is yet another upgrade, and I shall not go into it here. However it reinforces my dedication to the slider system over a mitre gauge.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[bp122]

Thank you all for your suggestions and responses here.

Upon reviewing the finances after buying the table saw and a few other bits, I don't have the means to buy either the sliding table or the mitre gauge at the moment So I'll work with just my mitre saw (37 cm cross cut capacity)and tune it to give accurate enough cuts to the best of mine and its ability
And do some normal box projects to get some experience and then make a decision when there is enough pennies in the pocket. There are some inspiring DIY solutions out there which don't cost an arm and a leg, but the lack of experience on my end is something I have to deal with first, I feel.

Maybe I'll also try the sliding table at an Axminster store to see how it feels as well.

Once again, thank you very much for the information and suggestions - it is very much appreciated.

best regards
bp122