Incra positioners

[Spectric]

Hi

I can see that they provide high levels of accuracy but what about rigidity? A lot of router fences are attached at both ends whilst the Incra is totally central and I wonder how much if any delection can be measured on the ends of a fence attached to an Incra positioner. The reason I ask is that if you want to control position of say a guide rail you could use the Seneca parallel guides at £238 but an Incra positioner would provide more options, ie use the incra fence system or a simple rail for handheld routing, there are more options.

 

[Spectric]

I need to expand on this a little, if you are just using the positioner on a router fence I cannot see any issues as the workpiece just moves across the cutter, but when you use the Jessem clearcut guides you are puting a lot more force into the router fence due to the guides, will this impart any movement on the Incra positioner?

 

[PAC1]

I have never encountered any flex in use the system is well engineered and very solid. If you are just looking at a fence to pass material along then I would not get the Incra. If on the other hand you wish to machine joints and dados etc then the Incra has a lot to offer and it works as a fence to pass materials along with repeatability and fine adjustment to 0.1mm. The biggest issue for me is the space it takes up. You need 1m behind the fence (so it is on wheels) The Jessem guides work well with the fence I have them on mine. To get the best out of them you need to build the additional fences as the hight is limited with the standard fence.
edited to correct typos

 

[Spectric]

Hi PAC

Thanks for the reply, that's what I wanted someones hands on experience now I will look at all the options and capabilities and see if it is something I will use. There seems to be several fences and add ons so plenty to research, shame the North of England woodworking show has been cancelled.

 

[MikeK]

I have the JessEm Clear-Cut guides for my router table with the 17-inch Incra positioner and haven't noticed any increase in the amount of force required to feed items through the cutter. I have to use an unreasonable amount of force on the infeed end of the router fence to notice any movement of the fence. I haven't put a dial gauge on the fence yet, but will the next time I use it.

 

[Spectric]

Hi Mike

Two confirmations on its rigidity which is great, so we have precision and something solid so now just to finish looking at all the options and if it can be justified expense wise because this would be an expensive route as an accurate fence leads to an accurate lift plate, etc etc!!

 

[shed9]

Another plus here, running a positioner with clear cut guides and no concerns with rigidity. Solid system, no regrets for me.

Peter Sefton is the best source for this (in my opinion). I have a fair bit of Incra in my work shop and Peter has been hands down the best supplier for it.

 

[Lonsdale73]

I love my Incra