Incra - what's the point ?? ;o)

[RogerS]

I just bought a T-track and Shop Stop from Rutland to have a play with and now am thinking that I have got Imperial as I don't remember seeing the option on their site.

Yup...dammit....just checked their site and am cursing my impetuosity as the webpage clearly says 1/32" increments

 

[Neil]

Neil, think I may have to drop in with you next time I'm down your part of the world, which might be in a week or two.

Excellent, Noely - you are very welcome. If only I hadn't done that DM-tools order yesterday - I could have had it sent to you and saved the £45 delivery charge!

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Noel]

Let me know anytime in the future.

Noel

 

[tim]

Only just read this one-I have an Incra Ultra-lite

Which one? There seem to be 3 versions of this alone 12 1/2, 16 and 24".

I'm also pretty confused about what comes with what and more importantly what is needed to do what.?

Now there's a sentence in good England grammar like when I was a children! :shock: :roll:

A review would be fab in time but just for the less familiar (okay - me then), can anyone who has experience of these fences, give a really quick comparative overview.

I've read up the stuff on Incra's site and one thing I can't work out is why I really need to be able to put 2ft between the cutter and the fence.

Like all of these bits of kit, I'm always curious to know what i would be really missing out on if I went for the basic model.

Cheers

Tim

 

[davidc1075]

If anyone is considering incra gear or woodpecker I have just bought an extreme extension from www.woodworkersworkshop.co.uk tel 01491 629 699. It was delivered within 24 hours and got a follow up call as well. He was cheaper than anywhere else that I could source it from and I have compared the prices of the incra fences which work out on average £20-40 cheaper than another major UK source but one or two items were about the same price. He does claim to be able to get you anything by these two companies, may be worth a telephone call if it can save you some money. His web site is being updated to include some new pages I couldn't find the Incra on there but all the details were sent with my delivery. Dave

 

[Neil]

Hi Tim,

Philly and I both have the Ultra-Lite which is the baby with 12.5" travel.

Then we have the Ultra, which comes in 17" and 24" versions, although I'm not sure who sells the 17" in the UK.

Then there are the new models which use a lead screw instead of racks - I think they have 25" travel.

For a router table, I don't think there is any need for more than the 12.5" Ultra-Lite model, but Chris, Tony and Waka may disagree! The biggesr ones do have nicer features as well as more travel - things like a much better , microadjustable track stop and suchlike.

They all come with the right-angle fixtures. The Ultra-Lite only comes with two Incra templates, the Ultra comes with about 50 I think.

I'll try to do a mini-review ASAP so that you can at least see what you get in the box, and how it works. No extensive demos of joint cutting I'm afraid!

Cheers,
Neil

 

[tim]

Thanks Neil - speedy and helpful response. Its exactly the sort of info I'm after re microadjustability etc.

Do you use yours for sliding DTs etc? Are you pleased with the accuracy and adjustability settings?

What do the 48 other templates do?

Cheers

T

 

[Aragorn]

Neil
I'll second that thanks for a simple overview.
I'm also interested to hear more about everything Tim has asked.

 

[Neil]

Hi Tim,

I haven't used it for sliding dovetails yet, but it would be ideal for these. Very pleased with accuracy, and in particular, repeatability. Re: adjustability, the racks work really well and it is so quick for making changes in intervals of whole numbers of mm if you see what I mean. For smaller adjustments, the micro-adjuster is fine, but I would like it to 'click' for each 1/256" or 0.1mm - I think it is supposed to, but I don't think mine does. This is a very minor grumble though. Adjustment to the nearest 1/512" or 0.05mm is easy, and I'm not too worried about adjustment finer than this!

Hopefully one of the Ultra owners will confirm what the other templates are - as far as I know, they are things like box joints of various sizes, various dovetails, double-dovetails, maybe even triple-dovetails for all I know!

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Chris Knight]

My 24 inch model comes with a stack of templates for both dovetails and box joints. They cover a range of timber thicknesses and bit sizes, also double and double double dovetails. I don't use the dovetail ones and have used maybe two or three of the box joint ones.

As I have mentioned in the past, the Incra is best for jointing (dovetails/box joints) smaller dimensioned stock - like boxes. As you go up in size, the Woodrat and Leigh jigs start to become handier in my view. A main reason is that for cutting dovetails and box joints, the tailboard must be held vertically which is hard to do with a long heavy board stood on end on the router table - a lot easier hanging from the clamps in a Woodrat or Leigh. If one were to do this with the Incra, that is a reason to have a big distance from fence to cutter on the router table (dovetailing a wide carcase side for example). As I don't do this, I have not found that distance really necessary and as Tony mentioned elsewhere, I could happily cut 6 inches off my jig without penalty. A big distance could be useful to cut a housing in the ,middle of a shelf perhaps but I usually do that with a hand held router and a clamped on guide. I can and do use the Incra to make the matching male part of the dovetail or sliding tongue, if the piece is not too long - if it is, I will use the Rat.

My fine adjust is calibrated in thousandths of an inch. Tony published a PDF file to replace this with a metric calibration for folk who use the grgeen metric racks.

 

[tim]

Thanks Chris.

As you go up in size, the Woodrat and Leigh jigs start to become handier in my view. A main reason is that for cutting dovetails, the tailboard must be held vertically which is hard to do with a long heavy board stood on end on the router table - a lot easier hanging from the clamps in a Woodrat or Leigh.

Thats what i thought the main reason might be.

Was there any other particular reason why you went for the 24" one vs the 16", if you are happy to lose 6" - I'm assuming therefore that the 8" difference wouldn't make much odds?

Cheers

T

 

[Chris Knight]

Was there any other particular reason why you went for the 24" one vs the 16", if you are happy to lose 6" - I'm assuming therefore that the 8" difference wouldn't make much odds?

Tim,
I got it without doing enough thinking/research!

 

[tim]

Tim,
I got it without doing enough thinking/research!

Sorry

I've got a workshop full of those tools - hence my neverending stream of questions now!:lol:

T

 

[ColG]

I researched all of the Incra jigs as I liked the fact that it could be used on the router table.

I settled on the 17" LS Super System which I've ordered from the states. This includes the Wonder Fence which itself is micro adjustable.

However, I purchased a new Ultra Lite of ebay as I'm still waiting for delivery of my main system. Am I impressed? Definitely. One of the biggest advantages that I can see to the system is the fact that you can swap the system between different machines in your workshop.

For example, you can use it on your table saw to give you a highly accurate fence, you can use it on your drill press for accurate drilling as well as your router table.

I agree, you need a bigger router table but you could always add an extension if you didn't want to go to the trouble of building a new router table.

One of the best sites I found to explain and demonstrate practical use of the Incra Jig was http://www.woodshopdemos.com/menu2.htm

I looked at the Rat but was put off by the fact you needed a wall which in my small workshop (AKA Shed) was not practical - plus the cost of the thing. My sister went the Leigh route and whilst I was impressed, straight out of the box as it were, I got better results cutting DT on the Incra PLUS you don't have to spend another arm and a leg to get the Box Jointing template.

The Incra is very well engineered and I think is really good value for money when compared to most of the other "professional" type jigs - I discount all the cheapy HBDT jigs you can buy - I have a Perform Yellow Devil which is used as a doorstop now.

As regards what my main use for it will be, initially, I want to get into box making using both DT and box Joints, I like the way Incra do their wooden hinges as well and yes, I was in part seduced by the fancy dovetails which I intend to have a got at when I get the time.

Not a review but just some thoughts on the Incra which I hope some find useful.

Col

 

[Chris Knight]

Col,

You will find the Wonderfence is very useful. It handles different bit sizes very well and the ability to easily offset the fence halves makes edge jointing easy.

I like the tee slots on the fence and tall extension - I use these to fix pieces of melamine chipboard which I can then use, for example, as zero clearance fences

 

[Neil]

Hi Gill, I've just posted a review of the Incra here, just for you!

Chris, Tony, Philly, Waka, Col - please fill in the gaps!

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Gill]

Hi Gill, I've just posted a review of the Incra here, just for you!

And it's well worth reading, too. Thank you ever so much for your efforts, Neil. I reckon this one is going onto my list for Santa (unless I can find a way to make Christmas come a little early this year ).

Gill

 

[Anonymous]

Was there any other particular reason why you went for the 24" one vs the 16", if you are happy to lose 6" - I'm assuming therefore that the 8" difference wouldn't make much odds?

Cheers

T

Tim

I too bought the 24" Incra and chopped 6" off the end of it. The reason? You can't buy the 16" one in England (at least I couldn't find a supplier)

 

[RogerS]

Tony...I know just what you mean. I am intending to experiment with the Incra T-track and ShopStop.

To my mind, you need two ShopStops and indeed you can buy them individually in the US. Can you get them over here from Rutlands? No way...

I went through all this when computers first started up...dollar for $ and all that. Plus limited (blinkered?) UK distribution plus zero interest from US companies in selling outside the grand old US of A. Sad to see that woodworking has the same/similar annoyances.

Rant over

Roger