Miter Gauges

[durango dude]

Man - I miss my BT3000 -------

I have an old 1950s vintage Craftsman contractor saw. I bought it for the cast iron table top.

In any event - I'm going to build a lot of boxes that will work best with a good miter gauge,
and stops on the gauge.

My two finalists were:
- Kreg
- Wood River (Woodcraft).

I bought the Wood River unit, since it's on sale right now.

I did look at the Incra ----- hands-down the most precise miter gauge made -------- but I didn't like the cost.
Kreg and Wood River are for all practical purposes --- identical.

Assembly was easy. The gauge needed a little adjustment to fit into the saw's slot ----- but it fits great, now.

My big need right now is repeatability. The stop block makes that easier.
Kreg, Wood River, and Incra all have stop blocks.

I read (but did not confirm) that Kreg's stop block can move a little. Woodcraft didn't have a Kreg on display, but
I did see that Wood River's stop block is pretty robust. It was also $50 less.

If money was no object, I'd have an Incra. On sale, though - the Wood River is $100 less.

[leehljp]

I don't think you will regret getting the Wood River Gauge. I have always liked the idea behind the Incra and it accuracy, but I have alway been scared how fragile it looks. Yes it is well built, but will it withstand an accidental drop or two over the years. I am particular on handling my tools but I know things happen. I swear that I have never dropped the BT3000's fence but I have broke 3 of the back side blocks in 18 years. That is what drove me to get something beefier. I bought a Woodhaven Gauge 18 years ago and it is every bit as accurate today as it was then. And yes, I have dropped it a couple of times.

https://www.woodhaven.com/collection...xe-miter-gauge
https://www.woodhaven.com/collection...-flip-stop-kit

Accurate settings to within 1/60th degree; Accidental bumps don't move this one. Once set, it is set.

The Wood River looks very much like the Woodhaven one.

[Carlos]

I haven't used a Wood River, but my shop is full of Incras. They hurt to buy, but make me happy every time I use one. Others might be just as good, I don't know, but I do know that I can't imagine anything being better. I've got four different ones.

Kreg always strikes me as 99% perfect, but I constantly wish it was a tiny bit better. My Kreg bandsaw fence is good, maybe great, not quite perfect. Their clamping tools are pretty much perfect though. The marking and measuring...pretty darn good...never quite perfect.

[durango dude]

Loving my wood river. It's perfect for cutting pen blanks. I found a second use.... it's also great for aligning the rip fence.

I drop the blade, extend the gauge, then make sure it kisses the fence for the entire length.


If you like spending money, woodpeckers just came out with a pretty nice alignment kit.

[Carlos]

I have the Incra version of that. The Woodpeckers looks faster to use on the TS, but the Incra might be more useful on other tools where this one seems to be for the TS only. The Incra is two pieces of track bar at a 90, one slides into the slot. You can change that configuration to use it on other tools.

Yesterday I needed high precision for one build, and was so happy to have the Incra and Woodpecker's ultra-precise and REPEATABLE tools.