Incra vs Kreg

[jonmulzer]

I am looking to buy a miter gauge for use on my my BT3. I was really wanting to get the Kreg because I like its simplicity but then while looking on Woodcrafts site I notice that the INCRA 1000SE is on sale for $140 so just about the exact same price. Money is not a major object, I am willing to pay for what I want but it does knock one consideration out. So for those of you that have used one or the other or hopefully both, which do you prefer?

Is the Incra able to be used on the right of the blade? I really prefer my miter gauges on that side so it that is not possible then that solves the argument. The only reason I am really considering it over my first choice is that it has a longer limit for the flip stop so I could use it for longer pieces but then again we are only talking about 6" more.

Does anyone have any sage advice about where to spend my $140 of sorta hard-earned money?

[steve-norrell]

I have the INCRA 1000SE and am completely satisfied with it. I have no reservations about recommending it. The only recommendation I would have would be to consider purchasing the longer fence.

I have never used the Kreg so I can't compare one with the other.

Good luck, Steve.

[poolhound]

Jon,

The only "sage advice" will depend on wether you have only the dual miter slot table or if you have built your own with a T slot miter track.

When I first added my dual miter slots I went and got a miter gauge (Incra V27) and took it back within a week. The problem is that the BT has only a very short distance from the front of the saw to the blade. without a T slotted miter gauge this makes cross or angled cuts with a miter gauge very limited and worse still if you try to get just a little bit further away the gauge will just flip out of the slot.

Although it has numerous other issues the SMT gets around this due to its sliding design enabling longer cuts. I very rarely use mine and built both cross cut and miter sleds which due to their greater depth and mass wont tip unless you really pull them way back.

99% of my cuts are either straight cross cuts or 45 degrees and if I need something else I use the SMT, CMS or BS.

If you know you will be cutting lots of odd angles you may want to consider one of these although it basically does the sames as the SMT.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18063

[rnelson0]

I have the Incra 1000SE and love it. It can be used on the right hand side but is not really designed for it. The extendable fence is designed to extend to the left. I am not sure if you could do it the other way. You can certainly use it without the fence extended, assuming your miter slots are evenly spaced on either side of the blade.

[steve-norrell]

I agree with both poolhound and melsonO and should have mentioned that in my first post, especially the part about the miter fence "tipping out" if you don't use tracks such as the INCRA version that has real T-slots. Here is a picture of the miter slots I built to accommodate the 1000SE. I almost always use the slot that is farthest away from the blade.

Regards, Steve

[jonmulzer]

I went against the majority. I picked up the Kreg. I got off work early today and swung by Woodcraft and after looking them both over I was up in the air. The Kreg will do everything I could conceivably need it to but the INCRA certainly has more features. I like the simplicity of the Kreg though. Then the salesman there told me he could knock 15% off the Kreg but could not do the same for the INCRA since it was already on sale so I took the Kreg for ~$115. I am happy with it. Like most Kreg products, it just works. Now I just need to get the miter track inlayed into the table I built for the BT3 so I can use my new miter gauge.

[drlien]

Is the Incra able to be used on the right of the blade?

Yes, it requires a bit more set up time, since it comes out of the box ready for the left side. I use it on the right side and the extension portion extends to the right.