Just Installed Colliflower Cube

[smorgasbord]

[member=77266]smorgasbord[/member], your adaption of the Incra fence to the Kapex is brilliant. I wish I'd thought of that before getting my Cube -- the big thing that I don't like about the Cube (and the stock Kapex fence) is how far my Incra fence ends up away from the blade.

One way to improve that is to make an offset block that's some nice round fixed (and accurate!) dimension, like 30cm or 12", and use that against the flip stop for cuts where the stock wouldn't reach the Incra fence, then subtract that off the tape reading.

One thing I found today with my setup is that my insert block needs to be a bit wider. My saw can cut 60º to the right, which means the blade could hit the Incra fence in its current location even without beveling. I got around that by using a spacer block against the fence so the back of the blade didn't reach there, but I think the better solution might be to move the Incra fence to the left a bit more and make my insert blocks wider. I was cutting the ends of angled legs for my revised tablesaw outfeed table (like I said, I'm doing shop projects these days while I heal enough to lift big panels again), and the needed cuts were 35º and 55º to create a 90º tip that fits inside the outfeed with rear apron.

One really nice thing about not using sacrificial add-on fences is that on most saws I expect the vertical pivot axis (miter angle axis) to be in line with the front of the stock metal fence. When you have a replaceable insert in that same plane, the front kerf doesn't get (much) bigger when you cut different miter angles. When I had sacrificial fences, the ¾" offset meant that each different miter angle cut widened the front kerf a lot and so I was constantly needing to move those fences inwards. With the Cube I expect the same good kerf behavior would also be true.

 

[Mini Me]

This is so weird. Due to shoulder surgery, I've been limited in what I can do in the shop, so I've mostly done shop improvement projects that don't involve lifting heavy pieces of wood. I recently completed a shop-made fence for my router table and today just put the finishing touches on my miter saw fence. I just happened to read this thread now, and was surprised to see my insert solution is pretty similar to the Cube, which I knew nothing about until a few minutes ago.

Here's my setup:
[attachimg=1]

Basically, what I decided to do is remove the stock fence on the left hand side and install a 52" Incra fence. For my Bosch glider, I had to machine a block of aluminum to be able to attach the fence using the back T-slot, which enables me to quickly move the fence out of the way should I do a bevel cut more than 30º or so.

What I like about the Incra fence is that 1mm racks into which the flip stop locks, so once adjusted I'm dead nuts on the millimeter for every cut, and it's repeatable. If I do need sub-mm accuracy, I can choose 1 mm further out and slide the rod in a quarter or half millimeter. The flip stop interlocks with the fence so it indexes mitered ends pretty well, too.

Anyway, for the insert I took advantage of the Incra profile:
[attachimg=2]

To create a protrusion on the insert that fits into the bottom rectangle. I drilled and tapped for a screw from the back to lock the insert in place. Originally, I cut the block with a rectangular protrusion, and then thought it would be easier to attach a rectangular protrusion to the block with a small domino, and then realized that a 14mm domino was good enough fit given the rear tightening screw:

[attachimg=3]

Then I slide the stock right hand fence up against the block, and it's quite solid:

[attachimg=4]

The use of the domino was a real breakthrough for this design, as I could adjust the DF700 fence and tape a gauge block to the side against which the DF700’s flip stop registers to precisely place the domino so that the front edge of the insert block aligns even with the Incra fence.

I'm now thinking of adding another 36" or so of Incra fence so that I can cut longer stock with the Incra index accuracy.

I did much the same thing with my Glide but I am going to ditch the Incra Fences and install a DRO each side.

 

[smorgasbord]

I did much the same thing with my Glide but I am going to ditch the Incra Fences and install a DRO each side.

DRO’s are great - I have them on my tablesaw rip fence and drum sander thickness - but for crosscuts I think a flip stop is essential, like on a miter gauge or mitersaw. Will your DROs be fence or table mounted, will the stop flip, and how close to the blade can they get?

My point on mitersaw sacrificial fence offsets holds regardless of analog or digital.

 

[Mini Me]

I will model it somewhat on this but I will use a fence and flip stops using 8020 or similar. Embedding it in the bench does not sound like a good idea to me because I think the track will accumulate debris in it and that sounds like a problem going somewhere to happen. With DRO's for $50 each it is now feasible to use multiple flip stops on one fence.

 

[ChuckM]

My Kapex (EB), in its original form and shape, can produce flawless three-way miters like this almost in just one take. I've only added a sacrificial fence and Fastcap ZCI to the saw:

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

Call me lucky (I think not). I've heard people on this forum, complaining about their brand new Kapex (EB or REB).

 

[darita]

Wow…this Colliflower thread sure did morph.

 

[ChuckM]

The majority of threads are like that, and that actually helps drive forum discussions.

 

[smorgasbord]

With DRO's for $50 each it is now feasible to use multiple flip stops on one fence.

I've not seen a DRO with a flip mechanism. Do you have plans/photos?