Looking for a mitre gauge?

[smorgasbord]

..
A cut made with a miter gauge will still cut at 90°, even if the blade is not parallel to the miter slot. As long as your material tracks straight, you'll just end up with a wider kerf.

Typically you'd adjust the gauge to the slot, not the blade, as it's the reference your gauge tracks in. Most adjust their blade to the slot, allowing for the blade to be used to square your gauge.

Just to button this up:
• Imagine you're using the miter gauge on a router table. To what are you aligning the miter gauge fence? A round bit.
• The problem with aligning the miter gauge fence to the blade is that it introduces any error you may have had when you previously aligned your miter slot to the blade. It compounds errors.
• I actually find it easier to hold a try-square's body against the fence and the blade against the bar and then just tighten down, they raising the blade to have enough sticking up to measure against. Of course, the 5-cut method to fine-tune is best.

BTW, I have seen a simpler 2-cut method proposed (sorry, don't have a link). Starting with a straight edge against the miter gauge fence, make a 90 degree cut on one side, then flip the board upside down (keeping same edge against the fence) and make the other 90 degree cut. Then you measure the length of the board between the two cuts you made, and that's double the error. Not as accurate as the 4/5 cut method, as it "only" doubles the error, not quadruples it, but still it's quicker and easier and uses less math.

 

[Peter_C]

Last year I researched the heck out of miter gauges and got it down to two, the Harvey and the Jessem. *shrugs* I am happy with the Jessem. Price was a factor and the Jessem was found under an Amazon Warehouse deal.

Table saw sleds are a must have! Other than rip cuts, the table saw sled is used for the majority of other cuts by me. Tracksaw is the most often used saw though.

 

[ChuckM]

The cross-cut sled is indeed indispensable, and can't be replaced by a miter gauge. But there're times when the sled is simply not the right tool for the task, such as making this V-cut out, or when you need to make a tilted cut /dado cut, and don't want to ruin the kerf on the sled.

I haven't watched any of the videos mentioned in this thread, but tool reviewers, no matter who they're, may come from a background and with experience different from mine, and so I would treat their pitches with caution.

 

[Peter_C]

Seems like a track saw would do the job? At least that would be my tool of choice for those types of cuts.

Nice to see a Canadian, buying quality Canadian products  8)

 

[smorgasbord]

The cross-cut sled is indeed indispensable, and can't be replaced by a miter gauge. But there're times when the sled is simply not the right tool for the task, such as making this V-cut out, or when you need to make a tilted cut /dado cut, and don't want to ruin the kerf on the sled.

My sled can make that cut, at least as well as any circular bladed saw can make that cut. I would make that cut on the bandsaw myself, unless the stock was large, which case I might use a jig saw.

On my tablesaw the blade tilts to the right. I run both the rip fence and miter sled on the left-hand side of the blade, so tilting doesn't ruin the kerf there. I also have a replaceable strip on my sled that I can use for different blades, or when inevitable wear happens.

My sled is a variation of the Incra 5000 sled, pictured here:

Differences are that I have narrower replaceable strip at the right, I don't have a miter gauge mounted to the stop (just a pivot), and the left hand T-track runs at an angle, which enables more angles to be cut. I also have an adjustable stop mounted at the far left to return to a pre-tuned 90 degree angle cut.

 

[FestitaMakool]

I saw Stumpy nubs answer to Marc at TWW too.

My initial reaction was that Harvey reached out to Stumpy to counter act TWW review.
I like both Stumpy and TWW, they do seem quite reliable in the way they perform.
But, there will always be biases.

I believe Marc just stated some facts, indeed showing his experience there and then.
If one are open minded many of the tested mitre gauges are highly usable, so is probably the Harvey too.
True is that high end brands screw up from time to time, including “our” Festool.

What I liked bout TWW video is that he leaves most of the decision to the viewer to wich mitre gauge suits each one viewer best, which I think Stumpy missed out on that point. He didn’t do anything else than state his satisfaction with Harvey. That leads to a presumption that Stumpy’s video was “ordered”.

 

[ChuckM]

My sled is a variation of the Incra 5000 sled, pictured here:

Incra promotes that jig as having the best of both worlds -- a sled used with a miter gauge.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Perhaps the larger question is what do we really need from a miter gauge? I have a crosscut sled of my own design built with some Incra parts. It has a positive at the other end of the fence stop for 90 degrees and for other angles it has a moving lock down, somewhat similar to a Rockler sled. I suspect many tablesaw owners have a fixed 90 degree cross cut sled that's been 5-cut tuned, and so the question becomes what to do for other angles - and I'll argue that in all cases a sled is better than a miter gauge whether you're cutting big or small or normal pieces.

I personally can't see spending more than $200 for a miter gauge, and even then I'd want something I could build into a sled.

That was kind of my thought? But I'm in a fairly unique situation of having so many ways to go about it, that a mitergauge is a very minimally used/needed thing. As I said above, I had a Kreg years ago and had a much different experience than TWW. That was more than 10 years ago though, so who knows what has happened since? I never replaced it after the fire, so now all I have it the stock one to the SawStop. I think I have used it twice in the last two years?

 

[ChuckM]

Perhaps the question is not about sled or miter gauge...but about how many?! [big grin]

 

[smorgasbord]

Reminds me of this:

 

[Birdhunter]

I have an Accu-Miter from JDS. Is this the Jessem company? It looks like the Jessem miter gauge. It’s dead on square and extremely solid.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Perhaps the question is not about sled or miter gauge...but about how many?! [big grin]

That kind of reminds me of Frank Howarth's YouTube channel. That guy seems to have everything in a one-man shop, including several table saws. There are at least 3 and 2 of them are very close to each other.
Another that I recall is Bourbon Moth woodworking (also YouTube) but his are 90 degrees to each other and share the outfeed table. He keeps a Dado stack in one of them at all times. He even refers to it as his "dado saw" rather than table saw.
I think he does this because they are both SawStop saws. I know for sure that the main one is, but I think they both are. It's a bit of a faff to swap the cartridges around when installing the smaller diameter blades, so I could certainly see the convenience, if you had the space/money and need to use one that often.

 

[4nthony]

That kind of reminds me of Frank Howarth's YouTube channel. That guy seems to have everything in a one-man shop, including several table saws. There are at least 3 and 2 of them are very close to each other.

I love that the majority of Frank's tools are vintage. His shop is impressive. Jon Peters also has a dual table saw setup. Must be nice to have the space for that.

Another that I recall is Bourbon Moth woodworking (also YouTube) but his are 90 degrees to each other and share the outfeed table. He keeps a Dado stack in one of them at all times. He even refers to it as his "dado saw" rather than table saw.
I think he does this because they are both SawStop saws. I know for sure that the main one is, but I think they both are.

I think his dado saw is a Grizzly. He might have a Grizzly sponsorship because ever since he got the SawStop, he's covered the logos and refers to it as his "Harbor Freight" saw.

Which reminds me of some old SawStop videos I watched with Gregory Paolini. In one video, all the Grizzly dust collector logos are showing and in the next they are covered.

 

[jbarr]

Yes, a good overview. I hate that he keeps square the miter fence to the blade. That's simply not right, even if he gets away with it.

Sorry if I'm being ignorant - but what does this mean?

Agreed and here's a video that explains why .....=8s

A cut made with a miter gauge will still cut at 90°, even if the blade is not parallel to the miter slot. As long as your material tracks straight, you'll just end up with a wider kerf.

Typically you'd adjust the gauge to the slot, not the blade, as it's the reference your gauge tracks in. Most adjust their blade to the slot, allowing for the blade to be used to square your gauge.

This is exaggerated but maybe gives you a better visual of what happens.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

That kind of reminds me of Frank Howarth's YouTube channel. That guy seems to have everything in a one-man shop, including several table saws. There are at least 3 and 2 of them are very close to each other.

I love that the majority of Frank's tools are vintage. His shop is impressive. Jon Peters also has a dual table saw setup. Must be nice to have the space for that.

Another that I recall is Bourbon Moth woodworking (also YouTube) but his are 90 degrees to each other and share the outfeed table. He keeps a Dado stack in one of them at all times. He even refers to it as his "dado saw" rather than table saw.
I think he does this because they are both SawStop saws. I know for sure that the main one is, but I think they both are.

I think his dado saw is a Grizzly. He might have a Grizzly sponsorship because ever since he got the SawStop, he's covered the logos and refers to it as his "Harbor Freight" saw.

Which reminds me of some old SawStop videos I watched with Gregory Paolini. In one video, all the Grizzly dust collector logos are showing and in the next they are covered.

That might be the case and it makes sense. Fiddling with the cartridge to make the blade swap makes a dado set-up even more of a pain.

 

[krudawg]

Stumpy Nubs just did a rebuttal video about the Harvey mitergage.

Which may have been skewed by the fact that Harvey sponsors him…
Oh, how I wish that we could go back to the times when a carpenter uncle could tell you what to buy and use…

I subscribe to Stumpy Nubs' channel. He makes a point of saying when he is reviewing a product, whether or not the item is from a sponsor.  In my opinion, he is a straight up honest person.  I don't believe he would ever review a product and give it a recommendation just because it belongs to a sponsor. 

 

[4nthony]

Mark Spagnuolo: "Now, lets look at the priciest miter gauge on the market today, the Harvey MG-36"

Woodpeckers: "Hold my beer."
https://www.woodpeck.com/autoscale-miter-sled.html

On the plus side, think of how much you'll save by not having to buy new SawStop brakes each time you change your angle and forget to slide your fence over.  [cool]

 

[ChuckM]

Mark Spagnuolo: "Now, lets look at the priciest miter gauge on the market today, the Harvey MG-36"

I haven't watched his video, but was he referring to a miter gauge or a miter sled?

I also know nothing about the Harvey miter gauge. Was it more expensive than the JessEm miter gauge?
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/sho...VFRDnCh1YigsxEAAYAiAAEgI7q_D_BwE&item=86N4295

 

[4nthony]

I haven't watched his video, but was he referring to a miter gauge or a miter sled?

I also know nothing about the Harvey miter gauge. Was it more expensive than the JessEm miter gauge?
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/sho...VFRDnCh1YigsxEAAYAiAAEgI7q_D_BwE&item=86N4295

The Harvey is a gauge, not a sled.

I think in the video, Mark mentioned the price of the Harvey fluctuates between USD$329 and $399 depending on the day of the week. It's currently at $359.
https://www.harveywoodworking.com/products/compass-miter-gauge-mg-36

I don't think anyone has done a similar in-depth comparison of miter sleds. I can only think of three currently on the market (Rockler, Incra, WP) but I'm sure there are others.

Just noticed you're in Canada and the price in your link was in CAD. The Jess-Em in USD is $299

 

[grbmds]

Over time, Incra tools have been the most accurate, highest quality, and most reliably functional for me. I'm sure you can find others that work for you at a lower cost, but I don't believe the consistency in quality is always present in other companies. I also saw Mark's review and was surprised by some of his conclusions, but he does own an Incra which I believe he has been satisfied with for a number of years. I have a number of Incra measuring tools, an Incra router table/fence, and an Incra Miter Express with a 1000HD miter gauge. I wouldn't trade them for anything else and, if for some reason I needed to  purchase new tools like that (they will never wear out for me though), I'd buy them again (maybe a lesser Incra sled  than the 1000HD because it's overkill).