New Incra I-BOX

Looks like a great tool for box making. Please do a review to benefit those of us still on the fence. :) Especially as it performs with 1/8” joints.

-- Art

http://www.incra.com/product_rtf_ibox.html!

Looks cool

Looks nice but they are pretty proud of it @ $169.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

I decided to pass on it back when the estimated price was going to be $150 … at $169 + TAX + SHIPPING … I KNOW I’ll pass and stick with my home made jigs. The prices of these fairly simple jigs is just getting WAY out of line … look at the MORTISE PAL & DOWELMAX … nearly $200 for something you can functionally duplicate at home … or at least buy a much more reasonably priced competitive version. How can these fancy jigs that replace simple ones possibly be worth more than a nice, new router ???

-- - dabbling in sarcasm is foolish … if you’re not proficient at it, you end up looking stupid … ... ...

Re:
How can these fancy jigs that replace simple ones possibly be worth more than a nice, new router ???

Because they are NOT made by someone working 12 hour days for 25 cents an hour at a live in factory in China…

These are made in USA by a company that has chosen to keep Americans employed.

How much does that US made router cost?

-- “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

I don’t have a need, read want, for one at this time. I for one am surprised something from Incra is less than two hundred!

-- Mel

Re:
How can these fancy jigs that replace simple ones possibly be worth more than a nice, new router ???

Because they are NOT made by someone working 12 hour days for 25 cents an hour at a live in factory in China…

These are made in USA by a company that has chosen to keep Americans employed.

Please don’t twist my words as you have done … I DID NOT ask why they cost so much … I asked why would it be worth it for anyone to spend that kind of money on a fancy jig that functionally does the same thing as one that can be mode in one’s own shop for pennies ? How this got twisted into anything the Chinese do is beyond me … do you own stock in Incra or something ? Why the ultra defensive attitude ??? sheesh !!! !!! !!!

You want to spend $200 on a jig to make a simple joint .. go ahead .. I prefer to make my own .. that’s partly why I enjoy woodworking .. the simple fact that I can figure out a way to perform a given task for next to nothing invested. Hell .. why not just put that $200 in a kitty toward a down payment on a USA Made CNC machine ???

-- - dabbling in sarcasm is foolish … if you’re not proficient at it, you end up looking stupid … ... ...

Looks great to me. I just ordered it. Thank you for the heads up

-- Ken

I think they should be proud of their products, they are great. There is more engineering and design that goes in to each and every one of there products then most people realize. I enjoy using a well design tool and don’t always think a shop made jig will have the accuracy and features found in an Incra jig.

-- Aaron - central California "If you haven't got the time to do it right, when will you find the time to do it over?"

Re:
I asked why would it be worth it for anyone to spend that kind of money on a fancy jig that functionally does the same thing as one that can be mode in one’s own shop for pennies ?

I did Not mean it as a personal attack and sorry if you took it that way, but you did ask

How can these fancy jigs that replace simple ones possibly be worth more than a nice, new router ???

I was trying to explain that a tool made in a country with NO minimum wage and and poor record on human rights and environmental protections can undercut a manufacturer that pays a decent wage and doesn’t kill the planet we live on.

I don’t own stock, but I do have a stake in American manufacturing…

Some people might like to support companies that continue to produce things domestically. I’m absolutely livid, that I can not go down to my local hardware store,(or any store for that matter) and pick up a brand new American made circular saw or router. The circular saw was invented in this country and yet due to our shortsightedness we no longer produce them here. I’m tired of seeing our jobs get exported to places where cheap labor is exploited, just so someone can save a couple bucks on cheap knock-offs.

Maybe you would feel differently if you lost your livelihood or knew some one who did, to unjust foreign competition.

-- “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

Incra does make some fine products which most of us would be overjoyed to own. I also prefer to buy American to support our own country and our own workers, but for retirees and those relying on SS checks, cost of buying American has got prohibitive. I becomes a catch-22 situation where you either do without, invest in a badly made and less serviceable copy or just save until you have enough funds, if possible, to purchase the best product/tool.

It becomes a sad situation when Americans cannot afford to purchase American products. Looking around at today’s prices on everything we buy to live on, let alone support a retirement pastime, has increased about 25% in the last year – gas even more. Does anyone think that these increases have not bitten into our pockets, or do you see a 25% cost of living in our SS checks?

At least Henry Ford made sure his employees earned enough to afford to purchase products they made in his factory.

-- Roger-R, Republic of Texas. "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" - An eyeball to eyeball confrontation with a blind person is as complete waste of Time.

It looks like a well designed tools from Incra, as usual.
For you all that cannot or will not afford one of these, and want a way to cut box joints in a similar fashion, may I recommend a Box Joint Machine like the one I recently built? If you look at my latest project, you can see the quality of the joints it makes.
That being said, I own several Incra products, including a fence system and a crosscutting sled. From the ones I own, they are well built tools that are worth the price in my book, for people who can afford them. Incidentally, mine were bought second hand because I can’t afford them.

-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/

I’m NOT Chinese … I don’t LIVE in China … I DON’T even SPEAK Chinese … i AM fond of Chinese food …

What I was comparing was a costly product produced by Incra VS. a functionally identical product produced by me, right here in the good old USA. Note, I said “FUNCTIONALLY IDENTICAL” ... my jigs will produce box joints every bit as accurately as the Incra … I may need to make a test cut or two to dial in the fit, but that’s what woodworking is to me … creeping up on a fit until it’s perfect. For those who believe Incra’s marketing hype .. look on the last pages of the iBox’s instruction manual where they tell you that you should make test cuts and how to “dial-in” your fit by micro adjusting the jig.

As to affordability, $200 for an Incra jig is not something that would break the tool bank … I just don’t happen to see the value in buying one just to see it hang on the wall most of the time. If you have need to use one several times a day, PERHAPS the Incra is a worthwhile investment … but be aware that if you change the cutter, you must start over with their recommendation of “kissing” the jig and the cutter for calibration … I will never own a jig manufactured by anyone who tells me this is necessary in order to get it to work correctly. My FOREST dado set IS worth it’s $200 price tag to me … the iBox, I don’t think so.

Just for the record … I DO KNOW of folks who’ve lost jobs overseas … for the life of me, I can’t see what that has to do with competition between my shop’s scrap pile and Incra … so I find it difficult to “feel differently” as you suggest.

-- - dabbling in sarcasm is foolish … if you’re not proficient at it, you end up looking stupid … ... ...

Too expensive for something you can make. Hundreds of free plans out there.

-- I would drink a river of the kool aid before I took the smallest sip of the tea...

Re:
Fuzzy.

I can see where your coming from, but YOU did originally state,

How can these fancy jigs that replace simple ones possibly be worth more than a nice, new router ???

I was replying with an explanation with how they can be worth more than a new router. With I’m guessing 80% – 90% of the new routers made in China, Taiwan, or Mexico these days.

I would not have replied if you had chosen to compare its cost to another obviously North American made product,, rather than something more commonly produced offshore. Go find a recently manufactured, made in (not just assembled in) U.S.A. router, Then post about the cost difference.

I hope your NOT taking this nit picking seriously…. I just have a rainy afternoon to kill.

TL;DR Compare the value of U.S .manufactured products to other U.S. manufactured products, not to Chinese manufactured products.

-- “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt