Incra 1000HD or Kreg KMS7102 Miter Gages

I bought the incra 1000HD and have really loved it. Being adjustable to a tenth of a degree has really been useful in building lamp shade frames. If i’m off by just a tiny bit it’s multiplied by four(or the number of sides of the shade), so accuracy is very important. The extention works well, but it’s kinda a pain to switch it to the other side if you move the gage to the other side of the blade. Not really a big deal though. If i had to, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it again.

-- Andy

bygrace....thank you for your opinion

-- Measure "at least" twice and cut once

You might also look at an Osborne miter guide. They are excellent.

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

John Ormsby...thanks…will check them out

-- Measure "at least" twice and cut once

I have the 1000HD. light years ahead of the original miter gage on my Ridgid 4512.

Likes:
see above.
built like a tank.
extremely accurate and repeatable AFTER setting it up properly, which takes a while.
adjustable rail for no slop
very cool stop, easy to adjust for repeat cuts.
ridiculous amount of angle settings. All anyone could ever want.
colorful :-)

dislikes:
rail is too short. I would prefer it to be about 5 or 6 inches longer and have one more adjustment screw.
would prefer thumbscrews instead of hex bolts for all adjustments so didn’t have to have the hex wrench handy.

Overall, very pleased with it. Can’t compare it to the Kreg, although I bet the Kreg is very nice.

-- -- Don from PA

don1960...thank you for your opinion

-- Measure "at least" twice and cut once

I also have and enjoy the 1000hd. Worth the investment. I’ve heard good things about the Kreg , but have no experience with it.

-- - Crud. Go tell your mother that I need a Band-aid.

I like the osborne best

-- Sorry the reply is so long. I didn't have time to write a short reply.

fuigb and mbs – thanks for your input

-- Measure "at least" twice and cut once

I have the Incra sled that uses a very similar fence set up it works very well and I find the stop for cutting identical length pieces works flawlessly. On the down side you must use a allen wrench to loosen the set screws on the extendable part of the fence, not a real big deal it comes with a nice long ball end allen wrench but it just seems like they could have come with a way to do this without a tool.

-- A tube of calk and a gallon of paint will make a carpenter what he ain't

Another 1000HD owner, and also a big fan. Mine came out of the box as square as I could hope to get it. My only two complaints are pretty minor. Like a couple others mentioned, having to use an allen wrench to change the fence length is kind of a pain. I suppose the bolt could easily be switched out w/ a thumb screw, but it hasnt been that big of an issue so I havent swapped it out yet. Also, I found that adjusting the nylon washers to get it to fit into the track to be a bit of a pain. I am not sure if its the same on everyone’s, but the screws seem very “sticky” on mine so there is not a a nice smooth continuous turning, but really jumping an 1/8 turn. It made it a bit difficult to dial in accurately.

Oh, one other complaint…the little screw knobs on the stop block are kind of annoying too. There is not much channel for them to ride in, so I accidentally pop them out all the time.

Having said all of that, I would absolutely buy the 1000HD again and my complaints are very minor compared to how much I enjoy using the gauge.

PRO—very accurate for pieces less than ~15-18in

CON—unit flexes on longer pieces. I built a SuperSled for my crosscuts and this solved my crosscut needs. The 1000HD now hangs on the wall. I might use it in the future on smaller projects, but have found my crosscut sled so useful that I am not so sure…

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

sprucegum, Marcus and HorizontalMike...thanks to you for your comments. HorizontalMike great looking sled, thanks for sharing your creativity

-- Measure "at least" twice and cut once

I have the hd and miter express

I have an Incra and to square it up it’s recommended to shim it and I
didn’t know that when it was purchased.

I haven’t shimmed it either. I think if I’d known about the Osborne I might
have purchased that one instead.

No complaints about the Incra though, it’s very accurate so far.