# Incra Miter Sled: question for users



## cbehnke (Mar 28, 2011)

I received an incra miter sled for Christmas. Put it together last night. The sled isn't PERFECTLY flat on the saw table, so it won't be perfect 90 degrees to the saw blade. With a digital angle gauge I see the sled lays about 0.3 degrees off of horizontal.

Do you guys that use incra miter sleds adjust your blade to make it vertical to the sled to account for that when you use the sled? Seems like a nuisance to adjust the blade each time to use the sled then adjust it back so the blade is perfect vertical to the table when not using the sled. i'm relatively new to woodoworking, so who knows, that may be standard operating procedure. Or, there may be some step I missed in set up. Any insight appreciated.

Thanks.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

why isn't the sled perfectly flat?

it should be… I would investigate if it's a defective product (sled base is malformed, or the bottom of the sled might have something pushing it up at an angle perhaps)

that said, blade should always be 90 to your cutting reference plane. if it's the TS table, or if it's a sled, and if it isn't than you need to adjust it to make it so - that's why the TS blade has tilt adjustment.


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## DAC (Dec 7, 2012)

i also have a defective sled. cutting inot a board at 4.5 inches it is 1/16 " off. Also the T-slot tab for the end of the miter will not fit as they did not mill enough material away. Incra is aware of this and said it would take 2-3 weeks to get me a part to correct this issue. I am also using their 1000SE miter and it is dead on so i know it is the sled. My cheapo sled from Rockler is more accurate then Incra. They are slipping in quality. I believe that corporate culture is now more important than the customer to them.


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## DAC (Dec 7, 2012)

it looks like Incra is going to take care of my problem with their sled. I bet they had a nice long talk to quality control about this issue. Reputation. Years to build and seconds to destroy. Incra is rebuilding their reputation with me and that says ALOT.


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## MAKZ06 (Jun 17, 2013)

I've been enjoying this site for quite a while. I guess I had to stop lurking and post sooner or later…
I purchased the Incra 5000 sled a couple weeks ago and mine has what sounds like the same problem. The right panel is not parallel and in-line with the main panel/sled base. I don't know if it is a problem with the milling on the panel where its attached to the T-slot panel connector or with the T-slot panel connector itself, but the right panel angles down toward the table slightly. I have tried changing the torque on the attaching screws. I also have confirmed my PM2000 table and wings are flat with no warp. If my blade is adjusted to a perfect 90 deg with the table top, it is also perfect at 90 deg with the main part of the panel. However, it is off by .3 deg with the short section of right panel (not the drop-off panel which is also at 90 deg.) This reading is from a Wixie angle gauge. If I use a straight-edge or a large drafting triangle, the blade is perfectly 90 deg to the main panel but will leave not quite a 1/16" gap right next to the blade. Enough to notice tear-out in addition to not having an accurate 90 deg cut if I am cutting short pieces that aren't clamped down to the main section. I can confirm the same downward angle of the right panel when the sled is not positioned on the table. I thought about trying to shim the right panel to get it in line but am not sure that will work without raising the main panel and it's not something that should have to be done for a $300 product…
I've emailed Incra about the problem and will follow-up with what I hear from them.


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## knotheadswoodshed (Jun 14, 2012)

I have had mine for about 4 years, no problems, hope they arent losing focus on quality now.


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## MAKZ06 (Jun 17, 2013)

I got a response back within a few hour of my email to them. He said that the source of my problem was probably the rabbet cut into the panels or the T-slot panel connector (or possibly a combination of both). What he said makes sense and he told me how to determine what the cause of the problem was. Said they would replace components as necessary. I'll check this weekend when I get back up to my shop and then report back as to how it all turns out.


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## cbehnke (Mar 28, 2011)

IMAKZ06, glad to hear you got a fast response from Incra. I finally got around to sending them an email today. I know, it's 6 months after I bought it, but I just haven't had time in the shop and now I'm getting back in there to work.

I've been an Incra customer for about 2 years now and their product and customer service have always been top notch, so I doubt it's any slipping on their part, I'd wager it's just a bad few panels that some people received.

I'll report back on the resolution of my issue.


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## MAKZ06 (Jun 17, 2013)

Well, I got up to my shop this weekend and fiddled with it for a couple hours and checked the things he suggested.
I wasn't able to positively determine the source of the problem. 
If I remove the panel connector and leave the two pieces side by side, they are coplanar and a drafting triangle stays perfectly flat across both sections. (I did find a dip right in the center area of the large main panel but it is perfectly flat across several inches in front of the face of the gauge or several inches from the front edge.) I also checked with a Wixie gauge and confirmed these findings.
If I turn the panel connector 180 degrees and reattach I still have the problem of the right panel drooping toward the edge. If I swap for the outboard panel connector and also try in both directions I still see the same problem. 
I really couldn't tell if the panel(s) rabbets are the problem or the connectors. It looked like the rabbets might be slightly inconsistent. 
I can say that on the end farthest from the face of the gauge, the panel connector sits proud of the main panel surface just enough to rub the straightedge as it moves across. It sits below the surface for all but the last inch or so and does not come above the surface of the cut panel.

I reported the finding back to the Incra Rep this morning. He is sending me a replacement panel set and connector which should correct the problem.

One or all of the new components should resolve my problem. I never like having problems like this but Incra has been very responsive so far and it looks like they are doing their best to make it right.


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## MAKZ06 (Jun 17, 2013)

well, I received both replacement panels and connector in the mail yesterday. I was very excited thinking it would resolve the problem but I was disappointed. I've spent half the day fooling with swapping panels and connectors trying to find a combination that fixed the issue. The set I got in the mail is actually worse than my originals… My only conclusion is poor quality control. The new large panel that was sent had too much cut off the side. It actually cut in to the edge of the countersunk holes and then left a gap to catch sawdust, etc between the connector. (the other panels fit tight against the connector) Maybe I just expect too much. 
I did finally come up with a solution and it's what I thought about doing originally but didn't feel like I should have to due to the cost. I found that the panels lay flat and coplanar until they are tightened to the t-slot connector. Once tightened they pull up next to the connector leaving a hump along the length of the panels so they are no longer coplanar. I tried some different combinations of tapes and layers on both sides and ended up with a single strip of tape thinner than I thought would be necessary. That seems to now have it pretty darned close to flat all the way across without the hump. 
Customer support was very nice and responsive but if I were to do it all over again I would just purchase an Incra miter gauge and mount/build my own sled assembly.


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