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View Full Version : incra ts-ls saw fence 32" or 52"



colin2000
13th February 2009, 01:37 AM
I'm thinking of buying the INCRA TS-LS Joinery System - 52" my question is is it worth the extra money than say the 32" system i will be starting working in ply wood to start and then as i get better do more fine woodworking (furniture around the house) useing aussie hardwoods.:U
http://www.incrementaltools.com/v/vspfiles/templates/itc2/images/clear1x1.gif

damian
13th February 2009, 08:33 AM
That's a really hard question. I went for the shorter rails because I don't do a lot with mdf/ply and if I did I'd use my progrip and hand saw to rip it down.

The only difference in the systems is the length of the rails but you need to support the outside end of them on the longer system or it can tip over, in fact there is a case for putting support legs on the shorter system. The positioner is 32" for both systems but with the longer rails you can set the positioner base further away from the saw. If you don't set your fence to the left of the blade (sometimes useful on a right tilt saw) you can offset the shorter rails well to the right, but you may yet not get 48" throat. Say your main saw table is 27" deep and 24" wide. You set the rails flush with the left side of your table and you have 60" to the right. You lose about 12" for the positioner base unit so in theory you could squeeze out 48" of useable throat. IMO the only time you need this is halving an 8X4 into 2 4X4's, which I pretty much never do.

Having said all that the longer rails aren't much dearer, so if you've got the space in your shed...

You also need to think about routers. If your buying a tsls as opposed to a simple ts system I assume your going to mount a router table somewhere. If your preference is a left hand router table then you may need to overhang the rails to the left to support the table. You may have a router table side wing integrated into your table saw as I do so don't need teh incra rails to support it, or you may favour a right hand router table, but if you want a left side one that needs support you migth do better with the longer rails, especially if you like a wide table.

You can't economically ship the rails from the USA and with the exchange rate at 65c you won't save much anyway, however if your looking for a great router table and insert package incremental tools ahve a special on the incra side table for $160US ish and their plastic insert and snap lok rings for about $40. These can be shipped and incremental tools offer fabulous service. Not all router inserts are good quality. Do a search for previous threads on same.

PWS recently shipped me a base unit and I am happy with their service and price. See sponsors links.

colin2000
13th February 2009, 08:33 PM
Thanks Damian i am thinking of puting a router table to the right of my saw and building cabnets undernieth so hopefuly this will fix the tipping problem. i was sorry to hear it is not economically ship the rails from the USA as that is what i was planning. $1800 is a lot of money to spend on a fence if i buy one from oz, still i'll keep looking and try to come up with ideas to get one cheaper.

Gwhat
14th February 2009, 12:39 PM
I'm thinking of buying the INCRA TS-LS Joinery System - 52" my question is is it worth the extra money than say the 32" system i will be starting working in ply wood to start and then as i get better do more fine woodworking (furniture around the house) useing aussie hardwoods.:U


Colin

For what it's worth, 32" systems outsell the 52" versions by at least 10 : 1, as stated the rails are the only difference, the position remains at 32" and has to be reset once you go past 32". The 52" system also needs rail support legs, that the 32" doesn't require, these can be replaced with a cabinet, but it must support the rails.

Getting the 92" rails to Oz from Texas is difficult and getting them around Oz isn't easy. Depending on your saw having the router table on the LHS of the blade seems easier (and more popular).

Table saws sold in Australia are generally wider than those in the US, so all our TS systems come with custom positioner support panels and longer fences, these aren't included in the US web prices.

We also supply custom router tables to accurately fit between the rails and are mounted on the TS Router Hardware Support pack.

All in all the TS LS is a great system, but requires a lot of thought and research before making the decision, we're happy to advise if required.

Regards

Grahame

derekcohen
14th February 2009, 04:37 PM
The question is "do you have room in your workshop for the extra length?".

If you do, then the extra length may come in handy for you.

I do not have a incra, but bought a 32" long Biesemeyer, and then cut off a couple of inches to fit in my workshop. I have cut up some full size boards on it but, frankly, anything this size is very difficult to manage, and I would rather set up something that runs along a fence clamped to the board.

Regards from Perth

Derek

damian
17th February 2009, 09:58 AM
I set up my ts over the weekend and to be honest I'd rather the longer rails now I've built it. My router extension wing is to the right of my saw and can't be swapped to the left because the motor is in the way. My railes therefore had to be offset to the right of the left hand end of my left hand extension wing by about 2". I had origiionally set them up flush but ran out of travel, and this is with a 25" positioner. An extra router table on the left hand side would be out of the question. If I'd bought the longer rails I'd have more options, but as said depends on if you have the room. I am thinking about legs and an infill table for mine.

Grahame:

1. Thank you for the base moount kit. Very happy. There were 2 nuts missing from one hardware pack :) I'm going to have to redo some of the mounting because of that, but anyway..

2. My saw is 27" across which is the maximum width the standard hardware will handle. The saws I've looked at are often this width and would be interested to know what saws you've seen that are wider.

3. How much difference to shipping does the longer rails make ?

Gwhat
17th February 2009, 10:29 AM
Grahame:

1. Thank you for the base moount kit. Very happy. There were 2 nuts missing from one hardware pack :) I'm going to have to redo some of the mounting because of that, but anyway.. Let us know what's missing and we'll replace, sometimes the guys who pack these need to go back to counting school???

2. My saw is 27" across which is the maximum width the standard hardware will handle. The saws I've looked at are often this width and would be interested to know what saws you've seen that are wider. Many of the TruPro, MBS 250 & 300's and a lot of older saws are up to 32" 820mm wide in the US they're mainly required for the SawStop saws.
3. How much difference to shipping does the longer rails make ? The issue is both cost and damage, we prefer to ship our goods via companies who use cages to restrain their loads, these generally have a limit to 1.8 to 1.9 metres. Once over these dimensions we're left with the risk of the rails being bent.

Damian, I hope that this explains things.

Regards

Grahame

damian
17th February 2009, 10:56 AM
Yes it does. It was only a couple of nuts in B001, the smaller nuts, 5/16-18 I think. I'll get some from the local hardware. It's just at the time I decided to fit some m8 cap screws and nuts which is all I had to hand, and of course being the angled aluminium brackets that attach the rails to the saw it's the first operation and I'll have to demount the rails to fit the hex bolts and reset the height. Just a bit of a nuiscance. And of course now the adhesive slider pads are attached I can't use the default method of setting the height, but I'll do it with the fence and a digital caliper. It'll work out better this way as I've got a bit of a heigh problem right now.

By the way, a question. For part names refer to the TS3 table saw manual on incra.com:

http://www.incra.com/manuals/tsiiiman.pdf

I followed the instructions enclosed with my system closely, but there is no provision for clearance between the rails and the "base clamp" see operation 4 on page 5 of above manual, the bits that the knobs clamp. This means that as you slide the base mount along the rails these bits are dragging. Any thoughts on this ? I tried assembling it with cardboard shims between the "base clamps" and the rails, but this isn't suggested in the literature.

It's probably worth asking and answering the question here so it's available for all to reference if needed later. If you prefer to have this conversation off forum you can email from my username.

colin2000
24th March 2009, 08:53 AM
Colin

For what it's worth, 32" systems outsell the 52" versions by at least 10 : 1, as stated the rails are the only difference, the position remains at 32" and has to be reset once you go past 32". The 52" system also needs rail support legs, that the 32" doesn't require, these can be replaced with a cabinet, but it must support the rails.

Getting the 92" rails to Oz from Texas is difficult and getting them around Oz isn't easy. Depending on your saw having the router table on the LHS of the blade seems easier (and more popular).

Table saws sold in Australia are generally wider than those in the US, so all our TS systems come with custom positioner support panels and longer fences, these aren't included in the US web prices.
thanks gra
We also supply custom router tables to accurately fit between the rails and are mounted on the TS Router Hardware Support pack.

All in all the TS LS is a great system, but requires a lot of thought and research before making the decision, we're happy to advise if required.

Regards

Grahame
Thanks Grahame:
i have desided to go with the longer rails as i have room for them but will have to build the table first and then retro fit the rails later ( hopefully when the tax cheque comes) so i'll be getting the rail demensions off you soon hopefully. unfortuantly or luckaly depending how you look at it i have a sliding table on the left so have to build the router to the right of the saw.

colin2000
24th March 2009, 08:58 AM
I set up my ts over the weekend and to be honest I'd rather the longer rails now I've built it. My router extension wing is to the right of my saw and can't be swapped to the left because the motor is in the way. My railes therefore had to be offset to the right of the left hand end of my left hand extension wing by about 2". I had origiionally set them up flush but ran out of travel, and this is with a 25" positioner. An extra router table on the left hand side would be out of the question. If I'd bought the longer rails I'd have more options, but as said depends on if you have the room. I am thinking about legs and an infill table for mine.

Grahame:

1. Thank you for the base moount kit. Very happy. There were 2 nuts missing from one hardware pack :) I'm going to have to redo some of the mounting because of that, but anyway..

2. My saw is 27" across which is the maximum width the standard hardware will handle. The saws I've looked at are often this width and would be interested to know what saws you've seen that are wider.

3. How much difference to shipping does the longer rails make ?
Thanks for your help Damian.
i plan to pick up my parts as i live close to the warehouse so rail size is not a problem for me in that regards. my saw is also 27" so agian no problem. i have a 6m X 6m shed but am running out of room rapidily with every thing i'm tring to put into it ( a great problem to have by the way.) Colin

colin2000
24th March 2009, 09:03 AM
The question is "do you have room in your workshop for the extra length?".

If you do, then the extra length may come in handy for you.

I do not have a incra, but bought a 32" long Biesemeyer, and then cut off a couple of inches to fit in my workshop. I have cut up some full size boards on it but, frankly, anything this size is very difficult to manage, and I would rather set up something that runs along a fence clamped to the board.

Regards from Perth

Derek
thanks for the replie derekcohen.
i do or i should say i thought i did 6m X 6M till i started to fill it with wood working toys. i guess its true it doesn't matter how much room you have a woodworker will fill it.