Thread: What tablesaw with what incra fence?

Couple of issues. I'll address them out of the order you raised them.

1. Graham should be able to supply you with the base mount kit. This accepts your positioner and wonderfence. If you can make do with 17" of stroke then that's all you need to buy. This is what you need to buy:

TS Base Mount Packages

Shipping from the US of those rails is prohibitive. You can upgrade to a 32" positioner later if you want. Don't bother now.

2. Left/right router tables and saw tilt. Religious war. I would prefer a left router but my table does not accommodate it easily. Right table is a minor inconvenience. If you buy a cabinet saw you _should_ be able to swap left to right and settle where your happy. Most fences are on the right, and probably more people prefer the left tilt blade. There are threads here and elsewhere online that discuss the issues.

3. The standard system accommodates up to 27" tables depth, there is a pack for wider tables. The rails systen is very versatile. Basically you need some holes along the front and back of the top to attach the mounting brackets and nothing fouling the rails. Doesn't matter particularly where the holes are and they are usually present to mount the standard fence. IMO I would recommend you consider a second hand cabinet saw. They come up regularly and there are quite a few that are recommended here. A cabinet saw of a common type should mount up the rails readily, and a second hand one will outlast you and me both if it's a good one. You will save serious money over new. Have a look at the TTD saw threads, also look for recommended carbatec, hafeco and timbecon saws, as well of course as jet.

You will be astounded at how much nicer a "proper" tablesaw is to use than a triton. I upgraded as you are about to do and the quietness and easy precision that came knocked my socks off. 2 years later it's still thrills me to make a cut on the thing. Unfortunately the type of TTD hybrid saw I bought is no longer available, they replaced it with what I consider an inferior saw. They may have gone back to the quality Taiwanese machine I bought but I haven't been down to look. It is possible the cabinet version is good. Someone here bought one recently, so search for that thread...

Hi Doug!

I've been gradually upgrading my system over the last couple of years...

I started off with a Carbatec contractor style table saw with a sliding table section. I replaced the sliding table section with a Carbatec CI router wing. This worked perfectly for a while... I managed to get hold of a LS25 positioner at a good price and added that to the table using a piece of marine ply and mag locks.

I wasn't happy with the rip fence that cam with the saw so after a couple of aftermarket addons, I added the Incra LS table saw fence system (plus the wonder fence). Moving the table saw fence/carrriage to a preset stop gives me access to the router table wing. This all worked wonderfully! And the accuracy of the setup is amazing!

A couple of caveats though! Firstly, the tablesaw fence/positioner system limits the distance available to the right of the blade! This can be annoying when ripping large sheets or crosscutting long timbers as the fence cannot be easily lifted off. Secondly, You need to have a fair amount of space available to the right of the table to allow for the positioner's adjuster to hang over the end. Jumping from saw use to router use also means having to drag the main sawtable fence carriage from one position to the other - this can be a bit heavy...

Finally, I sold the Carbatec CI router wing and bought the router table top from Graham. The reason is that the Carbatec insert plate is non-standard and I intend to fit one of Graham's Uni-Lift router lifters in the near future...

All of that said, I haven't addressed the table saw itself!

The entire Incra setup can be attached to just about any table. The Carbatec table I have is a relatively cheap unit (only about $1,500) and the system still works well.

The point is that just about any tablesaw will work well with the Incra system provided that it has a CI top, a strong motor and good mechanicals (tilt, etc.) Ideally a good cabinet sawtable (e.g. a Jet or the like) would be best...

Rob

When I bought my tablesaw (TS10L) I always intended to put an Incra fence on it.

I have an Incra LS17 with Wonderfence and am very happy with that setup.

However, before I worked up enough courage (and dollars) to acquire the Incra tablesaw fence system, the Wixey digital fence was released, this looked like an ideal addition to my already very good tablesaw fence.

The accuracy of this Wixey digital system is superb, it has an absolute and incremental option, you can work in either metric or Imperial at the touch of a button and uses the existing table saw fence. It is a substantially cheaper option than the Incra tablesaw fence and offers most, if not all, of the Incra benefits as well as some others (ie metric and Imperial at the touch of a button, incremental positioning etc)

Not trying to talk you out of the Incra tablesaw fence, I think it is an excellent product, just trying to make you aware of other options.

If you choose a good tablesaw with a good fence, then the Wixey ($200) will turn it in to a dream machine.

If you want to upgrade an iffy fence on a table saw, then the Incra might be a better option, although you would be better off to apply the money spent on an Incra fence (about $1800) to getting a better tablesaw.