INCRA MITER1000SE Miter Gauge Special Edition With Telescoping Fence and Dual Flip Shop Stop

I wish I would have bought this a long time before, it has been a great purchase. I have a Ryobi BT3000 table saw I bought over a decade ago for around the house. I really like the table saw (I use it for precision work like making cabinets, doors, and drawers, or just general cutting). The one problem is with the miter gauge. If I moved the saw or haven't used it in a while, I would have to check the calibration of the miter gauge to be sure it was set right, 90 degrees was exactly 90 degrees or 45 degrees was exactly 45 degrees, then every time I changed the angle I would have to test cut scraps of wood to be sure the angle was exactly right again. There is nothing worse than cutting wood for a cabinet door and if it supposed to be 90 degrees but comes out at 89 degrees, none of the parts will line up when you go to glue everything up and it just looks bad.For years I had thought about getting the accessory miter slot table (MITER SLOT TABLE BT3000 RYOBI - RIDGID 4060310) that is available through Ryobi but didn't know if it would be helpful. I finally found the Incra Miter1000SE and thought I would give it a try so I purchased it along with the Ryobi miter slot, I checked the calibration when I got it out of the box but it was already accurate. I wish I would have bought this a long time before, it just made me a lot faster because I don't have to fool with the calibration anymore, I just pick the angle, set it (I know it's right) and cut. From the time I move the saw to where I am going to work, plug it in, and cut is minutes not hours like it used to be after I checked calibration. If I need to change the angle, I change it, cut it, and go on because I know its right. I could change the angle 20 times in a day and I wouldn't have to worry about it because it is correct and will still be correct when I set it back to 90 degrees. I feel like I have a commercial production shop compared to the way it was before where I had to make all the cuts at one angle before I changed to another angle, then started having to check the cuts with scrap wood to be sure the miter was set right.There is also a telescoping fence with a stop that is great also, I had to set it to my table saw but when it is set, I am done and can make repetitive cuts all day and the next day with no problem, no recalibration in between. This will also make me a lot faster too. What was going to take me possibly a year on the side in my free time (building walnut cabinets and replacing the existing cabinets throughout my house) may only take me part of the summer now. This is from planing the wood, ripping and cutting it to size, joining wood together for wide pieces, routing the rails and stiles and raised panels, sanding and sealing the wood, installing the hinges and drawer slides and handles. The tables saw portion will now be quick.This has been a very worthwhile and accurate investment. Not only from an accuracy perspective, but also a time saver, and frustration reliever. I will always remember Incra from now on. I will have to check and see what Incra has for routers and router tables now.

This miter gauge has way more features than I will ever use. But, it is perfectly square right out of the box and is very easy to use.

ORIGINAL 4 STAR REVIEW - UPDATE TO FIVE STAR BELOW:I really love the design of this miter gauge, it is well built and well engineered except one facet, the miter slot adjustment is completely ineffective. I tighten the adjustment screws down and they bottom out before the disks even begin to expand. Since the disks initially sit inboard of bar, they provide no value. I was initially going to rate this three stars instead of four, but I went ahead and did the math about how much tolerance that added to the repeatability of cuts and found that it is so small it's pretty much not worth thinking about. My saw is a Skilsaw SPT99-12 so that is for mine, I can't speak for other saws and that is why I am only giving it four stars. If only the slot width adjusters worked and removed the tiny bit of slop in the miter slot, this would be a five star product, hands down.Okay, so that covered the reason for the loss of one star, some of the other things I really like are the design of how this is setup to provide positive angle stops that can be used for quick measurements, or you can not use that part and just tighten the hand screw and set the angle wherever you need it to be.The flip stop is handy too. It uses a rough surface to give itself traction from being bumped (since it uses plastic thumbscrews to tighten it in position), but I think that design is going to work well, the plastic will never seize up in the aluminum, and the plastic gripper material they use really seems to get a positive hold of the stop. The only thing that I am curious about is how that surface for the stopper will hold up over time. I have a feeling it is going to be just fine as it looks to be made of high density poly product.Other than that, I can just say again that this appears to be a well thought out product, that just missed the mark on one feature.UPDATE THAT CAUSED REVIEW TO CHANGE:After posting the initial review, I sent a message to the company asking them if there was a fix to the problem I had encountered. The issue was with the rigidity of the washers, what felt like the screws bottoming out on the threads was actually just the washer not wanting to expand. I got a response back the same day (from someone that had an out of office auto reply on) explaining what was likely the resolution to the problem and it was. All the screws need is a little lithium grease on the threads and the seating face between the expansion washer and the screw head. With that, the slop was able to be adjusted easily.So, to summarize, I was initially wrong that this was a four star product, it is a five star product and I have experience now with Incra's customer service and can say that was excellent too.

Update: I emailed Incra and they covered the broken parts under the warranty.Product arrived with broken plastic parts in the box. There is a plastic “carriage” under the flip stop with 2 screws to tighten. One of the screws may have been over-tightened and cracked the clip. The stop still works but each time you adjust the flip stop, the clip comes free causing me to have to hold the clip in place and slide along the ends.I was able to order the part, cheaply (7a of the stop system) from Incra’s site. Pro Tip: I ordered two since this piece of plastic may be a single point of failure in the otherwise solidly built gauge. However, typical shipping appears to be 1.5 weeks.Gauge arrived square. However, after banging it around the table saw for 15-20 cuts, I needed to true it up via 2 screws. Seems that a better locking or runner washer would help (May add that).Overall, good gauge. Just challenging to use until I get the part(s).