One of the best product review videos I've seen. No stupid acting to try and make people laugh, very informative but not too much. 12mins went by super fast. 2 thumbs up from me.
I think the method of testing the cut accuracy you used was based upon squaring the saw blade to the fence instead of the other way around. I find easier to square the fence to the blade. There should be adjustability built into the miter and adjusting it to perfection is far easier than adjusting the saw's table and motor like you did. Then after you make any adjustments you feel are indicated I find the five cut method to be the best way to go. I recently purchased a Rockler cross cut sled and calibrated the miter as i indicated above. With little effort I got it set to a variance of .015 mm. That's probably thinner than one of the hairs on my head if I could find one. Then when I cut an octagon at 22.5 degrees the angles were spot on. Hope this makes sense and is helpful. Excellent video.
LOL. It still is a zero clearance insert at the point of cut as long as the blade is high enough. It used to be totally zero clearance - until the day I needed to make a dado in a tiny part and couldn't use the factory insert. I keep putting off doing anything about it because I keep thinking about a new saw.
You have excellent stage-presence. Very well-done. I ordered and as of yet have not put together the Microjig Miter sled. It will not produce the tolerance equal to the Kreg miter but I look forward to trying it out. Thanks again. Great video.
Great demonstration. I seems to me that Kreg should be doing some of the assembly at their facility. The tape measure for example. Why does the buyer have to screw around with that? And those plastic adjustment screws seem like they could be prone to problems. I'm under-whelmed. Look into one of the Incra models , they appear to be much better.
After getting the first TWO nylon set screws in to where the Miter Guage bar fits snugly (WITHOUT LEFT/RIGHT PLAY!) in the Miter Guage track use a digital caliper to measure the width of the bar including the end of the nylon set screw that sticks out. Then run the remaining set screws in till they measure the same as the first two! That's how I did my Miter Guage & the spring loaded ball pins that it has! Different Miter Guage, but SAME PRINCIPLE!
Hey Matt glad you came out of hibernation! Kreg makes some decent tools. I have the Kreg jig K4 and have used it for many projects with good success. Looking forward to seeing what your project you have planned. Take care buddy -Glen
Thanks Matt for the video. I was lucky enough to get a Incra Miter gauge and fence system. It is pretty much like the Kreg system (different lock on miter plate). Enjoy it sure makes repetitive cuts easy.
I'm surprised you got a square cut after adjusting the blade/motor. If you think about it, a table saw fence isn't much different from a router or drill press fence. All three are guiding the wood past a single point (more or less); the leading edge of the blade. If the blade isn't parallel to the miter slots it will make the cut wider but it isn't capable of angling the cut because the distance between the leading edge of the blade and the miter slot remains constant. Making an angled, or mitered cut can only be done by taking the miter gauge out of square. I have one of these and I'm not happy with the factory 90° accuracy when compared to a very high quality square.
I have the same Kreg miter gauge as you and mine is off a 1/2 degree at 90 degrees on the gauge checked with a machinist's square so I can't use that pin for any predetermined stops for different angles. If I set the gauge at 90 degrees with a square that pin won't drop in the hole. Hope you had better luck.
I have the same problem with mine. I had to shim it with aluminum tape to get it square. I'm using a heavy Kinex square as my reference. I think the only fix is to fabricate a new guide bar.
just shopping for a miter gauge and it seems Incra has Kreg in the gutter on this one :/ Incra miter gauge 1000 gives you less setup and better preset accuracy out of the box for $20 less, spend $30 more on the Incra 1000se and you've got all that plus a micro-adjusting stop and telescoping fence. Kreg f'd up, yo.
Thank you so much, I was going to get one for my table saw, but... since I saw your video I am thinking really hard rather I am going to get this or not, your video is really good, I sure did enjoy watching. thank you again.
Not sure if anyone answered but for me it was "as many as it took".. I screwed some of them more than other manually before using the screw driver to get them where they needed but they are micro adjustments for sure.
A few cons. 1) I found there was a bit of flex on the stop arm. More of a horizontal flex even when it tighten up. That's where on your 45s you might of had that bit of a gap in the middle cause it seemed when the blade started to go to the wood it would push the stop arm back a hair. 2) I dislike how long the fence is. It creates kind of a big footprint when you don't need. I feel it's an ok middle ground. I know I could buy another fence, but kind of wished it was adjustable like the Incra one is. There is a few more but I am drawing a mind blank right now. Ha.
OK. Thanks. I'll watch for those things. Might try tightening up the bolt that holds the stop assembly together. If there is play there, then it would definitely be able to move laterally. It should catch, just a little, rubbing on the "support button." I think if my stop were moving laterally that I'd have a bulge in the miters. The gap is only on the surface though. They're solid below the veneer - and my new blade is on order!
I guess in my thought process, it seems like unless you knew the precise number of turns that the inserts were screwed into the bar, perhaps your miter slot is actually squared with the motor/blade, but the screws created those few thousandths off.
@@danautore3977 The Easy Way To Square a Blade is Pull the Insert , crank the Blade all the way to the Top , Use a Flat Screw Driver and a Hammer , place the blade of the Screwdriver against a good flat area and Give a Firm tap to the Offending Side of The Blade Housing with out Loosening any Support Bolts . a good Tap will move it about 1/64 inch each time...and it will still stay where you tap it to...I Learned this the Hard Way...
That miter gauge is not ment to be use on the other side . One side only . A homemade one will work do to being able to cut through the fence on the other side of the blade .
The only thing that's not really right if you use it on the other side is the measuring tape that sets the stop block. Everything else is symmetrical and works equally well on either side.
@@MattHeere The Incra is def. in a different league of accuracy. All the Kreg stuff seems to be coming from China (no big surprise) - it's frankly not that great IMO. I have their scale and stops on my miter saw bench - it's handy for roughing out parts without having to grab a tape - but it's not even close to being accurate enough to use to cut final lengths for furniture projects or even kitchen cabinets. For that it's still the good old shop-made table saw crosscut sled. BTW great review - like some of the other comments the 12 mins flew by for me.
@@visa1960 Incra has several models from extremely cheap to extremely expensive. They are all worth what they charge for them. I have several from a cheap one to the incra 5000 which includes a sled and can be set to repeatable cuts at exactly one degree or even less. I wouldn't give them up for anything.
For $139, I'll wait until you do your follow up review after using it more before buying. I find first impressions are not always reliable, especially today's manufactured products. If you got it at Christmas, you're most likely beyond return time. If not, start using it more before return time runs out.
That's a fair observation, and why I wasn't trying to pass this off as some kind of "recommendation". Not enough time in. Having said that, unless the construction doesn't hold up (which seems highly unlikely) I can't see what would change about a miter gauge. It either cuts the right angles or it doesn't.
Matt Heere My "crystal ball" says that the five plastic bar adjusters will wear down and then there will be no ability take out slack but my CB has been wrong in my past. Maybe that's why extra was included? Can you buy this part separately?
You can. These are readily available nylon parts. There is a *lot* of extra length to the screws, so it's going to be many, many years until they wear down to where they are too short. But when they do, replacements are available at the local hardware store. No need to get them from Kreg.
You relied too much faith on the "factory -calibrated" accuracy of the miter gauge and adjusted the saw blade. Should have checked how parallel the slot and the blade is by other means and that should be the basic foundation. Maybe you're right after all but should It turned out that the miter gauge is actually not that accurate then you ruin every succeeding project that would pass through that saw.
Too bad you waited so long to open it up. Probably too late to return it and get an Incra Miter Gauge. Incra has a whole range of gauges going from cheap ($60ish) up to expensive models that come with a built in sled (about $280 and worth every penny). You could get the Incra 1000 for about the same price as the Kreg and it blows it out of the water. It's much easier to set up, extremely easy to adjust square with the blade of your saw, can be adjusted to be dead square with your table saw table and has a telescoping fence for longer cuts. The stop block locks in to notches in the fence at 32nd of an inch increments, so you can easily make repeatable cuts even if you have moved the stop block after your last cut. The incra 1000 and up allow you to make cuts angled up a fraction of a degree with perfect, repeatable precision. Oh, and settign up the miter bar is simple, just tighten the screws on the plastic disks until there is no more slop in the miter slot (Pro Tip: if the screws ever get stuck when you need to make another adjustment, such as moving to a new table saw, just heat them up a bit with a heat gun of hairdryer and they will move easily again). I have the incra 5000 which has the sled and I love it. The only thing with this model is if you have to make deeper cuts, the sled takes a lot of work to remove. So I bought the cheap model and another fence and I use that one for and cuts where I need the full depth of the blade, which is pretty rare for what I do. Kreg is way overpriced for what you get.
Incra Miter gauges are about a million times better in every way. Much easier to setup and more precise. I don't know how much the Kreg thing costs, but I'm sure it's over priced. That thing is kind of a pile of crap.
One of the best product review videos I've seen. No stupid acting to try and make people laugh, very informative but not too much. 12mins went by super fast. 2 thumbs up from me.
You are a great instructor. Clear and informative
Thank you sir!
I think the method of testing the cut accuracy you used was based upon squaring the saw blade to the fence instead of the other way around. I find easier to square the fence to the blade. There should be adjustability built into the miter and adjusting it to perfection is far easier than adjusting the saw's table and motor like you did. Then after you make any adjustments you feel are indicated I find the five cut method to be the best way to go. I recently purchased a Rockler cross cut sled and calibrated the miter as i indicated above. With little effort I got it set to a variance of .015 mm. That's probably thinner than one of the hairs on my head if I could find one. Then when I cut an octagon at 22.5 degrees the angles were spot on. Hope this makes sense and is helpful. Excellent video.
Wish I found this rather than the other video I tried using to set it up.... This video makes way more sense to me! Thanks!
Dude! Get, or make, a zero clearance insert! When the offcut went down the hole in the beginning I sort of held my breath. Good review.
LOL. It still is a zero clearance insert at the point of cut as long as the blade is high enough. It used to be totally zero clearance - until the day I needed to make a dado in a tiny part and couldn't use the factory insert. I keep putting off doing anything about it because I keep thinking about a new saw.
You have excellent stage-presence. Very well-done. I ordered and as of yet have not put together the Microjig Miter sled. It will not produce the tolerance equal to the Kreg miter but I look forward to trying it out. Thanks again. Great video.
Nice review. Don't forget to calibrate your Rip Fence after adjusting your blade calibration.
Great demonstration. I seems to me that Kreg should be doing some of the assembly at their facility. The tape measure for example. Why does the buyer have to screw around with that? And those plastic adjustment screws seem like they could be prone to problems. I'm under-whelmed. Look into one of the Incra models , they appear to be much better.
Thanks for the in-depth review. I’m shopping for one currently.
After getting the first TWO nylon set screws in to where the Miter Guage bar fits snugly (WITHOUT LEFT/RIGHT PLAY!) in the Miter Guage track use a digital caliper to measure the width of the bar including the end of the nylon set screw that sticks out. Then run the remaining set screws in till they measure the same as the first two! That's how I did my Miter Guage & the spring loaded ball pins that it has! Different Miter Guage, but SAME PRINCIPLE!
Glad to have you back, Matt!
Hey Matt glad you came out of hibernation! Kreg makes some decent tools. I have the Kreg jig K4 and have used it for many projects with good success. Looking forward to seeing what your project you have planned. Take care buddy -Glen
Thanks Glen. I noticed that you've had your nose to the grindstone of late. Lots of good stuff!
+Matt Heere your right and thanks!
Thanks Matt. I always enjoy your honesty and your humor.
Thanks Matt for the video. I was lucky enough to get a Incra Miter gauge and fence system. It is pretty much like the Kreg system (different lock on miter plate). Enjoy it sure makes repetitive cuts easy.
I personally didn't like the miter gauge but the video was as honest as it can be thanks.
I'm surprised you got a square cut after adjusting the blade/motor. If you think about it, a table saw fence isn't much different from a router or drill press fence. All three are guiding the wood past a single point (more or less); the leading edge of the blade. If the blade isn't parallel to the miter slots it will make the cut wider but it isn't capable of angling the cut because the distance between the leading edge of the blade and the miter slot remains constant. Making an angled, or mitered cut can only be done by taking the miter gauge out of square. I have one of these and I'm not happy with the factory 90° accuracy when compared to a very high quality square.
Check the 90 by rotating the cut 4 times and measuring the angle of error after 4 cuts ..
I don't understand why they can't include a scale that is printed left and right so you can choose which side of the blade you want to use.
Nice review. Will come back!
Excellent product overview. Thanks for a great video.
This was really informative and well done. Great to watch. Cheers from Australia!
Glad you’re back, I was just thinking about you today. Great video.
I have the same Kreg miter gauge as you and mine is off a 1/2 degree at 90 degrees on the gauge checked with a machinist's square so I can't use that pin for any predetermined stops for different angles. If I set the gauge at 90 degrees with a square that pin won't drop in the hole. Hope you had better luck.
I have the same problem with mine. I had to shim it with aluminum tape to get it square. I'm using a heavy Kinex square as my reference. I think the only fix is to fabricate a new guide bar.
@@David-hm9ic Good luck fabricating a new guide bar, hope it works out. I ended up buying an Incra miter gauge and that one is right on the marks.
just shopping for a miter gauge and it seems Incra has Kreg in the gutter on this one :/ Incra miter gauge 1000 gives you less setup and better preset accuracy out of the box for $20 less, spend $30 more on the Incra 1000se and you've got all that plus a micro-adjusting stop and telescoping fence.
Kreg f'd up, yo.
Thank you so much, I was going to get one for my table saw, but... since I saw your video I am thinking really hard rather I am going to get this or not, your video is really good, I sure did enjoy watching. thank you again.
Spend the money and get in Incra
after each cut with the table lock, there is a cut from the video ...😏
Fantastic video. Thank you sir.
Scared the sh1t out of me when the off-cut dropped into the gap adjacent to the blade at 8:38 :(
Nicely done sir. Thanks.
anybody know what the "platform" that has table saw and router is called? a workbench? where to get it?
“Start it at the floor and convince you’re kid their getting tall…” Hahahahahah.
How often do you have to adjust the initial screws to snug up the track?
Not sure if anyone answered but for me it was "as many as it took".. I screwed some of them more than other manually before using the screw driver to get them where they needed but they are micro adjustments for sure.
Have both, incras method of miter slot adjustment is easier.
I bought the same miter gauge over a year ago and regret it. I really feel the INCRA 1000se would of been a bit better buy.
Why?
A few cons.
1) I found there was a bit of flex on the stop arm. More of a horizontal flex even when it tighten up. That's where on your 45s you might of had that bit of a gap in the middle cause it seemed when the blade started to go to the wood it would push the stop arm back a hair.
2) I dislike how long the fence is. It creates kind of a big footprint when you don't need. I feel it's an ok middle ground. I know I could buy another fence, but kind of wished it was adjustable like the Incra one is.
There is a few more but I am drawing a mind blank right now. Ha.
OK. Thanks. I'll watch for those things. Might try tightening up the bolt that holds the stop assembly together. If there is play there, then it would definitely be able to move laterally. It should catch, just a little, rubbing on the "support button." I think if my stop were moving laterally that I'd have a bulge in the miters. The gap is only on the surface though. They're solid below the veneer - and my new blade is on order!
Incra is awesome! And no, I don't work for them. :)
..Nice review Matt. question- When you adjusted the saw to the New slide did it throw off the squareness to your regular fence ??...
Made it better :) It really wasn't out that much - just a couple of thousandths.
Could you have adjusted the plastic pegs that screwed into the T-slot bar to achieve the same result without having to mess with the actual motor?
I guess in a pinch, but you really want everything to actually be square.
I guess in my thought process, it seems like unless you knew the precise number of turns that the inserts were screwed into the bar, perhaps your miter slot is actually squared with the motor/blade, but the screws created those few thousandths off.
@@danautore3977 The Easy Way To Square a Blade is Pull the Insert , crank the Blade all the way to the Top , Use a Flat Screw Driver and a Hammer , place the blade of the Screwdriver against a good flat area and Give a Firm tap to the Offending Side of The Blade Housing with out Loosening any Support Bolts . a good Tap will move it about 1/64 inch each time...and it will still stay where you tap it to...I Learned this the Hard Way...
can you buy a quality slide and attach it to the miter gauge? I have seen many reviews stating the nylon screws are a major problem.
Nice review..Thanks
That miter gauge is not ment to be use on the other side . One side only . A homemade one will work do to being able to cut through the fence on the other side of the blade .
The only thing that's not really right if you use it on the other side is the measuring tape that sets the stop block. Everything else is symmetrical and works equally well on either side.
@@MattHeere Except your saw is like mine... the two slots need two different sized runners LOL
Thanks for the video. Now that you've had it forseveral months, how has it held up? Would you recommend it?
I like it, but for about the same money I think the Incra is a better bet. Colin just did a review of the Incra over on the WoodWorkWeb channel.
@@MattHeere The Incra is def. in a different league of accuracy. All the Kreg stuff seems to be coming from China (no big surprise) - it's frankly not that great IMO. I have their scale and stops on my miter saw bench - it's handy for roughing out parts without having to grab a tape - but it's not even close to being accurate enough to use to cut final lengths for furniture projects or even kitchen cabinets. For that it's still the good old shop-made table saw crosscut sled. BTW great review - like some of the other comments the 12 mins flew by for me.
actually the kreg tools are made in Huxley Iowa
The Kreg is about 250.00 here in Canada ,I just priced the incra and its 650.00
@@visa1960 Incra has several models from extremely cheap to extremely expensive. They are all worth what they charge for them. I have several from a cheap one to the incra 5000 which includes a sled and can be set to repeatable cuts at exactly one degree or even less. I wouldn't give them up for anything.
A Good tool video.
For a company that prides itself on value, the price on this is ridiculous.
You can’t replace the plastic handle with a wooden one!
Thanks for the video. This gauge seems really janky…
thank you how are your feelings as of 2019 happy new year
Seems overly difficult to set up
Very good video
Dude, start a GoFundMe for a new hammer!
It's barely a step up from a rock!
LOL. I know, but it's a family heirloom and so far it's still getting the job done.
Nice Video!
For $139, I'll wait until you do your follow up review after using it more before buying. I find first impressions are not always reliable, especially today's manufactured products. If you got it at Christmas, you're most likely beyond return time. If not, start using it more before return time runs out.
That's a fair observation, and why I wasn't trying to pass this off as some kind of "recommendation". Not enough time in. Having said that, unless the construction doesn't hold up (which seems highly unlikely) I can't see what would change about a miter gauge. It either cuts the right angles or it doesn't.
Matt Heere My "crystal ball" says that the five plastic bar adjusters will wear down and then there will be no ability take out slack but my CB has been wrong in my past. Maybe that's why extra was included? Can you buy this part separately?
You can. These are readily available nylon parts. There is a *lot* of extra length to the screws, so it's going to be many, many years until they wear down to where they are too short. But when they do, replacements are available at the local hardware store. No need to get them from Kreg.
Matt Heere Thank you for your reply. I thought that these screws might be an odd size and therefore expensive only to be bought at Kreg.
Good video but I don't think I like this miter gauge.
Incra seems better
You relied too much faith on the "factory -calibrated" accuracy of the miter gauge and adjusted the saw blade. Should have checked how parallel the slot and the blade is by other means and that should be the basic foundation. Maybe you're right after all but should It turned out that the miter gauge is actually not that accurate then you ruin every succeeding project that would pass through that saw.
F@ck I hate t-slots in table saws.
Why? They make jigs much more safe to use because they can't be thrown back at you if they bind up.
Too bad you waited so long to open it up. Probably too late to return it and get an Incra Miter Gauge. Incra has a whole range of gauges going from cheap ($60ish) up to expensive models that come with a built in sled (about $280 and worth every penny).
You could get the Incra 1000 for about the same price as the Kreg and it blows it out of the water. It's much easier to set up, extremely easy to adjust square with the blade of your saw, can be adjusted to be dead square with your table saw table and has a telescoping fence for longer cuts. The stop block locks in to notches in the fence at 32nd of an inch increments, so you can easily make repeatable cuts even if you have moved the stop block after your last cut. The incra 1000 and up allow you to make cuts angled up a fraction of a degree with perfect, repeatable precision. Oh, and settign up the miter bar is simple, just tighten the screws on the plastic disks until there is no more slop in the miter slot (Pro Tip: if the screws ever get stuck when you need to make another adjustment, such as moving to a new table saw, just heat them up a bit with a heat gun of hairdryer and they will move easily again).
I have the incra 5000 which has the sled and I love it. The only thing with this model is if you have to make deeper cuts, the sled takes a lot of work to remove. So I bought the cheap model and another fence and I use that one for and cuts where I need the full depth of the blade, which is pretty rare for what I do.
Kreg is way overpriced for what you get.
My thoughts exactly, and I'm a newbie wood worker!
For about $30 more than this, I think I'll go with the Incra 1000hd.
Plastic screws...stupid.
H
Incra Miter gauges are about a million times better in every way. Much easier to setup and more precise.
I don't know how much the Kreg thing costs, but I'm sure it's over priced. That thing is kind of a pile of crap.
Just like your ideology