Incra Miter Express first impressions

reible · Post by **reible** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:25 am

This will be a muti-part post.

In case you have been in a cave the last year or so Incra has come up with what is called a Miter Express. Rather then bore you with details you can check it out either at the shopsmith site (556026) or at:
www.incra.com

When the Father's Day sale time came along I ordered one. I had a project in mind that seemed to fit in well with what this addition to my shop. It turned out they were backordered and well with out more details it arrived a couple of days ago. It comes in a much smaller box then I expected and there is no label that says shopsmith version??? And the instructions are not geared to the shopsmith machine at all.

After reading the instuctions and thinking about how you will wanted to use it you can get started on putting it together. Things are well marked and the bags are labeled. The instructions are clear enought but the pictures favor a left side of the blade mount.

One thing I noticed early on was lack of a parts list and with the various uses this could be adapted for it might be nice to be able to order panel pieces... so it looks like a phone call or email to get that information. I guess that is an Incra thing.

As you might expect I have pictures so we can get in to some more details with "picture" support. Again as before we will go across the row then down and across etc.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/12199425@N02/sets/72157602204252326/

In the first image you see the parts as they come out of the box. I always like play a bit with things before I get serious and put it together. While in my playing phase I noticed that the miter express is not designed with a t-slot. So if you have a miter bar that has one, 505/510/520 or the Miter gauge 2000 it has to be taken off or if you did the modification shown at:

*****************photos have been removed**********************
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12199425@N02/sets/72157601718314236/
it has to be twisted to fit the slot in the miter express.

The third and forth photo show it mounted to the left of the blade. This would be my preferred location except for the fact that this is not good if you want to use this with the table tilted... One of the decisions to think about.

Photos 5 and 6 show it on the right. This is how I did mine but with how the shopsmith is layed out you might be able to flip the whole thing 180 degrees and use it on the left. I have not tested this but it either works or is really close to working.

Now we are going to make a giant turn. Please read this over before trying to do this. The shopsmith miter gauge has several options for miter gauge extensions. When used on the miter express I'm going to show you something that you might not have ever thought about doing. Take a look at the next photo, number 7. Here you see an adapter plate I made. This is somewhat of a mutilpurpose plate so keep this in mind when you see all the holes. You need to have only the ones shown in use. It is critical that the exposure is kept to a minimum as shown in photo 8. The length of the cap screws is also critical, they are shown in photo 9. They must not extend out beyond the front of the plate. In photo 10 you see the hardware used to mount the miter gauge extension, it is from incra. The next photo shows the great lengths I took to keep the exposure in a minimum by grinding the washer.

Photos 12 and 13 show the plate. The mounting holes are tapped by the way. Again you need only the 4 holes in use to do this.

The 14th shot is with the my newest telescopic incra miter extender. You can check my post at:
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=779 for more information on that.
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Before we leave this part of the discussion, the offset of the miter slot in the miter express lets this work. While it almost works on the main shopsmith table I would NOT do so as a potential problem might well get you. As can be seen in the next 3 photos (15-17) the problem comes as the gauge angle is set as shown in photo 17. When working it is too easy to forget about this potential problem so it best just not to do it.
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After the parts have been put together and the panels cut this is what the bottom side of the miter express looks like. Please note that 3 tape looking strips on the right table are actually UHMV strips and work very well for reducing friction. Oh yea that is photo 18. If you look close you can see the t-slot nuts on both the front and back of the miter express! I think I like that.

Next (photo 19) it is shown with the miter express right side up and parts in place. I've got to look at the stationary table as it is not setting very flat... maybe you can see that in the photo?? I did not tighten it in place here so maybe that is what is going on??

Way back when I got the cross-cut sliding table system (555502 since upgraded to the 520 style) with the auxilliary cross-cut table (555526). Photo 20 shows how big the table is and no I'm not going to part with it as it still has some advantages over other methods. The last photo is the UHMV stip I added to this many many years ago and if you have this set-up you might want to give it a try, I really like it!

I hope in the next few days to add some more photos and play with the Miter 2000 to see how that might work. I'll also post some early on feelings about how this is working out for me.

Ed

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 6:42 am

Excellent work, ed. The arcade of photos really helps.

Now I need an OPR and a Miter Express.

reible · Post by **reible** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:30 pm

I had a little time today to play somemore with the miter express. What I looked at first was why the small panel with rounded edges mounted to the far left side was not sitting flat. I think it has something to do with the small wedge shaped parts that lock it in place. They seemed to be hitting something in the miter slot and the whole part would rock. I found if I rotated the piece 180 deg. it was OK. So I took the bar off and did the 180 deg rotation and it now fits fine. At this point I'm just going to leave it that way and not worry about it.

I then took a few more pictures and posted them at the end of the ones from the last post. The first of the new ones is in the 22 position. Check them at:

********************photos have been removed*******************
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12199425@N02/sets/72157602204252326/

One of the things I was interested in was how the Incra Miter 2000 shopsmith edition might work on the express. It of course fits the slot in the Miter Express as you should be able to use any miter gauge/bar in it. You do have to watch the placement so the expansion spots don't line up with the lock down cams but that is not to hard to do. One draw back with this set up is the fact the Miter 2000 only rotates from a 90 degree cut to a bevel in one direction. For some projects this will not be a problem it will be a limitation for others. I guess if you had the money picking up a Miter 3000SE would really make this a nice setup.

So on to the pictures, in photo 22 and 23 you can see the Miter 2000 mounted on the Miter Express. In the next photo you can see the Incra hold down clamp that comes in the box. It seems to hold very well even on a thin strip as shown in the photo 24. Photos 25 and 26 show it hold a wider board. I think I'm going to like this attachment.

Of couse the shopsmith ad shows the use to the standard shopsmith miter gauge and the 20" miter gauge extension (556005) and that is what is shown in photo 27. The old hardwood extension would of course also work (505630) as wood any hand built versions you might have around the shop.

I now have to get some hours under my belt using it but from the first impressions I feel that this will be a great addition to my shop. Right now I have to move on to some other projects so unless you have some questions I think I'm done here.

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:47 pm

As it has been a while since I updated this I figured I should give an update.

I had real hopes for using the miter 2000 with this. I am now sure I don't like this setup. It does has some limited use but the parts that bug me out way the things I like about this combination.

I have now started my shopping list for the new year. One of those items will be a Incra Miter 1000. I'd love the 3000 but for the cost difference I'll be OK with the 1000. The 2000 will return to miter gauge only duty and the new 1000 will stay on the express full time.

I am now using the shopsmith miter gauge and the shopsmith flip arm setup. It doesn't set angles as well but other wise it seems to work well.

I've also noticed a small crack in one of the panels from one of the mounting screw holes towards the edge of he panel... it is only a distance of about a 1/2" or so but I'm not sure why it is forming. I'm watching it for now and if changes for the worst I'll be contacting Incra about it.

So that is the update as of now.

Ed

mtobey · Post by **mtobey** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:03 pm

Since Incra's V27 is on sale almost all of the time at one or the other vendors-usually about $59- I'll order that for use in the Miter Exp. And, I'll work up my own fence. I have a good stash of UHMW and offcuts of stable dry wood to do a nice fence. Thanks,mt