Incra 1000HD miter guide

This is the 1000HD by Incra. They make a couple ‘1000’ series miter guides, and I haven’t but a little experience (in a showroom on their saw, a couple passes and adjustments each) on the other models. The HD stands for High Definition (or it should if it doesn’t!) as this guide is reliably* adjustable to one 10th of one degree. Yup, you read it right. I add the asterisk because using the 10th degree scale does require you to line up the lines…as opposed to the positive gear tooth engagement for the single degree marks. However, if you can line up two lines, you can get it to a 10th of a degree…

Let me digress a bit…

The 1000HD has similar traits to other higher quality gauges. It’s all aluminum construction feels solid and has a smooth action. The aluminum extrusion fence offers slots to accept T-bolts for adding goodies, like a sacrificial fence. The top of the fence includes a scale and is cut to receive an Incra flip stop, which has micro adjustments to zero in the stop as you’d like it. The extrusion fence hides a cute little secret. If you loosen a screw, it extends out adding nearly a foot more ‘fence’. The extrusion itself is held against the guide with two set screws, allowing easy adjustment of the fence to move it closer or further from the blade depending on the angle being cut. Lastly, the miter bar uses high dentistry plastic split washers that allow adjustment for a perfect fit in your miter slot. Take a minute to tension them properly and they’ll fit anything within the proscribed range..even my rough old craftsman contractor saw that I’ve dolled up!

Now, if we’re being honest, these aren’t really revolutionary advances to the world of miter gauges. Where the 1000HD shines is in the laser cut, highly accurate teeth on the protractor portion of the gauge. These are engaged by a single tooth on the adjustment veneer that locks the gauge into place, at a very precise 1 degree location. If the fence is properly squared against the blade, and the miter bar is running true in the slot, it produces an amazingly accurate and highly repeatable cut. As with all the Incra stuff, precision is their game!

The gauge locks into place against the corresponding tooth for whatever degree you’re looking for, and is then tensioned into place using the traditional vertical push handle, but the veneer plate that sets the tooth also has its own tensioning knob, so you get some backup security when you set the angle. I won’t go into how to set the 10th of a degree, as it’s better explained by reading the Incra instructions and watching the video, but it’s really quite easy to do once you understand how the veneer needs to line up. I’ve done test cuts using some wonky angles (for open segmented  bowls) and they just fit like a glove, so I know the 10ths are properly set. 

My only really complaint with the 1000HD is that the extrusion fence is slippery. I ended up bolting an auxiliary fence to the face with some adhesive backed sandpaper, which fixed it well. However, that rendered the flip stop unusable since it’s can’t span the extra thickness. I should probably just add the adhesive sandpaper to the extrusion itself to fix the issue, but I honestly haven’t found the need. I use clamped stop blocks if I need repeated cuts, or just unbolt the aux fence if I know I’m going to make several different cuts that I want to use the flip stop for…since the flip stop will keep the stock from sliding further down the extrusion. I don’t use the scale on top of the extrusion very much either. It’s set up accurately enough, but if you slide the extrusion around you’ve got to go back and re-zero it. I’d rather use stop blocks. 

Over all this was a great purchase for the TS. I was lured in by the 10th of a degree ability, not knowing what I’d use it for, but it ended up being worth the extra cabbage for me. I use the 1000HD all the time, and it’s an indispensable part of my TS, as any good miter gauge should be!