Customer Reviews

INCRA LS32-TS TS-LS Table Saw Fence 32-Inch Range

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For those of you wondering what the difference is between the Saw Tooth TSIII Table saw fence from Incra and the Lead Screw or LS-32 I will try and explain.

I was originally slated to purchase the SawTooth version or ST TSIII as it is known and then canceled my order after talking with an Incra rep. He told me that both of the fences were equally good , but that the LS had some advantages with positioning and movement. I told him I went with the ST TSIII in the beginning because all the reviews here at Amazon were for it only and it was more expensive than this LS version. I figured it must be better. He laughed and explained that he does not know why Amazon offers the pricing structure they do. Amazon sells the ST TSIII for more than the LS-32. It should be the other way around. The LS-32 is the new and improved model.

He went on to tell me that both are extremely great and function in the same way, however the Lead Screw has moved the micro adjuster right next to the saw fence making it much easier to dial in because you can see what you are doing. He also talked about the saw tooth movement versus the screw based movement. That he said was a personal preference. Both will function the same in the end, but the LS is what is being promoted by INCRA in all their product lines, not the ST TSIII. Out side of that they are essentially the same product and you could not go wrong with either. However, why pay more for the Sawtooth?? Thats just dumb to me.

Onto the REVIEW:

I was tired of double checking every time I wanted to adjust my fence. The LS makes it so easy and so perfect. It glides nicely along the rails and effortlessly locks into place. I have cut a few hundred BF of hard maple at different widths for some cabinet faces and doors and there has been no flex in the fence or deviation what so ever. I measure the cuts every now and them with a micrometer just to check and it is dead on to .003 of an inch every time. WOW!

This fence will encourage you to make precise cuts. I also want to add that before I switched this fence I was cutting the same hard maple. I am using a WWII blade and every now and then I would get burn marks. With this fence it does not happen except occasionally due to springy wood grain only ...not the alignment like the other fence. This was a big deal for me because I was forced to run 2 passes to get the correct size. Not anymore!

I believe another benefit of the fence is that it is much wider/longer than my old fence by about 6 inches so there is extra infeed and outfeed length to help guide the board.

I can not say enough good things about this product. I have recently ordered the miter5000 sled after my good experience and will be reviewing it shortly. The fence did take me about 2 hours to setup because I had to drill holes in my table top, however I have a non standard width of 23 1/2" versus the 27" . Otherwise expect the install to take a good 1 hour to do after you disassemble your original fence.

My cheazy little contractor saw equiped with the INCRA LS-32, the Miter5000 and a WoodWorkerII blade performs flawlessly. I do not think I could get a better cut on a unisaw.


Cons: Only one, and only if you have space issues

When you are cutting a board of 24" or wider you will need 5-6 feet to the right of your blade. it does leave a good size footprint in the shop.

The Incra Table Saw Fence system is great! I must admit that reviews on various sites concerning experiences with ordering this product from Amazon caused me some hesitation but, after taking the advice of another reviewer and springing for the 2 day shipping, the product arrived in good condition with no missing parts.
The TSIII was actually quite fun to install on my contractor saw. What a pleasure to follow the well conceived installation instructions that actually relate to the logical sequential steps of installation (by comparison, try finding a swing set with easy to follow instructions). Other reviewers have stated the same and I can only echo their praise for the straight forward manner in which Taylor Manufacturing provides the installation instructions and parts packaging .
The fence makes my contractor saw perform with precision that I never dreamed it was capable of when using my old fence. Once calibrated - a somewhat tedious but necessary procedure - just set the cursor on the desired cut distance on the steel tape and make the cut with confidence. I personally appreciate the large and easy to view micrometer style (aka saw tooth) ultra jig used on the older style TSIII as opposed to the LS version although I can see that locating the lead screw adjustment on the LS version close to the fence puts the adjustment closer to where the action is occuring. Matter of preferrence I suppose. The only real consideration prior to buying either the TSIII or the LS Incra Fence System (aside from the steep price) should be the footprint. My shop is not large but I will be able to make some accomadations to fit the fence to my space. If your shop space is small and you can't find the necessary 5 to 6 feet to the right of the saw that the Incra requires, you should consider another fence.
Finding a product that absolutely lives up to its billing and reputation is, well, it is reassuring in some measure.

Many of you have emailed me about my experiences with the Incra LS32-TS Table Saw Fence System. If you follow our videos in order, you will notice that in Episode 30, I was very excited to have this "high end" fence on my tablesaw. Many of you soon noticed that I was back to my old Powermatic fence shortly thereafter. I certainly do owe everyone an explanation.

Before I go into the details here, I would first like to talk about product reviews. I am by no means a "reviewer". I don't have standardized testing procedures and I really don't care to. All I can do is tell you how a product worked in my hands. That doesn't necessarily indicate how it will work in your hands. But I do feel the "everyday man" approach can sometimes be much more informative than the formal, over-complicated, and "out of touch with the real world" scenarios we read about in many publications. So please take my comments with a grain of salt. They are, after all, one man's experience.

So why did I upgrade the fence in the first place? I was very happy with my Powermatic fence, but I really liked the idea of micro-adjustability and increased accuracy. I wasn't convinced that I NEEDED it. I just WANTED it. I am sure you can relate. After all, Incra has a reputation for unparalleled precision and accuracy. And who wouldn't want a little more accuracy.

The system was pretty straight forward and the instructions clear. The kit came with a excellent DVD as well. Everything was going smoothly until it was time to align the fence with the blade. In my case I just used my miter slot. Alignment of the fence is accomplished by tightening down the 8 screws that hold the positioner in place on the far right side of the saw. Now for initial setup, I am not very picky. I actually use my fingers to determine whether the fence is parallel with the miter slot (surprisingly accurate, by the way). I would position the fence and tighten the screws. Then I would release the fence, push it all the way to the right and then back to the miter slot. When I clamped it down again, the alignment would be slightly off. I proceeded to go through what felt like a trial and error-style setup procedure for another hour. And when it was all said and done, I was still not confident the fence was locking into exactly the same position every time. Several week's later, after some real shop usage, I felt the same way.

One of the great features of this system is the micro adjustability. Once you have your fence lined up for a cut, you can raise the cam clamp into the first position, which engages the lead screw. At that point you can use the little click wheel to make adjustments down to 0.002'. Pretty cool. To completely secure the fence for a cut, you pull the cam clamp to the second position and then tighten a small thumb screw at the user end of the fence itself. Despite the extra security, I really never felt confident that the fence was locking down perfectly parallel to the blade every time. It actually reminded me of the lack of confidence I used to have in my first Craftsman tablesaw fence. I remember having to make sure the fence was completely snug against the rail before clamping down, otherwise it would be skewed. Now the Incra wasn't quite THAT bad, but the fact remained that I was still experiencing this lack of trust. On my Powermatic system, I can have the fence tweaked in one direction or the other, and when the clamp comes down that sucker pops into place whether it likes it or not. As a result I have complete confidence in the alignment of the Powermatic fence. Unfortunately, after several weeks with the Incra I was never able to build up that confidence.

To be honest, I was willing to live with these "issues", or at least deal with them for a little while longer. But then came my first big project with the new system. I had to make a simple cabinet out of 3/4' Baltic Birch. I thought it would be a great test of the new fence. And it actually revealed to me what, at least in my shop, proved to be the Achilles Heel of the entire system: limited rip capacity. The widest rip it could handle was 29'. Now I could certainly live with that if I had no other option, but apparently I had become so accustomed to having full cabinet saw rip capacity, that this was the deal breaker. Now, I know you can shift the fence rails and readjust everything for the wider cut, but that's just too much darn work for me. So I spent another day removing the Incra, and replacing it with my old Powermatic Accufence. And I have to tell you, it was like taking off a pair of uncomfortable dress shoes and slipping back into my perfectly worn Adidas sneakers.

I think I have been avoiding this write-up simply because of the overall negative tone toward Incra. I have read so many positive reviews about this system that I began second-guessing my own experiences. But, it is what it is. If you are interested in this fence system, I recommend trying to find a friend that has one so you can get get some hands on time for yourself. To be fair, the Incra system is a huge upgrade from most cheapo fences that come on contractor saws (although these are getting better every year). But if you have a decent t-square fence that is in working order, I don't think I would recommend the Incra unit as an upgrade. To me, the things I lost were not worth what little I gained. But if you are the type of person who values micro-adjustability on a tablesaw and you don't mind taking the time to occasionally change the setup for different cuts, you might think this fence is a worthwhile investment.

I have now purchased three of incra's 32 fence systems. two for the school I work for and one for myself.
bought the first one to repair an older craftsman saw that had been badly abused before I began teaching there. I teach wookworking to 9-12th graders. trust me when I say they will put any piece of equipment through its paces. after installing on the craftsman they stopped using the powermatic because of its ease to use and repeatability. I later bought a newer version for the powermatic saw. I have had zero problems with durability and am seriously thinking about replacing our router tables with the incra systems.

there are only two drawbacks to the entire system and I think they are minor to me.
1. space. it does take up some room to the side of the saw. if space is a premium either look elsewhere or consider putting the saw on casters.
2. on the newer version the ruler is mounted closer to the front of the crossbar. because my thumb rests there when I grabe the fence to move it I have to recheck the set of the ruler if someone else has used the saw before me. (it tends to get moved occasionally. this doesn't happen on the older version with the micro adjustment by the latch. I have the newer version at home and have no issues with movement, but keep in mind I have a lot of beginner woodworkers using this saw at school.
3. comes with a fair amount of extra parts. this can be confusing if you think you need to use everything.

Overall, these fences have made it easier to teach students and build their confidence in their own woodworking skills and have earned my solid recomendation.
Paul L

I purchased the LS-TS to replace the original fence on my Grizzly G0690 table saw. I have to say installation was easy and I was even able to reinstall the original Off/On switch easily by using the new Incra rail slot, two 1/4" bolts and square nuts. I love the accuracy this fence provides and would not go back to the original fence, which I sold. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of the space it requires to the right of the saw, but that is to be expected. Overall I am VERY happy and should have purchased this earlier.

I have a older craftsman 10 inch cast iron saw with a 3 hp motor that I bought years ago for 80 bucks. I built my own base out of wood, a large and solid one. I recently added the INCRA fence system with the wonder-fence add-ons. The left side of the saw has a 27 x 24 inch router table extension that I built, with a Jessem precision lift, the right side extension is a 27 x 32 inch extension with a cut-out for a router insert as well. I built 4 - 3/4 x 7 inch x 6 foot long trusses that hang under the INCRA rails and support a 6 inch infeed extension (outside of the INCRA rails which gives an additional 4 inches to yield a total of 10 inch infeed extension) and a little over 3 feet of outfeed extension. Both extensions cover the entire 72 inches of width. These extensions are supported by adjustable diagonal braces that run from under the side extensions down to the legs of the tablesaw stand. This makes the entire assembly intrinsically rigid that is supported on only four adjustable legs. The unit is rock solid with very little vibration. The entire unit, saw included, with the INCRA fence system, the wonderfence add-ons, the 3000 miter slide from INCRA a new Makita router, the lift, and the materials including dust collection accessories cost a little over 1100 dollars. I have a 6 foot by 6 foot work area, a saw that cuts perfectly with repeatable accuracy within 0.001 inch along with the router table that has the same accuracy. Plus, I built it myself with the quality fitting of a wood-working shop. Even if you have (and I may buy one in the future) a high dollar saw, the INCRA fence is a must have. I can make perfect cuts without pulling out a ruler, cut perfect box joints without measuring, and the fence is square every time. The same is true for the router as I use the same fence with the added wonder-fence additions. True, it is a home workshop and not a fabrication shop, yet the INCRA system has made the quality of my work along with the unbelievable time savings, infinite levels higher.

I am a professional woodworker, making Handcrafted wooden Jewelry Boxes. An accurate and reliable fence is absolutely necessary. I had been using a Vega for 10 years and although it is a good fence, it did start slipping after a while which caused a cut wider than I wanted. That can be disastrous.

Out of box experience: The Incra LS32-TS came in three boxes, the longest contains the rails and is slightly over 6 foot long. None are that heavy. Opening is easy and the hardware is in marked plastic bags.

Instructions: The directions are great, nothing is left out. I followed them explicitly and had no problems.

Operation: Once set up, the fence is easy to use. Because it uses the lead screw technology, it is automatically accurate to within 1/32 inch. With the Micro Adjustment, you can get it down to 1/64th or better. One click on the Micro Adjustment knob is 1/1000th inch. Go to incra.com and click on Demos; watch the videos on how the LS system works.

Notes: The rails are 6 foot long! They stick out 45 inches from the blade on the right side. The LS32-TS takes up a lot of space. You can remove the fence for cross cutting, but the fence is pretty big and heavy. Small price to pay for what you get.

I have had an Incra fence on my router for 15 years and it works as good as the day I got it. If you want accuracy and reliability, then this is the fence.

Just so you understand, I gave it 4 stars not because I like it, but because objectively speaking, it "performs" as advertised. So why don't I like it? Because I've now grown to hate the its footprint. I.e., given a width, it requires way more right side space than other fences (due to the middle support rail sticking its "butt" out). Which, for my small tool shed, matters a great deal. Also, I hate how I have to reach far to the right to lock it. I bought this fence sight unseen based on Amazon reviews touting its "accuracy", but I was stupid to think .002" matters (com'on, it's wood). If you have ample space, these things won't be an issue for you and you might like it. But beware, you might also be very annoyed with it. Know what you're getting into with this fence.

I am a segmented wood turner and I love this fence system. When combined with one of incra's mitre gauges it allows me to make precison cuts with relative ease. In segmented turning duplication with precision is essential. This combination makes it very easy to accomplish. I can see where the limited rip could be a problem for a cabinet guy, but it doesnt affect my shop.

I would highly recommend this fence to anyone interested in precision cutting.

My husband loves this product. He has an older table saw so the fence was not terribly reliable. This new face makes it a cinch to make multiple cuts the same size with ease and reliability and always in the desired size. The only problem I had was with delivery. The fence comes in three boxes. Two boxes arrived on consecutive days in time for Christmas but the third never came and I had to call Amazon to resend. Don't know if the boxes were separated before shipping or en route, but it meant hubby couldn't play with his toy right away on Christmas day.