I am ready to buy an Incra positioner for use on dedicated router table with 43x27 incra table top. Last fall I built the table and bought the top. Soon I will order the 17 inch positioner primarily for joinery on heirloom boxes. My biggest question is whether I should buy the wonder fence.......my impression is that if I want to use bits larger than 1 inch, I must buy this fence??????
Someone told me assembly is very straight forward and very well documented and that I should be operational in a couple hours and that the learning curve is reasonable. I hope this is true.
I would love to visit a user of this system in the sarasota florida area now or near bar harbor maine after june 15......I have a lakefront cottage in maine where I will use my Incra
I’m a user of an LS25. First, there is no better tool for making a wide variety of joints for heirloom boxes. You can work for weeks before running out of different joints. The LS Positioner can do things that would be very difficult any other way. Not even dedicated box joint jigs or dovetail jigs can begin to do what the LS Positioner can do.
You don’t need the wonder fence to use bits taller then one inch, (which you’ll never need to do making heirloom boxes), all you have to do is install a sacrificial fence to the face of the Incra fence. Saying that, however, the wonder fence does have its advantages as some have mentioned above.
Assembly is straight forward, but getting just right requires some fiddling and adjusting. You must follow the assembly and adjustment instructions exactly or it just won’t work as smooth as it should. For instance, there are two tiny pieces of cardboard that you use as spacers when setting the fence height, if you blow them off when setting up the fence it just won’t work right. Getting it up and running in a couple hours is about right, but additional fiddling may be necessary after trying it.
Documentation is first rate, and if you have a problem, customer service is even better. Drop them an email or give them a call, they will take care of you.
Learning all the different joints and capabilities of the fence will keep you busy for months. Learning the basics is simple, but applying them in use can tedious when setting up some of the more exotic joints.
By the way, if you don’t have a thickness planer then you need to get one of those first. The thickness of your wood is critical for most of the joints and some thicknesses can only be determined through trial and error. Very few boxes can be made out of standard 3/4 inch stock. You also NEED a lift. Height adjusts must be made with a high degree of precision or the joints will not fit right and will look like crap.
I spent weeks/months of daily use before working my way through dozens of different joints and feeling comfortable tackling double joints like in the box below. By the way, the project book is necessary to learn how to do these joints and to acquire the templates.
Some of the more exotic joints possible. Maple sides, red oak fronts, Cherry and walnut accents.
Trial of drawers with the maple wrapped all the way around the white oak and the white oak wrapped all the way around maple.
I love my LS Positioner.
In woodworking there is always more then one way to accomplish something.
Nothing a small magnifying glass hasn't over come!! Good luck with your new fence!! Got questions, ask away... lots of folks willing to help around here...
