What on earth is an Incra LS Positioner?

Interested in the Incra Jig? bit.ly/incra_wf
Check out Timbecons website, tell them the Woodfather sent you! 😉
‪@timbeconaus‬ lent me a new toy, the Incra LS Positioner. While it's always exciting to try out something new, I honestly didn't know anything about the Incra, so had no idea what to expect.
In this video I'll give you an overview of what it is, we'll unbox it, assemble it, demo it, and then finally, I'll give my very first impressions.
I'm really looking forward to trying out some more detailed projects with the Incra. I've already completed a couple, but if you have any ideas about ones you want to see me tackle, yell out, and I'll see what I can do.
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[@theofarmmanager267]

I’ve got several Incra tools, including the Indra router table and LS positioner. All the tools are very accurate and robust and, whilst not cheap, not in the Woodpecker re-mortgage area. I don’t use the fancy joinery part of the positioner. For dovetails, they look machine made and I prefer the look of hand cut. For all the other fancy stuff, it’s just too….fancy for my taste. For me, the positioner is about accuracy and repeatability. Matched with a Jessem lift, i wouldn’t change it. Gripes? Only really that setting the 2 separate fences to be co-planar (in a straight line) is not as easy as it could be it’s almost over complicated. And all the adjustment bolts have a nasty habit of coming loose - not great for accuracy. But, I just check everything is tight and straight before I cut. Several years ago, I watched a video about products from Banggood and was intrigued. I bought a square from there wondering about its accuracy. When it came, it was spot on. What I did work out is that Banggood is a shop like Amazon. So, coming from Banggood is no guarantee of crap or quality. Look for the brand. Since that beginning, I’ve probably got 20 pieces through Banggood from either Veiko or Hongdui. Excellent. Everyone is as accurate as I want it (I’m not yet building a space rocket) and, at the very least, as good a quality as the expressive brands but, in most most case, far better quality. For a fraction of the price of the brands. I detest the Chinese Government. I’m not happy with many governments -US, UK, Australia but even they struggle to be as barbaric as the Chinese. Am I helping the Chinese government if I buy from Banggood? Yes, in terms of taxes and in terms of providing employment. But the alternative is to put my hard earned money into the hands of the big brands who, I believe, exploit their brands far above the actual cost plus price of the goods. For example, aluminium of any grade is a global commodity. So it costs about the same anywhere on the world. The CNC machines that make the stuff are, again, a global commodity and it’s reasonable to think that a machine of a certain capability costs the same around the world. Finally, labour. Here Chinese sweatshops will be cheaper but there is very little labour involved in the making of a square or a ruler. I don’t forget that almost everything in this world has a China connection; either made in Chins or made by something that comes from China. I certainly won’t listen to the entreaties of Biden, Trump, Sunak, Cameron to buy national as those people also have the morals of rotten fish. So, I’m not happy to put some money into the hands of the Chinese government but neither am I happy to make certain CEO’s even richer than they need to be.

[@Saw-IT]

Hi Mario, I def would not have checked out this review except I have missed watching your videos. I don't even have a router table ATM haha, but now i have watched this i may need one....First a router table.

[@woodfather]

ahahah, thanks mate - I don't think I'd recommend this as your first router table setup, spoiled for life if you do that! :D

[@ArchEdge]

MARIO!! great to see you back!

[@ArchEdge]

Will you be at Timbercon event on the weekend?

[@woodfather]

Hi mate, I should be there in the morning yep, looking forward to checking out their new setup, I haven't gotten out there yet.

[@wildwood3031]

I think where it excels is when your router is in the wing of your table saw and then you get the combined positioned and have repeatability on the table saw as well.

[@woodfather]

That would be very handy yep, unfortunately my shop isn't quite wide enough for me to add the router under a wing of the saw and be able to work on it easily, I've tried it out but just didn't feel right.

[@christopherdekonstrukt444]

I have a Jessem table, lift and master fence; and am pretty much limited to making drawer locks as it gets tiring making test cuts all day and not making a good looking joint. Never could quite get mitre locks right.

[@woodfather]

Do you know, I don't think I've ever tried a locking mitre joint, I'll need to add that to the list. I'll have to look into the Jessem more, is it a whole joinery system like the Incra is it?

[@Cyan2002]

Hello! Did you put anything under the fence when you attached it to the positioner? I fear that without doing so it'd drag when being adjusted. Did you run into any of this?

[@woodfather]

Nope, the fence arm runs back and forth inside the main body of the positioner, so it must be a millimetre or so above the tabletop. That may not really make sense the way that I've typed it out 😆, but long story short, no, I haven't felt the need to put anything under the fence to stop it dragging, hasn't been an issue at all. 👍

[@surlycanadian]

@@woodfathermust be a difference between the LS positioner for a router table and the TS-LS positioner for table saws. The table saw fence is supposed to be shimmed to raise it up about 1/16th”. It’s in the calibration instructions and shims come with the parts.

[@stevenbolton5181]

I am wondering how this compares to your box tail jig. If you have time, what are the pros and cons of this jig compared to the one you sell plans for? Thank you!!

[@woodfather]

Good question, I'll definitely do a video on a comparison. I absolutely love the incra for dovetail joinery, but for BoxJoints specifically, (I know I'm biased), but I prefer my own jig design.

[@stevenbolton5181]

@@woodfather Thank you very much.

[@FixitFingers]

Well... it's no Woodfather Box Joint Jig... but it sure is pretty.

[@woodfather]

ahahaha, yeah I was tempted to decline the offer as obviously nothing could compare to my true Jiggy love, but glad I checked it out. World of difference between ease of use across both jigs I must admit, (Woodather's Jig trounces it 😉) , but for dovetails, well, it's pretty dang special and fun to use. This video is actually a little older now, so I've learnt more around how to setup and use the Incra over the last few months. I still can't call it _easy_, but certainly easier for me to make a joint now. 👍

[@scruffy4647]

What is the router table top material? I was wanting to get a solid phenolic top or cast iron.

[@woodfather]

Mine is melamine with an MDF core. I've had this for maybe 3 years now and love it. My older homemade router table that I built 10+ years ago was also melamine, it held up really well even though I used as a workbenh more often than not, hammering and gluing away on it. I'm not sure what advantages a cast iron top brings for a router table to be honest, for me, melamine is more than good enough. 👍

[@teosinghsyiem9426]

sir, what is the length of the wonder fence ?

[@woodfather]

I believe 700mm across the face of the fence, or if you're asking about how far back and forth the fence can travel, I have the 430mm model. There is also a 635mm model. 👍

[@teosinghsyiem9426]

Thank you for reply. I mean Wonder Fence only. Not to be confused with positioner. Length of wonder fence so I know what width of router table to prepare.

[@woodfather]

@@teosinghsyiem9426 I just measured mine, the wonderfence is 710mm across, but if you add the dust port onto the end, it comes to 750mm 👍

[@teosinghsyiem9426]

🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@GeneCaralde119workshop]

That's super expensive!

[@woodfather]

Yep, thats the main reason why I had no idea what it was, I tend to not look at items out of my price range! Definitely not something that everyone needs in their workshop, but if you have the right use case, super helpful (and I suspect profitable) for you. Opens up a lot of possibilities. 👍

[@mybossisdrunk]

Let me add this, INCRA as a company is so excellent. Call them sometime and you will see what I mean.

[@woodfather]

Cool to know! I've never had need to reach out, not even sure if they have an Australian arm to be honest, but good to know they value customers! 👍