Axminster TS200 - would an Incra mitre fence work with it ?

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LarryS.

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Has anyone here got a TS200 and upgraded the mitre to an Incra ? Just wondering if its possible as the TS200 mitre slot is some daft t-shaped affair - one of the few gripes I have with the saw :x

:D
 
AFAIK the mitre slot is too small. So no. I did wonder if you could replace the mitre bar on the incra jig. I suspect that'd be a risky business tho. Another option is to get an engineering company to mill the slots to the correct dimension. I have no idea how much this would cost but would be interested to know.
 
like i said, that slot is the main thing that annoys me, why oh why didn't they make it a standard size ?????????

i need to get out more
 
I dont think its possible to mill the slot as the cast top is too thin,when you look underneath the casting is reinforced and deeper where the mitre slot is but there is not enough meat left to either side to mill it out..

Have to say its my only complaint about the Axi TS 200 as well...would be fab with a standard mitre slot.
 
I'm in the process of getting this modification done at the moment.
Some may remember in my previous posts that Axminster sent me a replacement top as the existing one had problems with the 2 mitre slots.

Anyway, after I went through the trouble of changing them over I rang Axi back and asked if they wanted the faulty one returned. The lady said no they didn't so it stood in my garage (sorry... workshop :roll: ) until last week.
I had previously thought about opening and deepening the slots to accommodate a standard gauge but didn't have the nerve until I was told I could keep the spare table or throw it away. So, as I had nothing to lose, I asked a local engineering company to have a go at it for me.
I'm hoping it will be done soon and I will report back here with some pictures either good or bad.

Steve.
 
excellent/ Very interested to hear how this goes and also how many pennies it cost.
 
me too :lol: maybe there is more metal there than my quick glance udnerneath...! I hope so :D
 
Good news, table has been done and i'm picking it up later on this afternoon :D
They said it did get a bit hairy in certain places, particularly in the middle where there seemed to be less meat to work with.
Next job is to replace the table again and set it up for a THIRD time, let's hope it's the last :roll:
As for the cost, I was lucky enough to get it done in exchange for my existing table top.

Pictures will go up once its all set up (probably tomorrow).
 
Steve would you mind asking them how much it would have cost if you were paying. Would be a massive help. Really good news that it worked out. Can't wait to see the pics of how it turned out. Have you already bought an Incra?? ;)
 
Oo thats great news Steve :D .really pleased they managed it for you :) ..my only worry would be how much variance there might be between tops on individual models, as there is so little to play with, as I could end up with a worthless top :lol: .

I would be interested as well as to rough costs to have something like that done to decide whether its worth the risk.
 
OK, so been a bit of a disaster today!
The table looks great, pics to come tomorrow I promise.
Now, I asked for the slots to be 3/8" deep which they are, but because of the lack of material and flex under pressure of the mill head it does tend to vary a bit along the length. It is 3/8" at the deepest point and up to 20 thou' less at one of the ends. I'm just hoping the thickness of the mitre bar is thin enough to compensate for this or i'm back to square one.
I didn't have the heart to ask if they could take a bit more out of the depth for me considering the trouble they had gone to and also the lack of a fee.
The set up sounded a nightmare.
1. Clock up the two slots and find the high and low spots to see how much needed to be removed.
2. Check the thickness of the casting along each of the slots to ensure there was enough meat.
3. Mill the underside of the table to give it a flat base as there is was slight twist across the opposite corners.
4. Find the best datum to work from to ensure both slots would be parallel.

Cost.....
Working on £30 per hour, if the table was flat/square/true ect.. and all they needed to do was put it on the machine and clock up/mill out, it would have been done within an hour.
As it was nowhere near and took between 2-3 hours this could have cost me up to £90.
Fergus is right, there will be a variance between tables and it is a risk, personally one I would not be willing to take.
Wizer, not got the incra yet, need to get hold of an old 3/4" mitre gauge first to see if it fits in the slot.

Anyway the disaster I mentioned at the beginning, made two dummy runs at cutting out a pocket to fit my router plate today, both turned out perfect.
Set up everything on my newly made worktop consisting of:
3mm melamine
18mm MDF
12mm MDF
18mm MDF
3mm melamine

Cut the pocket out, removed the guides (big mistake) which were carpet taped to the surface and tried the plate in the hole...Too small :shock: :shock: punched everthing that was close to me and screamed into my fishing unhooking mat ( which stank due to a sucessfull afternoon yesterday) :x
I've now got to come up with a way of re-jigging to removing about 1.5mm all the way round the perimeter :oops:
 
Thanks Steve. I guess on the face of it £90 seems like a lot of money. But if you have a small workshop and the TS200 is the only saw you can fit in then I think it's worth spending money to get it up to spec. Of course if you can fit a proper TS in then the money's better spent there. I might have a little phone around on Monday and see if I can get some quotes for the work. I'd also like to take off the front and back sections of the table top that hold the fence rails. Making way for the fence mod that SteveM posted elsewhere.
 
Thanks for the info Steve ...was hopeing you would say it was perfect and that it hadnt been too bad a job for them..I agree with Wizer £90 if I could use an Incra with it would be money well spent but my niggling worry is paying someone that and ending up with a useless top.Dont know how much a new top would be from axi but I imagine quite a bit .

Sorry to hear about your cutout woes :/
 
As promised:
table-top.jpg
 
Cheers for posting the pic Steve :) I am still umming and arring,think I'll have a word with a friend of mine who does a lot of milling. Dont really fancy having to take all the gubbins off the underneath :lol:
 
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