Incra TS-III Table Saw Fence: Discontinued — What to Buy Instead
The TS-III was Incra's positioning fence before the TS-LS. It is retired, and the TS-LS is where that design went.
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Incra’s table saw fences have always worked differently from everyone else’s. A conventional fence is set by sliding it until a cursor lines up with a rule, which is a reading you make by eye. An Incra positioning fence indexes mechanically: the fence locks into discrete positions along a rack, so a setting is a count rather than a judgement.
The practical consequence is repeatability. Cut a batch of parts, move the fence away for another operation, and come back to exactly the same setting without a test cut.
The TS-III was that system in its earlier form. It is discontinued — the line moved on to the TS-LS, which is the current fence.
If you own one
Keep using it. The mechanism has not been superseded in principle, and a TS-III in good order still positions more repeatably than most conventional fences sold today.
Two things to check on an older one. The rack teeth must be clean and undamaged: sawdust packed into the rack, or a bent tooth from a knock, produces a position that is slightly out and repeatably so, which is maddening to diagnose. And the fence body must still be straight — sight along it, because an aluminium extrusion that has been leaned on or dropped can carry a bow that puts a taper in every rip.
Incra still publishes manuals for older products, which is the first place to look for setup dimensions if you have bought one second-hand without paperwork.
What replaced it
The Incra TS-LS, linked below, is the current system. The changes that matter are a longer positioning range with the rack extended out over the rails, a better lock, and the LS (“Lead Screw”) micro-adjust, which lets you move a set position by thousandths without leaving the indexed system.
It is also compatible with the Wonderfence router table fence, which is what makes the TS-LS a two-machine purchase rather than a table saw accessory.
Worth saying
These fences are expensive relative to the saws many people fit them to. A well-aligned Biesemeyer-style fence, checked with a dial indicator, cuts just as accurately — it simply cannot return to a previous setting without measuring. Whether that repeatability is worth the price depends entirely on whether you cut in batches.