I am looking to build a crosscut sled for my table saw and want to buy some metal or plastic Miter Bars/Miter Sliders. Any good sources for these. Also, could these be made from some aluminum stock. Looking to fit the standard 3/4" X 3/8" slot. I know you can make these from wood but looking for metal or plastic. Not interested in the expensive Incra ones.
-Thanks
Just give proper consideration to thermal expansion for either plastic or metal.
Tough to beat white oak or hard maple for this application.
HTH
Lew
I gotta agree with Lew. Nuthin wrong with oak for runners. I have 3 of the fancy incra ones, they are nice, but really, I do just fine with white oak. Even have one with red oak, I think becuase I had some sitting around that was already the right size. it works too.
I tried poly runners once, they squeezed out so much when I screwed them on, they were un- useable.
-Dan V.
Your local woodworking store? Lee Valley sells UHMW which fits.
I use MDF with an edge of scrap arborite for smooth running. It may be a few thousandth's wider than .750, but a belt sander, plane, router, or jointer will fix that.
Dan Valleskey wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Lew and Dan are right. The oak and/or maple beat the metal ones hands down.
But, if you're not convinced, you can buy the Delta miter guides at Rockler, like I did. Then you can remove them, put them on the shelf, replace them with oak, and wish you had the $20 back that you spent on them. Like I did.
It's not like they are more convenient. The great thing about wood is being able to put the screws in from through the sled top, and not having to hit a threaded hole, blind.
Gets you back to woodworking much more quickly.
Patriarch
I would think waxed hard maple would wear better than aluminum or plastic. I got a 3ft sample of 4" wide 3/4" maple flooring for $2 and it'll provide enough runners for a years worth of jigs and sleds.
I just built one with UHMW runners from Lee Valley. They was a little play in them when I set them in the miter slots of my Delta Contractor saw, but once they were screwed to the sled base, I had a nice fit.
FYI, they were selling these all over the place at the Indy woodworking show this past weekend, so if there's one coming to your area soon, you might pick them up there. Otherwise, hard to beat Lee Valley.
I almost bought the metal bars at Rockler, but was easier to drill and screw down > I am looking to build a crosscut sled for my table saw and want to buy some
Never had a problem w/ UHMW. Got a load from a buddy of mine and been using it w/ no problems.
Check ebay for some - should be able to get it pretty cheap.
OR just maple or oak scraps.
Is there really a significant difference in thermal expansion rates for plastic or aluminum vs. cast iron? Granted, the bar will get wider as it warms up, but so will the slot. Does it *really* make a difference?
And what about expansion or shrinkage driven by changes in moisture content? That's gotta be at least an order of magnitude greater than any thermal changes in dimension, and obviously does not affect plastic or aluminum.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
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I'm afriad I have to be the voice of decent. I've tried oak, maple and other hardwoods. They work great to begin with but if you make them to have a good, tight fit, I discovered that weather does have an effect and they weren't always smooth over time. I also tried the UHMV thing and found the same thing as the others. Once they were screwed, they splayed out making it difficult to get a good fit. I reamed out the hole and got a workable solution but I found a better way. Incra makes slot runners that have built in slop adjusters. You will spend about $20 on an 18" one but it was well worth it to me. It was adjusted to fit tight and it slides like butter regardless of the weather. It aslo has the holes predrilled - for something I use so much like a crosscut sled, the $20.00 was dirt cheap.
Don
Cutoff has the white UHMW, works fine. Miter sled has leftover mdf-filled Pergo-type flooring on it, also fine. I'm in a basement, and the climate is cold, so wood doesn't work as well for me. The EMC gets up 15% in the summer, 4% in winter. Don't waste your money on the adjustable aluminum. Or if you care to, pay the postage and I'll ship you one that is on my circle-cutting jig, so I can replace it with one of the others.
First time you get some moisture together with that oak strip you forgot and left on the saw and your iron top, you'll regret it.
Casting a vote for metal!
I found some cold-rolled steel stock at a local farm store where they had some miscellaneous welding supplies. I think it was about six dollars for a four foot stick. I also understand quite a few local welding shops would carry similar items.
I've tried aluminum and found it wanting. I had four hard-set miters made, two 45's and two 90s, left and right, made of aluminum runners and aluminum angle metal. They operated fine, no apparent degradation through temperature changes. But I'm not the friendliest user so one of the runners got a little bent out of shape! Most likely wouldn't have that problem on a sled though. But given time, I'm sure I could find a way to bung that up too!
HDPE is OK, but UHMW or Teflon is trading a little hoped-for slipperiness for far too much loss in mechanical stability.
Well, if you do it properly - no. Counterbore, spread the load with the proper fastener.
The aluminum ones have elaborate but inadequate means built in to do squeeze the sides, and it's considered an advantage.
FWIW, I have used UHMW and I have used my brad nailer to attach pieces to my MDF sleds. No spreading. When I have used screws, I have made an over-deep tapers for the flatheads and sneak up the tightening on the screws. I have actually found that by tightening/loosening the screws I can adjust the fit, as needed. -- Igor
I doubt that thermal expansion is a significant factor over the likely temperature range. Expansion/contraction due to humidity changes can be a far more significant problem with wood.
However, if you use a typical sled construction technique employing both mitre-slots with a wood sled the dimensional changes in the sled itself (due to humidity changes) cause much more trouble than the sliders by grossly changing the distance between sliders. Particularly as the sliders are usually constructed of relatively stable hardwood and sealed/waxed whereas the sled usually isn't.
If you live in a climate that is dry as a bone in Winter and humid as all get out in Summer it can be a serious problem.
One with experience (I built my sled in Winter - it's unusable in Summer). (:-)
The 3/4 X 3/8 bar stock is a little difficult to find, but a home center like Home Depot or a good hardware store will usually stock 3/4 X 1/4 which I find works just as well.
And you can buy a 3 foot piece for a lot less money than a commercial miter bar.
I wonder, though, about the tolerances. The Incra miter bars are machined straight to pretty tight tolerance. How close to straight is the bar stock at Home Cheapo?
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
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snip snip .
============================= You do NOT need a perfertly straight piece ...just one that sets firmly in the slot with no slop... I always had to take out a file and file the bar a little here and there to get the fit the way I like it.. not a big problem...
Bob Griffiths...
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