table saw sleds

[Electric Comet]

seems that everyone uses a sled on their ts

well at least in the videos i have watched

i like the idea and so i am making one or maybe two

if you have a sled do you use the same one for dados or do you have two sleds

small shop and do not want two sleds

thinking of devising an insert so that i have one sled with two inserts

anyone done this

what else is there to know about making the sled

steel versus wood runners

like the idea of steel runners but wood may work fine too metalsupermarkets.com had some cold rolled that would work

my ts has t slots but the sled runners probably should not lock into the slots as they might get caught up

[Bob La Londe]

I've had my TS for better than a decade and I don't have a sled on it. That being said, probably the best place to see different options and determine what you want or maybe more than one is YouTube. Lots of great videos and maybe a scary one or two.

[Leon]

I Never use a sled with when cutting a dado. That said IIRC you bought a 6" dado set. How deep do you think you can cut if you use a sled?

I do have a left and right Dubby sled and have used them extensively over the past 18 years.

A left and right side sled is handy if you are cutting asymmetrical moldings at an angle.

[Electric Comet]

yes the tube has some good ones and some bad ones

[Dr. Deb]

I have made about three or four. The last one is the best. The one previous went with the TS it was fitted to, when I sold the TS. The absolute best video on how to square the sled to the blade is this one:

As to your other question, I only use mine for crosscuts. I have two Incra miter jigs that I use for all others (the one I got on Ebay had been dropped and is only accurate on 45degree cuts. The other one [their 1000SE] is used for all other angle cuts.

[Electric Comet]

yes watched that one and now my feeler gauges have found a new life in the wood shop

like his videos and his jokes

although worrying about a thousandth is a bit much because temps and humidity can work for and against you

aiming for perfection is ok just as long as he does not insist on it and he does not

did you go with steel or wood runners

i have some oily dark hardwood that was given to me and it may be my runner material

[Larry Blanchard]

I don't know what he used, but I've used Kreg's and Incra's metal runners with success. But the ones I like the best are the plastic ones. Do a search for "UHMW runners".

[Electric Comet]

good idea

my fence is faced with that

[krw]

Peachtree sells piles of UHMW in all shapes an sizes. It's pretty easy to work.

[John Grossbohlin]

I've been buying large plastic cutting boards at Wally World and using them for various projects... easily available and inexpensive.

Approximately 11/32" x 15" x 20"

I hadn't considered using them for runners on my sled but that is an appealing idea as the fit of the wooden ones changes with the humidity.

[Markem]

Just requires special effort to glue it, or does Testors work?

[Larry Blanchard]

Never tried. It holds screws. I put a screw in about every 5-6 inches to hold my sleds to the runners.

[Electric Comet]

had not thought of that but a good idea

yes and maybe better than cold rolled steel just for the cost and the facts

no rust slippery forever decent wear

[whit3rd]

Rivets. Pop rivets. Screws will cause stretching...

[Larry Blanchard]

I predrill, which minimizes any stretching/widening. A couple of passes thru the table slot usually removes any that's left. If not, a pass with a block plane or even sandpaper will. UHMW is "soft*.

[-MIKE-]

That's not really a bad thing. On mine, I put slits in the runner on the fore and aft ends. I installed flat-head screws through those slits which will act to expand the width of the runner. It's a great way to fine tune the runners in the slot.

[Brewster]

it was fitted to, when I sold the TS. The absolute best video on how to square the sled to the blade is this one:

I have two Incra miter jigs that I use for all others (the one I got on Ebay

had been dropped and is only accurate on 45degree cuts.

The other one [their 1000SE] is used for all other angle cuts.

The William Ng technique is excellent. Get the fence square with this method, lock it down, and never worry about it again (until you accidentally cut the fence in two).

I have the 1000 Incra, great product, but the miter bar really sucks for my overwidth unisaw slots. I replaced the wear-prone nylon expanding discs with a bunch of ball tipped set screws. Next time I'm just going to get a steel bar machined to fit.

Having a dedicated jig for 45s that is dialed in is a real timesaver if you do frequent miters.

-BR

[Electric Comet]

it is a good idea but not his originally fwiw

maybe better name for the technique is error amplification

have to make sure the miter fence is higher than the max blade height

some even place an aluminum brace across the top or plastic

this makes sense and i see this in a lot of the sled vids

although some have a complete sled just for 45s