mitre sled

[Ken Harris]

I had indicated earlier not interested in building my own sled but after looking at everything out there I think my needs would be better served if I built my own.I sent for dvd from eaglelake woodworking and I am going to build the super sled.I live in northern mi. and having trouble finding baltic birch plywood.I found a place in North Carolina who will ship to me.I will be going to the Detroit area this week can anyone give any ideas where to purchase?.I am also looking at mitre bars,peachtree has one 18 in. long with adjustable spring plungers but the depth of the sled will be 24 in.I like the design but obviously too short,does anyone have any ideas for type of bar I just described?

[Al Weber]

Rockler has miter bar up to 48". It is the aluminum one with the side adjustment screws.

[Bill Huber]

I have always made my sleds out of MDF, works very well and is very stable.

On the slides there are different schools, some say just make them out of wood, others say plastic so there are many ways to go. I have tried wood and for me that did not work out that well, with the weather changes they get loose or tight. With the UHMW for me they are harder to mount and I had a problems with keeping them tight.

I finally when with the Incra aluminum ones, they are light which is nice when you have 2, 24 in. slides. They mount really easy and are adjustable, the only negative is the price, but then that is the way anything is.

http://www.incra.com/product_jfc_miterslider.htm

[Dell Littlefield]

For sleds and other jigs, you might consider using cabinet grade ply from Home Depot. I think it was about 28 bucks/sheet for 3/4 inch. Not as pretty as baltic birch but very stable and flat.

[denis tuomey]

My first sled I did I used BB with wooden slides, the BB ended up not being flat. I replaced it with a sheet of Phenolic Resin Plywood from Rockler, very nice and flat. But like Bill said, the wooden slides can give to much play sometimes so I recently replaced them with the 24 in. aluminum slides, well worth the expense. Just wish I had made it few years ago, perfect cuts every time.

[Jerome Hanby]

Rockler has miter bar up to 48". It is the aluminum one with the side adjustment screws.

Anyone built a sled using really long miter sliders? I've thought about building some kind of infeed support with miter channels that are aligned with my saw's existing miter slots. That way I could use the sled for cutting deeper (I guess that's the right dimension to use <g>) panels. Those long miter sliders should work great for that. I like Incra's better, but they seem to max out at 24" and i think one long slider per side would be less trouble than butting up two...

[Dan Bowman]

Resin coated plywood is more expensive but well worth it. And the Incra slides are easy and work very well. I wouldn't mess with most of the BB I see in our market - it isn't much better than borg plywood.

[Van Huskey]

As for your trip, does Detroit have a Rockler or Woodcraft, if so they may have phenolic plywood or BB in stock.

[glenn bradley]

Anyone built a sled using really long miter sliders? I've thought about building some kind of infeed support with miter channels that are aligned with my saw's existing miter slots. That way I could use the sled for cutting deeper (I guess that's the right dimension to use <g>) panels. Those long miter sliders should work great for that. I like Incra's better, but they seem to max out at 24" and i think one long slider per side would be less trouble than butting up two...

The small one here is about 36" x 24". The runners on the large on are straight grained white oak and have not required any adjustment since I made it back in 2007. I originally made them a skinny 64th over and used a card scraper to fit them. Hit them with some shellac and paste wax and re-wax them and the underside of the sled about once a year. I have a few sled based on this design. For miters I just added threaded inserts to the larger sled and attached a mitering "V" board.

[Todd Hoppe]

Menards in Grand Rapids and Lansing stocks 4x8 sheets of "Baltic Birch" plywood. I have never seen the 5x5 sheets there. Good stuff. Lots of plys. About $68 per sheet. I bet that the Detroit area stores carry the same stuff. Menards also now has a pretty good search feature on their website that lists products stocked at stores, and prices.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I've had some Baltic Birch that will stay flat, and I've had a lot that won't. It's good for a lot of different uses, but a flat surface isn't one of them. I've had better luck with Apple Ply, but I would still use MDF for any type of jig that I want to stay flat and be made of a wood like substance.

For runners I like to use 3/8" X 3/4" aluminum bar stock. It's straight and easy to cut and/or tap if needed.

[Ken Harris]

I have heard apple ply is real good but I have not found a source yet in mi.There is a menards in Bay City I will check them out.I checked with rockler and they do not have size I want but I will look at woodcraft for phonelic plywood.

[Kyle Brooks]

I built one of these simple ones like Mark did. His 5 cut method for getting the fence right at 90 degrees is awesome. I am going to try to leave the link below.


http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/the-cross-cut-sled/

[Wil Limanen]

Hi Ken,
I live in the UP and 41 Lumber has ordered baltic for me. $60 for a 5x5 sheet. I don't know how far north you are and if you have that store or not.

Wil

[Ken Harris]

I have found a wholesale lumber yard willing to sell me a piece of 3/4x4'x8' hdo for 80.00.I will ask them if ok to post there web address if they are willing to sell anymore retail.What an exercise in futility I spent 4 hours either on the phone or internet trying to find good plywood.I never did find a retailer for baltic birch here in mi.I did go to BORG did not like what I had seen.If it is worth doing than it is worth doing right.Will just relooked at your post too far to drive and shipping would be too much,I am going to lower mi. anyway so a little farther to Roseville no big deal.

[Lex Boegen]

For sleds and other jigs, you might consider using cabinet grade ply from Home Depot. I think it was about 28 bucks/sheet for 3/4 inch. Not as pretty as baltic birch but very stable and flat.

Your Home Depot must have a different supplier than mine. Their "cabinet grade" plywood looks like a Pringles potato chip. :)

[Ken Harris]

I purchased 3/4x4x8 double faced phonelic plywood yesterday,this is used in concrete pours panel is very flat and stable with 14 plys.The owner said this is better than HDO,also you can get any color you want so long as it is brown.They do not do any cuts but they are very friendly.I am computer challenged so here is web site,WWW.McCauseylumber.com they are located in Roseville mi. ask for either mike or jon and indicate you want plywood for jigs.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I purchased 3/4x4x8 double faced phonelic plywood yesterday,this is used in concrete pours panel is very flat and stable with 14 plys.The owner said this is better than HDO,also you can get any color you want so long as it is brown.They do not do any cuts but they are very friendly.I am computer challenged so here is web site,WWW.McCauseylumber.com (http://WWW.McCauseylumber.com) they are located in Roseville mi. ask for either mike or jon and indicate you want plywood for jigs.

How parallel are the 2 faces?

[Jerome Hanby]

Your Home Depot must have a different supplier than mine. Their "cabinet grade" plywood looks like a Pringles potato chip. :)

I was thinking the same thing. Best looking thing they had here was sandiply (spelling?) and I took one look and drove 30 miles across the county to a real dealer (and paid less!).

[Marty Paulus]

I purchased 3/4x4x8 double faced phonelic plywood yesterday,this is used in concrete pours panel is very flat and stable with 14 plys.The owner said this is better than HDO,also you can get any color you want so long as it is brown.They do not do any cuts but they are very friendly.I am computer challenged so here is web site,WWW.McCauseylumber.com (http://WWW.McCauseylumber.com) they are located in Roseville mi. ask for either mike or jon and indicate you want plywood for jigs.
Ken, I would have suggested Public Lumber http://publiclumber.com/store/pc/home.asp had I logged on before today. They supply most of the hardware/lumber yards in the area. From what I can see McCausey sells commercial usage and Public is more finish grade. I found Public through a friend who uses them. Neighborhood is a bit shady but as long as its daylight you will be OK.

[Ken Harris]

Harvey I can only say panel appears flat I do not have precise way to make sure how paralell both sides are to eachother,nor do I know how to accomplish this but I am willing to learn.Marty thanks for link I have bookmarked public lumber