Newbie on miter gauge vs sled

[Dustin Crawford]

Hi fellas, recently I just picked up a Delta 10" contractor saw for a great price and its in awesome shape. I want to upgrade the miter gauge and about 20 mins ago figured out what a sled was. And it sounds like the general consensus is that you need both.

I really like the Incra v120 and I get how I would use it. But for a sled how does that work? Are they only for 90* or what? Basically where should I be looking to fill my miter slots needs?

Sorry I dont even know enough yet to ask a more specific question.

Thanks!

Dustin

[Andy Fox]

Welcome Dustin!

I started out just using the stock miter gauge, but a sled is very useful, especially for larger panels. Here's a decent basic one which you can use for crosscutting or panels:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/panel-cutting_sled

You might want to go ahead and make a more robust one which spans to both sides of the blade. It depends on what size of materials you'll generally cut and how much time you want to spend on it.

I still use the stock miter gauge or a miter saw for angled cuts, but a miter sled would be better. I put a wood sacrificial fence covered with 100 grit sandpaper on my miter gauge to make it more functional. (Edit: the sandpaper helps keep the wood from moving on angled cuts.)

[Cary Falk]

Dustin,
I made a big sled when I first started out. I think it would cut panels up to 24". It was big and heavy. I never could get it dialed in exactly where I wanted to. I have an Incra 1000SE and got an Incra Miter Express. This is the best of both worlds. I have a sled that will do an infinite number of angles and is deadly accurate. If it is ever off it is easy to tweak. Cary

[glenn bradley]

I use each for different purposes. I have a couple of Incra V-27's that serve me well with the telescoping extensions. I also have a small herd of sleds of varying sizes and purposes. Each of these items serve a function. I wouldn't want to part with any of them. Its not an either/or thing ;-)

[Ellen Benkin]

I have both a sled and Incra miter gauge and use both. The Incra products are very accurate. I use the sled for accurate cross cutting especially when making multiples. If I were to have an improvement, I'd make a second sled to be used with a dado blade.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

As a certified builder of beautiful koa and maple ply 89 degree sleds, my $0.02 is to buy an INCRA miter express sled also. That is the next item on my buy list.

[Cary Falk]

as a certified builder of beautiful koa and maple ply 89 degree sleds,.

lol...........

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Dustin,
I made a big sled when I first started out. I think it would cut panels up to 24". It was big and heavy. I never could get it dialed in exactly where I wanted to. I have an Incra 1000SE and got an Incra Miter Express. This is the best of both worlds. I have a sled that will do an infinite number of angles and is deadly accurate. If it is ever off it is easy to tweak. Cary

I also have the Incra 1000SE but decided to build a sled instead. (The Incra sled is nice though.) It was a bit cheaper but it would probably be easier to change out one of the panels should something get banged out of square.

To build I measured the distance from the blade to the miter slot and added 1/8". At this point I cut a 3/4" dado about 1/16' deep for the miter bar. Attach the miter bar in the dado and adjust to the miter slot - you will need to drill holes for the adjustment screw. BTW - nothing will be accurate if you do not initially adjust the blade to the miter slot.

After the slop of the miter bar to the slot is eliminated, place the sled in the miter slot and proceed to cut your finished edge in the sled - everything else will reference this new edge. If your blade is parallel to your slot then all will be well.

Using this new edge, I used the router table to cut dados for the miter gauge bar and hold down T-tracks - everything should now be parallel to the blade.

One of the disadvantages of this vs the Incra Miter Express is the my sled is 3/4" thick vs 1/2" thick. But it is cheaper and you can make it any size you want (within reason).

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[Mike Heidrick]

As a certified builder of beautiful koa and maple ply 89 degree sleds, my $0.02 is to buy an INCRA miter express sled also. That is the next item on my buy list.

Awesome post!

[John TenEyck]

If you want to cut off big panels square, you need a big sled:

256821

I have better pictures somewhere, but you should get the idea. It's equally good on small parts, but I made it when I built my kitchen about 18 years ago where I needed to cut off a lot of large panels and they needed to be very square. It's still dead square. Heavy it is, too, but when I want 90 deg, +/- essentially 0, this is the tool of choice. I built mine after one by Gerry Cary in his book on building kitchen cabinets. The slides are hard maple cut to fit into the miter slots. If you fit and install them carefully they slide beautifully with just a little wax. No reason to buy anything. Spend your money on thinks you can't make as well yourself. The safety shield is 1/4" Lexan. At the back of the sled is a large block of wood into which the blade goes as it cuts through the rear fence. That, plus the limit stop (clamp) at the front, prevents the blade from coming out the back where it could do bad things to your hand.

John

[Ole Anderson]

With a sled wide enough to be on both sides of the blade, you end up with a blade-width slot in the sled AND the rear fence so you know EXACTLY where your blade will be cutting. Just line up your pencil mark with the edge of the saw kerf on the rear fence. Very useful. Something you don't get with a miter gauge unless you have a sacrificial fence on it. Also by tweaking the rear sled fence with paper or business card shims you can get it to EXACTLY a repeatable 90 degree cut using the five cut method. http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/five_cut_method_swf.htm Wish I had the room and money for a second TS and fine tooth crosscut blade dedicated to the sled. I am geting tired of changing the blade and removing the Sharkguard attachment and hefting the sled into position everytime I have some serious crosscutting to do. Trimming built up cabinet doors is a perfect use of the sled. Most of my miter cuts are done on my miter saw, if I need picture frame exact miters I use my 45 degree miter sled. I have the Incra 1000se and haven't used it in several years.

Edit: John, I like your safety shield, I may have to add one.

[Val Kosmider]

I fought the need for a crosscut sled for many years. Even if you are not cutting panels or sheet goods, it is very useful when cutting long boards down to workable length without having the plank wiggle around, bind the saw blade, and producing a 'non-square' cut using your miter gauge. I never shoud have waited so long.

The August 2012 issue of Fine Wood Working has an article: Dead Square Crosscut Sled.

I built that sled, adapting it to the materials i had on hand, and using Incra slot runners instead of the hardwood runners the authour suggested. It works like a charm, and is not costly nor difficult to build.

[Joe Scharle]

I too have a nest of sleds and miter gauges, but here is one I made the very day it arrived in my Wood mag. It won't twist on the pivot and the work won't slither along the fence! They call it the Universal Tablesaw Jig.

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[Jim Rimmer]

There's a lot of good info on the Creek about cross-cut sleds but you might also want to check out thewoodwhispererdotcom, video 146 The Cross-Cut Sled. It's about 20 minute video with detail instructions on building one as well as how to do the 5 cut test to square it up. You might later want to make one to do miter cuts.

[Julie Moriarty]

This is what I have on my Delta contractor's saw (sliding table on the left of the saw). I've cut up to 24" panels on it. I don't remember what I paid for it, it was so long ago, but I did see a used one for $250 OBO (http://www.gnhw.org/member-services/classified-ads/2009/08/delta-34555-sliding-table-attachment/). I've never had any complaints with it and it's easy to square up.

http://www.atlas-machinery.com/images/fullsize/34-555C_lg.jpg
Delta part #34-555

[John TenEyck]

With a sled wide enough to be on both sides of the blade, you end up with a blade-width slot in the sled AND the rear fence so you know EXACTLY where your blade will be cutting. Just line up your pencil mark with the edge of the saw kerf on the rear fence. Very useful. Something you don't get with a miter gauge unless you have a sacrificial fence on it. Also by tweaking the rear sled fence with paper or business card shims you can get it to EXACTLY a repeatable 90 degree cut using the five cut method. http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/five_cut_method_swf.htm Wish I had the room and money for a second TS and fine tooth crosscut blade dedicated to the sled. I am geting tired of changing the blade and removing the Sharkguard attachment and hefting the sled into position everytime I have some serious crosscutting to do. Trimming built up cabinet doors is a perfect use of the sled. Most of my miter cuts are done on my miter saw, if I need picture frame exact miters I use my 45 degree miter sled. I have the Incra 1000se and haven't used it in several years.

Edit: John, I like your safety shield, I may have to add one.

Thanks Ole. You don't need a lot of money to have a second TS. Here's a different view of my setup:

The old Unisaw on the left is set up with a ripping blade most of the time. The Sears saw on the right has a fine cut crosscut blade and is where the crosscut sled goes. If you have the space, this is a great setup; dedicated saws and a big flat work surface. A serviceable used C-man can be had around me everyday for $150.

John