How do you store your table saw sleds?

[chris renfrew]

Hello everyone. I'm a beginner in woodworking and just bought my first home (and then promptly converted half the unfinished basement into a spacious woodworking shop).

I have a cabinet table saw and have made several sleds for them over the last few months. Frustratingly, several of these sleds have warped over time as I haven't come up with a suitable way to store them when not in use. Perhaps my construction technique or materials are the limiting factor - but still - I'm interested to hear or see how SMC folks store their sleds (or any large jigs really).

Thanks!
-Chris

[Prashun Patel]

I store mine on the floor against the corner of the shop and it hasn't warped. Am curious what materials you're using.

[Alan Lightstone]

Mine is a large one, and it drives me crazy where to store it. It's also heavy, so it's a pain to lug into place.
I keep trying to get my head around a way to lower it from the ceiling, but I haven't sorted it out yet.

The smaller ones I put in cabinets. I've never had one warp (they're all MDF, though, if that's relevant.)

And this is in S. Florida, so humidity is always absurdly high.

[Mark Bolton]

Dont have any table saw sleds but all my jigs and fixtures get a hole and are hung on the wall but our shop has 10' ceilings so there is plenty of room.

[Bob Daniel]

For each of my two largest sleds, I drilled a pair of holes in the bases, and screwed a pair of screws into the wall way up high in an otherwise unusable space over a doorway. I flip the sleds up over my head and hang them from those screws. Some guide lines drawn in Sharpie help me position them and find the screws before my arms give out... ;) Other, smaller sleds are just sort of piled up in a space under a small table that holds my disc sander.

[chris renfrew]

A few of the ones that have warped were made with birch plywood (maybe 1/2") with 2x6 rails. The one dado sled that I made with MDF doesn't warp (and I'm planning on using that again in the future).

Unfortunately my basement ceiling height is too low (so hanging them up isn't a very accessible option). I think that hanging them from the wall is probably the best bet - and the two drilled holes idea makes some sense for this application.

[Chris Padilla]

Nail/screw in the wall...appropriately-placed hole in the sled if needed...hang it. All my sleds are MDF or plywood...no warping issues. I could see hard/soft woods warping. MDF can move so it is best to seal it with some cheap poly. Cheap plywood can warp, too. Cheap plywood may also stay quite flat. :)

[dan sherman]

A few of the ones that have warped were made with birch plywood (maybe 1/2") with 2x6 rails.

As in 2x6 lumber from the home center?

[Bruce Page]

Mine sits on a shelf under the TS. I cut dados into the shelf to clear the runners and allow the sled to sit flat. No problems with warping.

[Joseph Tarantino]

i hang my 30" X 40" sled under the left side extension wing of my RAS. the pic below shows it in the background, just to the left of the foreground blade guard DC hose. the extension wing has an extension cord on it. two fixed cleats beneath the wing and two home made latches secure the CC sled in it's stowed position. the TS with the blade guard dust collector attached to it easily stores under the stowed CC sled.

[Clay Fails]

Dont have any table saw sleds but all my jigs and fixtures get a hole and are hung on the wall but our shop has 10' ceilings so there is plenty of room.
I use Mark's method. Drill a couple holes and hang on long lag screws. I also have 10' ceilings.

[glenn bradley]

Shamefully. If I ever do build a proper outfeed table I will try to factor sled storage into it.

[Dick Mahany]

I store two sleds on the side of a mobile cabinet in my shop. They don't increase the footprint of the mobile base and it has been a very workable solution. My super sled simply stays on the table saw in storage and I stand it on the floor temporarily when not in use. BTW, I like to use MDO plywood (sign board) for the base as it is extremely stable.

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[Dave Cav]

I hang the bigger one on the end of the outfeed table, under the table lip where it takes up little or no space. I put the smaller one inside the big one.

[Tom Clark FL]

Another answer is to consider using a sliding table attachment. I tossed the sleds 25 years ago and the sliding table takes less room, is super reliable, and permanent. It is also always ready to use instantly.

[Jeff Bartley]

Chris, I put a 2x6 french cleat around two walls of the shop and all the jigs and sleds get hung on 5/8" dowels glued into brackets that hang on the cleat. I also use it to support the last section of ductwork into the cyclone. It took about a year to completely fill every available space on it, now I wish I had another 15' of wall space!

[chris renfrew]

Everyone - thank you for the responses.

I certainly have some good ideas from this thread. A lot of really impressive looking sleds (and shops!) for me to drool over. I'm going to consider the best way to hang up my sleds to get them off the ground and hopefully stop them from warping (I'm also going to stop using junk plywood as my bases and continue using MDF). Jeff - I like the french cleat idea. I'm implementing something like that in my garage for hanging up tools right now.

[Harley Reasons]

Jeff - I like the french cleat idea. I'm implementing something like that in my garage for hanging up tools right now.

I just did away with all the peg board in my shop and went to the french cleat system. It takes awhile to build the tool pods but the time is worth it. I used a whole lot of scrap material and only had to purchase some dowel rod. I actually have more storage now than I did with the peg board. As I made each tool pod I used a label maker to mark what was stored on it. Now I can tell at a glance what tool is missing from the wall. "Everything has a place, and everything in place"

[jim gossage]

I have a 4x8' extension table and leave my sled in the miter slots of the extension table - keeps it flat and available

[Ole Anderson]

My big and heavy sled hangs on two 1/4" lags screwed into the studs with matching holes in the back of the sled, and a mark on the wall and sled to help line up the lags with the holes, similar to what several others have posted. Smaller sleds get just one lag and hole. My largest, low budget, door cutting sled just sits on the floor.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Mine sits on a shelf under the TS. I cut dados into the shelf to clear the runners and allow the sled to sit flat. No problems with warping.

Now Bruce, that beautiful thing under your table saw looks more like fine furniture than a sled :D

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I certainly have some good ideas from this thread.

Some great questions Chris, I learned from the answers as well.

Not sure I would refer to Baltic Birch (BB) as "junk plywood", I would never have expected it to warp.... to date I have not used BB as a base, but I had intended to (time permitting). I might want to rethink that.

[Art Mann]

I just did away with all the peg board in my shop and went to the french cleat system. It takes awhile to build the tool pods but the time is worth it. I used a whole lot of scrap material and only had to purchase some dowel rod. I actually have more storage now than I did with the peg board. As I made each tool pod I used a label maker to mark what was stored on it. Now I can tell at a glance what tool is missing from the wall. "Everything has a place, and everything in place"

This might be a little off topic from the original poster's question but I would sure like to see pictures of your french cleat implementation. I have been wanting to go that direction too.

[Harley Reasons]

This might be a little off topic from the original poster's question but I would sure like to see pictures of your french cleat implementation. I have been wanting to go that direction too.
Will get some pics up tomorrow, out of town today.

[glenn bradley]

I just did away with all the peg board in my shop and went to the french cleat system.


This might be a little off topic from the original poster's question but I would sure like to see pictures of your french cleat implementation. I have been wanting to go that direction too.

THREADJACK! Oddly enough I have pegboard panels incorporated into my cleat system :D:D:D. Some tool pods hang directly on the cleat rails that run along the walls at different heights and some tool fixtures hang from pegboard panels that hang from the cleat rails. the pegboard makes changes to small items quick and easy while the cleat system allows larger pods and panels to be moved as required. My walls change more than you might think.

[Art Mann]

Thanks Glenn! I don't think those photos are too far off topic. I can see how a french cleat system could be used to store sleds (of which I have many) along with a lot of other things.

[Andy Pratt]

I try to keep mine in a place where the clamps on them get caught in a mess of electrical cords whenever I need one, and where the handles will catch on other jigs as I pull them out. In case I manage to avoid doing those two things, I also lean a few portable outfeed supports on them so that those will fall over when I have my hands full pulling a jig out.