Coping Sleds - Value and Uses

[Ben Rivel]

I bought the Woodpeckers Coping Sled when I first started this hobby a few years ago.

Of the commercially available coping sleds, I wish I'd bought the Infinity Tools Sled.

You like this one (LINK) over the Woodpeckers huh? Whys that?

[Andrew V Smith]

If you have a sufficiently wide sacrificial piece behind the piece your cutting, would you need a sled? Obviously not a good option for large scale production but that’s what I’ve done (hobbyist) and it’s worked fine.

So is it really a question of speed?

[Nick Decker]

Wow, that Infinity sled really went up in price. I forget exactly what it was, but definitely not 200 bucks.

[James Zhu]

Aigner Contermax is probably the best coping jig except for those sleds with clamping cylinder, very easy and fast to change the stock. It just takes way too much time to change the stock on Woodpecker coping sled, I sold it after I bought Contermax.

https://www.simantechinc.com/index.p...ct_detail&p=89

[ChrisA Edwards]

You like this one (LINK) over the Woodpeckers huh? Whys that?

I think it just has better clamps and a larger width capacity.

[Nick Decker]

I think it just has better clamps and a larger width capacity.

I haven't used the Infinity sled, but agree about the clamps and increased stock width. Where the WP sled is better, IMO, is that it offers the optional larger plexiglas guide, which allows for deeper cuts without cutting into the sled itself. Fits the kind of work I do better. I did make a sled myself which used the miter slot, but didn't like it. For me, referencing off the fence is a must, and the WP sled seems to do that best.

Some of the cuts I make are large enough that each piece gets run through several times, so registering exactly the same each time is necessary. A shaper, I guess would make those cuts all in one pass. Not smart on a router table with a large bit.

I would also agree with an earlier poster who mentioned how long it takes to switch stock and get it clamped down between cuts. As a hobbiest, this doesn't bother me much, but would be a pain in a production environment.

[Roger Feeley]

Short answer: it can be, depending on what you're doing.

The biggest benefit of a coping sled is that it holds a narrow workpiece more securely and safely than is possible with hands-only and a miter gauge, meaning no chance the piece can pivot off perpendicular and/or slide or tip into the gaps between the fences fore and aft of the cutter (which would at best ruin the work and at worst result in a very unpleasant kickback). Whether this is something to worry about relates to how heavy the cut is and how much gap, if any, exists between the fences to allow for the cutter to work. As you mention, a coping cutter for stick and cope doors takes a heavy cut and (absent some extra effort) involves a big gap between the fences. Similarly, a big slotting cutter on the end of a rail. I wouldn’t attempt either of those except with a coping sled.

A second advantage of coping sleds as compared with miter gauges is they --at least many of them, like the Woodpeckers --register off the fence, not the miter slot. Note that the fence will not be an accurate stop for establishing the correct position of the workpiece prior to making the cut if the fence and miter slot are not parallel. As the miter gauge travels forward guided by the miter slot, the end of the piece will contact the cutterifferently than expected. So registering off the fence directly saves set-up time and headaches/mistakes.

Of course, even on light cuts that don’t justify getting out the coping sled, you still need to use something to keep a narrow workpiece controlled. The miter gauge can work OK here, assuming the fence and slot are parallel. But an easier solution, IMO, is a rectangular piece of ply with a handle attached, like in this picture. It registers off the fence and doubles as a backer board to prevent blow out.

David, Good idea. I've been grabbing a piece of plywood out of the trash for years. You refined it. I assume you start out a bit oversized and take a bit off with the table saw when it gets too nasty?

[David Stone (CT)]

Exactly. You can see in the pic where I had to move the handle after trimming off the leading edge multiple times.