Need for crosscut sled?

[Steve Mathews]

After watching the video below I'm questioning the need for my crosscut sled. It seems that mine rarely gets used in favor of an Incra miter gauge, which I find easier to handle than the bulky and heavier crosscut sled. The only complaint with the miter gauge is it doesn't stay square or at least I don't always trust it. The Woodpeckers Exact-90 seems like a good alternative except for the price. Anyone else rely more on a miter gauge for simple crosscuts than a crosscut sled?

[Greg Wieskamp]

I have 3 table saws. My Uni-saw. A Bosch that I use for general rough cutting, and my Delta, I leave the dado blade in permanently. I also have 3 Incra 1000HD Miter gauges. I also have 3 sleds. The sleds are stored away up in the attic of my garage.

[Mike Congiusti]

I have the Incra 3000 and I built the sled from The Wood Whisper. I use both all the time. As in his illustration I can't cut a panel with the incra. Maybe I can design the drop pin on my Incra. My sled hangs on the wall and it's a easy on easy off.

[Andrew Hughes]

Miter gage for me. Sleds are silly

[Edwin Santos]

Miter gage for me. Sleds are silly

Then I'm the Sultan of Silly. At last count I have 7 sleds.
If any of them disappeared in a sled heist, I'd be making a replacement immediately.
I even listen to Sled Zeppelin.

[glenn bradley]

Then I'm the Sultan of Silly. At last count I have 7 sleds.
If any of them disappeared in a sled heist, I'd be making a replacement immediately.
I even listen to Sled Zeppelin a lot.

Also true here. IMHO a miter gauge is fine for small stuff. I trust my sleds implicitly and my joinery always goes together without the need for crushing clamp pressures. I do use my Incra V-27's. One for the tablesaw and one for the router table. This is primarily for picture frames or angled cuts / feed paths. However, for multiple cuts with a stop or anything larger or heavier than the Yellow Pages (dating myself) a sled is so much easier, repeatable and safe. Just as on a CMS, small cutoffs can become dangerous when they just "fall away". The support of both keeper and spoil with a sled is a safety factor. If your sled is too heavy or bulky, make a smaller one.

P.s. They are also a good platform for other tasks. I just used a right angle fixture this morning to knock out some planters for the wife.

Matchfit-Sled (30).jpg . Matchfit-Sled (31).jpg

[Lee Schierer]

If any of them disappeared in a sled heist, I'd be making a replacement immediately.

Are sled heists a thing where you live?

[John TenEyck]

I would not want to be w/o my miter sled. No miter gage comes close to supporting the work as well, or having a built in ZCI. I built it 30 years ago and it still cuts 90.0 deg, without fail.

John

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Sleds are very important for the things I make. All of mine are home made.
There are several tasks that I can not find another way to accomplish, other than using robots.

[Michael Schuch]

I can't remember the last time I used a sled or a miter gage. Cross cuts are done on the Radial arm saw and ripping is done on the table saw. I have been working like this for the past 35 years. Before that crosscuts were done on the radial arm saw and ripping was done on the radial arm saw. I celebrate the day when I got my first table saw and no longer had to rip on the radial arm saw.

The last time I used a sled it was for making box joints.

[Jared Sankovich]

It's tough to crosscut a 24" or 30" wide panel with a miter gauge, more so if it's also over 4' long. I personally have no use for a miter gauge.

[John C Bush]

I had planned to make a sled-mostly for larger panels- but I was fortunate enough to get an Incra 5000 miter sled when I bought a complete hobby WWers shop at an estate sale. I'm too cheap to buy one outright and after using it for several years I would definitely step up and buy one now. Great accuracy, super safe for small piesces and repetability is easy. Down side was limited width of panels you can cut and I made a table extension with a dadoe for the miter bar. My TS is left tilt so I can't use it for bevel cuts as well.

[Keegan Shields]

For 1/3 the price of that mitre gauge (~$350) you could make a nice sled out of BB. Using the 5 cut method to square the fence, you can get 90 deg +/- 0.01. Especially if you have a table saw with a smaller top.

Sleds support the workpiece and the offcut, allowing you to clamp both if you need the precision. It keeps your hands well away from the blade, probably the safest cut a cabinet saw can make.

But man it sucks lugging that thing up on the table.

For example a sled allows you to rip an 18”x8’ piece of 3/4” plywood and make the crosscut for cabinet sides with precision. And you could do that on a job site saw with a quality crosscut sled.

Lots of ways to skin this woodworking cat.

[Warren Lake]

50" baltic one used for many years, it cross cut 4 x 8's. It paid for other machines. What you need depends on what you do. It did tons of work and I didnt care about the weight.

[Jim Becker]

I"ve only had a cabinet saw in my (temporary shop) for about a year right now and I had to nearly immediately make up a crosscut sled in order to safely (at least for me) do that kind of work. A sled is a lot more comfortable for "critical" cross cutting as well as handling small things than a miter gage of any kind, IMHO.