Woodpecker 25.5” Miter Bars

[Derek Arita]

Just wanted to post in case anyone was interested. I was setting up to make a couple of large sleds for my SS Compact saw, so I purchased both the Woodpecker and the Incra Special Edition Miter Sliders, but ended up using the WP bars. The Incra bars use 3 plastic washer adjusters on one side of the bar and 3 more plastic washers that are not adjustable on the opposite side. The WP bars use 4 leaf springs along one side that require no adjustments for a perfect fit. My concern with the Incra bars was that the nylon washers needed occasional adjustment, so that meant either removing the bars to adjust or drilling access holes on the top of the sled. Also, those adjustments might throw off the sleds 90* setup and I didn’t want to risk that.
The WP bars work great. They fit securely, but can still slide with minimal effort. They are 25.5” long, however since my sled is 29” long, I added short wooden bar-ettes to keep the sled “tight” throughout the sled’s capacity. I used quarter sawn maple for the bar-ettes. With the bars mounted, I used William Ng’s 5 cut method to get one sled to .0001” over a 24” cut and the other sled to .001 over 24”. The good part is, these sleds should remain accurate and snug in slots regardless of occasional periods of high humidity. By the way, I used a great suggestion here to mark the mounting holes for the bars. I got some pointed 8-32 set screws, put marker on the points, then screwed them into the underside of the mounting holes until they made contact with the sled’s underside. Worked great!

[Dan Cameron]

Wrong, Derek. As the humidity changes, the plywood dimension changes, and thus the DISTANCE BETWEEN two miter bars changes. Think long and hard about what that means about the fit. And then remove one of the miter bars and sell it.

[Michael Burnside]

I have two WP bars on my sled. I respectfully disagree with Dan’s comment whole heartedly. They are awesome, been using the same setup for 3 years, haven’t had to adjust them once and they work perfectly.

[Andrew Seemann]

It will depend on the change in humidity where you are throughout the year. Even plywood will move some, the question is will it move enough to be a problem. Where I am, humidity in the shop can get to single digits in the winter, and in the summer it can be 80%+, even with AC. I use single miter bars as a result. Places with less drastic humidity swings can probably get away with two.

[Chris Parks]

I gave up on mitre bars and no longer use them instead I use PTFE or similar round rod which can be sized closely in a lathe. Two per jig/sled works for me, I counter bore the location for the rod and make the rod with a flange to fit as needed.

[Michael Burnside]

It will depend on the change in humidity where you are throughout the year. Even plywood will move some, the question is will it move enough to be a problem. Where I am, humidity in the shop can get to single digits in the winter, and in the summer it can be 80%+, even with AC. I use single miter bars as a result. Places with less drastic humidity swings can probably get away with two.

It is similar here and I’ve never had any issues with my sleds. My main sled is phenolic, but my utility crosscut sled I mentioned is BB ply.

[Rick Potter]

Dan,

I think you missed an important point. Since he is using the bars with the spring loaded gizmos, what ever small expansion there is should be accounted for by the spring action.

Of course I could be wrong, getting older and lost my spring.

[Keegan Shields]

Two mitre bars worked great for me on a few BB sleds. I used HDPE plastic but these WP bars look nice.

I have also used the Incra version and they work well if you mitre slots are accurately sized which wasn’t the case on my original Dewalt jobsite saw.

The WP bars look like they would work better.

[Justin Rapp]

I never doubt Woodpeckers engineering and these look really good. I've used powertec recently and also used rockler's in the past, which are pretty much the same but Blue. However given powertec or some other ok brands are charging about $40-50 for a 24" pair of rails, are these really worth $140 for a pair? I am finding it hard for me to even ask this since I usually have no problems paying for premium tools, especially Woodpeckers since I find they are usually worth the added cost.

[Derek Arita]

Wrong, Derek. As the humidity changes, the plywood dimension changes, and thus the DISTANCE BETWEEN two miter bars changes. Think long and hard about what that means about the fit. And then remove one of the miter bars and sell it.

Dan, I think you’re wrong in general, however I’m sure there are areas of extreme humidity swings that might apply. Having used one and two bars, I am positive that two is more dependable and gives more accurate results for me. I did have concerns with the WP leaf springs wearing out over time so I called WP and was told they have never had them wear out, however if they were to, they would send me a replacement set of bars as the leafs are not replaceable. As for the Incra bars, I posed the question of wear in a user group and had several replies that they do wear and need occasional adjustments.
Yes, the WP bars are expensive, however they checked most of my boxes. I do wish they were longer and had even more leaf springs, but these will work better than anything else I could find. I never thought of using phenolic material, but that could get expensive as well. I may explore that in the future. Thanks for the replies.

[Brian Runau]

I never doubt Woodpeckers engineering and these look really good. I've used powertec recently and also used rockler's in the past, which are pretty much the same but Blue. However given powertec or some other ok brands are charging about $40-50 for a 24" pair of rails, are these really worth $140 for a pair? I am finding it hard for me to even ask this since I usually have no problems paying for premium tools, especially Woodpeckers since I find they are usually worth the added cost.

How did you like the Rockler version? thanks brian

[Michael Burnside]

I never doubt Woodpeckers engineering and these look really good. I've used powertec recently and also used rockler's in the past, which are pretty much the same but Blue. However given powertec or some other ok brands are charging about $40-50 for a 24" pair of rails, are these really worth $140 for a pair? I am finding it hard for me to even ask this since I usually have no problems paying for premium tools, especially Woodpeckers since I find they are usually worth the added cost.

I have a set of these on my two most used sleds and the Rockler "blue" versions on one of the first crosscut sleds I've made that is still "in production" in my shop. These WP bars are far better, not only in terms of fitment and build quality but length. I've had to readjust the Rockler set screws a couple of times. Generally the Rockler versions have worked fine for me, but if I didn't already have them attached to the sled, I'd pony up and buy another set. I do feel $50 is more reasonable and I have seen them at that price when WP has their periodic sale. I think that's what I paid the last set I bought.

[Justin Rapp]

How did you like the Rockler version? thanks brian

They are fine - just like any of the other brands - they are all kind of the same thing, not including WP of course.

[Dan Cameron]

They are fine - just like any of the other brands - they are all kind of the same thing, not including WP of course.

Not so. Bars which have an adjustable width which is rigid are an entirely different animal than a spring controlled width. With either style using two bars on a one piece sled is not the best plan to optimize accuracy.

[Justin Rapp]

Not so. Bars which have an adjustable width which is rigid are an entirely different animal than a spring controlled width. With either style using two bars on a one piece sled is not the best plan to optimize accuracy.

The only ones I have seen with spring control is WP, which is why I said, not including WP. Rockler ones have adjustment screws, similar to kreg or powertec, etc. All the same thing. WP is another story because they are spring loaded.