Panel Sled


..Kev

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12 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

Thanks for the knife in the ribs about having enough room :D.  Great stuff Kev.  As always, I really appreciate the effort put into you videos.  The important lesson here to me is that when you have a need for one of these shop helpers, go ahead and take the time to make it.  It only took me a couple of times of wondering "why did I wait so long" to really take that lesson to heart.

You are so beyond absolutely correct that it just isn't funny!  I've worked thru more than a few projects now where I've told myself "you need to build a panel sled" and didn't do it because of storage issues..  

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8 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Kev, how far is your saw's blade from the front edge of the table? Mine (contractor style) seems like it would be more comfortable with a leading edge fence, Norm Abrams style.

 

I considered this!  Ultimately, it was the depth of the miter slots in my OF table that drove the orientation.  Obviously, if a piece is just too big to handle, I'll just break out the track saw.

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5 minutes ago, Mark J said:

OK, a general sled question.  This panel sled is all on one side of the blade, so only one runner.  But if your building a sled that crosses the blade, like a crosscut sled, where both miter slots are accessible is better to install two runners or only one?

Crosscut sleds should have 2.  You should always have 2 if you can.  With the panel sled, there's no front fence (allows for larger pieces) so, there's nothing to support being on both sides of the blade.

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7 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

Sleds with 2 runners are better off with ply or non-wooden runners, IMO. My mitering sled has two solid wood runners, and binds significantly with changes in humidity.

I'm fortunate that I don't have the humidity issues so, haven't really had this issue.  I have ordered some of the hard plastic runners (Eagle America has them) and will be using these in the future for exactly this reason.

 

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6 hours ago, ..Kev said:

I'm fortunate that I don't have the humidity issues so, haven't really had this issue.  I have ordered some of the hard plastic runners (Eagle America has them) and will be using these in the future for exactly this reason.

 

No humidity man that would be nice ;)

unfortunately here in MN even in a conditioned space it’s an issue. I made a couple sleds last fall using Azek synthetic deck face material, so far they are working/holding up well. 

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