Reply by Mainiac Matt

I used 1/2” melamine for the base of my “down and dirty” sled and I would NOT recomend it….

nice and slippery on the table…. but it’s also nice and slippery when you try to screw down the fence… major pain in the butt…. and now after using it about ten times…. it slipped out of square.

There’s several good build videos out there…. the wood whiperer being one.

I’d suggest making your sled just over 24” wide inbetween the fences, so you can cut a 24” wide panel.

I’ve seen people put the sled on the saw then raise the blade into it.

if you put some downward pressure on the panel off to the side, you can raise the blade through it with no problem at all.

-- Pine is fine, but Oak's no joke!