Crosscut Sled Material

Welcome, I have been told that plywood is the best wood for a cross cutting sled. Articles that I have read said that solid woods warp.

-- Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didin't do then by the ones you did. - Mark Twain

Phenolic plywood is a favorite.

-- The Wood Nerd -- http://www.workshopaholic.net

I used MDF for the sled itself, hard maple for fences, and red oak for splines.

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

NO!!!!! on the pine. Use 1/2” ply or mdf. More stable so you don’t have all the dimensional movement. Red oak would be fine for the fences, but I would try to use 3/4” x 3/8” miter bar stock (either phenolic, metal, or hard maple) for the guides.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

Stay away from solid wood for the base. I used 3/4” veneer core plywood (not Baltic birch – didn’t have it around at the time) and maple for the fences and runners. I think oak would be fine for the fences and runners. I also put a layer of 1/4” hardboard on the top of the base, with a replaceable insert, in case I want to do bevel cuts. My sled is a different design that TheDane’s (nice looking sled!) – mine straddles the blade and rides in both miter slots. This design needs a front fence, too, since the blade passes through the entire base.

I prefer 1/2” Baltic Birch plywood for my sleds. With 1/2” instead of 3/4”, you don’t loose the other 1/4” in blade height, although it might be a bit more stable with 3/4”. I think pine might be one of the worst materials to use.

If you need to save money, MDF is certainly not a bad choice. It will remain much flatter than any solid wood.
Any stable hardwood is fine for fences. I have used walnut, mahogany, and ash so far. I like to glue up 2 pieces for my fences. The thicker fence is better and more stable. It also makes T-track easier to put in too.

-- She thought I hung the moon--now she just thinks I did it wrong

Most of my jigs are made from either mdf, or masonite, depending on the application.Haven’t built a sled for the tablesaw yet, haven’t had the need. My bandsaw sled is doubled 1/4” masonite, the fence is extruded aluminum.

-- One of these hammers oughta fix that...

You can use just about anything to build a table saw sled. For instance I used Corian for the runners. Hard maple for the fences and good plywood for the base. You want materials that are stable and tough especially if you want the sled to last and stay acurait.If I could figure how to up load pictures to this sight you could see my sled !Wood smith has real nice design Google it.

Definitely no solid wood on the base, you’ll regret it and better materials are cheaper. I made my first out of phenolic MDF, actually a really large shelf from Lowe’s. After I killed that one, I used simple quality 1/2 inch ply for the base and prefinished maple flooring for the fences. Haven’t had any problems. Mine has stayed dead flat for the good part of a year now. Good luck!

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

Check out Fine Wood working mag this month!Good tips on sleds

I built the super sled from the Eagle Lake Woodworking video.Used 1/2” baltic birch ply for base,OLD reclaimed doug fir for fence and 3/8’ thick white plastic[like some tablesaw fences are faced with] for the runners.It has been used daily with big temp and humidity swings and it has stayed dead on.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm