What's a good sled runner?

[Michael Mayo]

I bought some of these with the bigger tracks to put them into and i tried the t-bar track in my Rigid TS3650 saw miter track and they fit like a glove. So I am at some point going to get some more of it to replace the wooden runners on my current sled. The only dowside if there is one is that the t-bar track is captive in the miter slot so you have to guide the sled into the slots when you want to use the sled which is a minor drawback. The thing I like is that they really fit beautifully and slid inside the miter track like greased lightning. The one thing that I am not sure about is whether or not it will still slide nicely once tightened down to the bottom of a sled. The t-bar track doesn't seem to sit proud of the saw top at all so it might just be too snug once tightened down.


http://www.ttrackusa.com/track_%20systems.htm#1021

[Rich Engelhardt]

I used pine for my runners.
I was in a hurry since I needed a sled right away and didn't have any hard wood.
I figured it was only temporary for about a half dozen cuts.

Three years ago I sprung for an aluminum 30" Kreg - which I may use if/when the pine runners work loose.....maybe...the pine has worked so well, I may just go with it again.

I keep the runners well waxed & the fit is as tight today as it was three years ago.

[Bill Huber]

I use the Icra aluminum, they are are light and easy to install. I like my sled to have 2 runners and with steel it makes things much heavier.

I use double sided tape and the table saw fence to install them. I adjust the miter track to fit in the slot, put double sided tape on them with a spacer under them to raise them just above the top of the saw. I set the fence on the right to the point the sled will set. I then put the sled against the fence and lower it down on the the miter slides and press them down so they make good contract with the sled.

Now with a small bit, one that just goes though the holes in the slides I drill holes in the sled. I then counter sink the holes, remove the tape from the slides and then screw them on. Works great and I have had no problem with them at all.

http://www.incra.com/product_jfc_miterslider.htm

[Roger Pozzi]

I use the Icra aluminum, they are are light and easy to install. I like my sled to have 2 runners and with steel it makes things much heavier.

I use double sided tape and the table saw fence to install them. I adjust the miter track to fit in the slot, put double sided tape on them with a spacer under them to raise them just above the top of the saw. I set the fence on the right to the point the sled will set. I then put the sled against the fence and lower it down on the the miter slides and press them down so they make good contract with the sled.

Now with a small bit, one that just goes though the holes in the slides I drill holes in the sled. I then counter sink the holes, remove the tape from the slides and then screw them on. Works great and I have had no problem with them at all.

http://www.incra.com/product_jfc_miterslider.htm

I think you have mentioned that before Bill, and, I seem to remember you mentioning that you have/had a Bosch 4100 saw.
So, I proceeded to create my sled being extremely careful and precise. Fantastic!! Then, I discovered that the spacing of the adjustments on the bars was far enough apart that the rear adjuster was out of the slot before I finished the cut, allowing the sled to move slightly.
After much measuring and frustration, I decided that this method just won't work on my Bosch saw.
Now, I'm waiting on the Zero-Play bars from Micro Jig which appear to be a much better option. http://microjig.com/products/zeropla...ar/index.shtml

[Mark Beiting]

Matt,

+1 on what Bruce said. 1018 cold rolled bar stock, $27 for a 12 footer here, dead straight and clean, much better than any of the aluminum ones.

Mark

[Phil Thien]

I think you have mentioned that before Bill, and, I seem to remember you mentioning that you have/had a Bosch 4100 saw.
So, I proceeded to create my sled being extremely careful and precise. Fantastic!! Then, I discovered that the spacing of the adjustments on the bars was far enough apart that the rear adjuster was out of the slot before I finished the cut, allowing the sled to move slightly.
After much measuring and frustration, I decided that this method just won't work on my Bosch saw.
Now, I'm waiting on the Zero-Play bars from Micro Jig which appear to be a much better option. http://microjig.com/products/zeropla...ar/index.shtml

I agree with what you found on the Incra bars, I experienced that too.

The thing about the Micro Jig is the relatively short length. For a sled you'd have to use two per slot, minimum. I have a 24" cross-cut sled, I'd probably have to use three. In my case for my large crosscut sled, I'd have two bars in the slot, and one hanging over the front edge of the saw, when starting a long cross-cut. So I'd be a bit worried about it catching as it enters the slot when I'm pushing the work forward.

[Peter Quinn]

I've used incra aluminum bars, UHmW, and various vertical grain hardwood strips for different sleds over the years. For an average sized plywood cross cut sled I like the incra bars best, for smaller sleds like miter jigs or coping sleds UHmW or wood works pretty well for me. I bought some hard nylon set screws which I tap cross ways into the wood and plastic slides so I can snug things up. Yup, hard maple takes a steel tap pretty well, and the nylon set screws wear very well too. I always make the slides snug at the start, but things wear, and I like adjustability on a good jig.

For one particularly long sled I bought mild steel bar stock from online metals.com, drilled and taped this for set screws, ran a dado into the sled to set the alignment, works great, though tapping all those 8-32 set screws into 3/4" of steel was a growth experience for me.... Once I stopped swearing and breaking piles of taps and got some tap magic lubricant things went pretty well.

[Bill Huber]

I think you have mentioned that before Bill, and, I seem to remember you mentioning that you have/had a Bosch 4100 saw.
So, I proceeded to create my sled being extremely careful and precise. Fantastic!! Then, I discovered that the spacing of the adjustments on the bars was far enough apart that the rear adjuster was out of the slot before I finished the cut, allowing the sled to move slightly.
After much measuring and frustration, I decided that this method just won't work on my Bosch saw.
Now, I'm waiting on the Zero-Play bars from Micro Jig which appear to be a much better option. http://microjig.com/products/zeropla...ar/index.shtml

I don't have or ever did have a Bosch table saw, not sure where that came from. I had a Craftsman and now have a Jet. The slides work great on both of them.
I have just 2 of the adjusters in the slot at different times with no slop, you have to have all 3 adjusted or it will give you slop. As long as there are 2 adjusters in the slot it should not have slop.

[Mike Langford]

I use hardwood like Jamie, but I machine the runners to the exact width of the slots and just a tad lower than the top.....then I put pennies all in the slots (got to use dem brownies fer sumthin' ) then with the runners pre-drilled and counter sunk and double-sided tape on top of the runners....I place the runners in the slots on top of the pennies (the runners are now slightly above the table top) then I place my sled on top of the runners and press down firmly....remove the sled, flip it and put screw in the counter-sunk holes...remove the pennies from the slots (very important to the effective use of the sled!) and then Bob's your uncle!!! I haven't had any problems going on for 5 years......YMMV

[Bruce Wrenn]

tapping all those 8-32 set screws into 3/4" of steel was a growth experience for me.... Once I stopped swearing and breaking piles of taps and got some tap magic lubricant things went pretty well.

Instead of tapping through whole width of bar, drill pilot hole for tap, and then go back and drill out pilot hole to diameter of screw, half way through bar. Most set screws are less than 3/8", so extra threads don't do anything.

[Curt Harms]

3/8" X 3/4" mild steel. The stuff I bought was a little oversized but a light touch with an angle grinder fixed that. I find it useful to be able to cut durable threads into the bar.

[Bob Vavricka]

Make your wood runners adjustable. I'm not sure where I found this idea, but it's not original with me. It may not be obvious in the pics, but a small set screw threaded in the side allows you to spread the kerf slightly to make a good fit. I also saw some online where they make a small kerf in the center running parallel to the sides and used a flat head screw in the center of the slot to wedge the sides. Google adjustable wood sled runners.
sled_runner1.JPGsled_runner2.JPG

[Alan Lightstone]

I like the zero play ones, but the Incra ones work just fine too.

[Roger Pozzi]

I don't have or ever did have a Bosch table saw, not sure where that came from. I had a Craftsman and now have a Jet. The slides work great on both of them.
I have just 2 of the adjusters in the slot at different times with no slop, you have to have all 3 adjusted or it will give you slop. As long as there are 2 adjusters in the slot it should not have slop.

Sorry Bill, didn't mean to upset you with my poor memory.
Anyway, the 24" Incra slider does have 3 adjustments whereas the 18" has only 2. There-in lies the problem. That, and the table length of the Bosch creates the overall difficulty of using slides without full adjustability.
By the way, I remembered who the other highly respected member was, and he's actually on a different forum.

[peter gagliardi]

I have done a few jobs with Teak over the years, and saved the rippings. I use Teak for my runners - naturally oily, so it slides nice, it has the least movement of any wood seasonally, so no issue there either.