Crosscut sled: replaceable insert vs dedicated dado sled

[Monte Milanuk]

Been looking at various designs and videos out there on crosscut sleds. Seen a lot of really nice ones with no replaceable inserts (i.e. Wood Whisperer, William Ng); seems like those folks make a separate dedicated dado sled for their needs... but then those would have to be dedicated to each particular width of dado cut, no? Others, like this variant on the Eagle Lake Super Sled, use replaceable inserts and use just *one* sled for everything.

What are your thoughts on the pros / cons one way or the other?

[Frank Pratt]

Timely thread. I'm in the middle of a sled build myself & have decided to go with a replaceable insert. Not just for versatility, but for when the kerf eventually gets worn & widened.

I'll rout out a 5 or 6" wide section, 1/4" deep & use a piece of 1/4" MDF for the insert. I'll do the same on the front of the fence.

[Adam Herman]

what are you guys using for the base? i am also building a sled, though for cutting miters. i will have an insert for cross miter work, and one for 90 degree work. thinking 1/2 in aircraft ply for mine.

[pat warner]

Off topic but relevant.
I made a x-cut sled that slides in a track, for routing.
The work hangs over the carriage and the router is screw driven
along, on its dovetail ways. Infinitely adjustable, could be
adapted for table saw use too.

[Monte Milanuk]

Off topic but relevant.
I made a x-cut sled that slides in a track, for routing.
The work hangs over the carriage and the router is screw driven
along, on its dovetail ways. Infinitely adjustable, could be
adapted for table saw use too.

Holy cow, Pat

I was browsing thru, hadn't paid attention to *who* had posted it, clicked the link and thought 'Wow. That looks like something Pat Warner would make!' Surprise surprise

[Monte Milanuk]

Timely thread. I'm in the middle of a sled build myself & have decided to go with a replaceable insert. Not just for versatility, but for when the kerf eventually gets worn & widened.

I read something about that on the Instructables page. Guess I wasn't aware that the kerf would wear/widen appreciably once it was cut in - or at least not enough to be a problem, unless I inadvertently switched between thin and full kerf blades

I'll rout out a 5 or 6" wide section, 1/4" deep & use a piece of 1/4" MDF for the insert. I'll do the same on the front of the fence.

I was thinking about that myself. One set of plans showed laminating 1/4" ply onto a sheet of 1/2" ply to get the same effect, but then routing out the t-slots... which struck me as a bit odd. Seemed like it'd be six one way, half a dozen the other to just start with 3/4" material and rout a dado for the inserts.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

So, I was just thinking about this topic as well as my first cross cut sled is starting to show its age.

I am thinking of converting my current thin kerf sled to a dado sled with an insert (or a sacrificial 1/4 sheet across the entire sled) and build a new thin kerf sled.

[Frank Pratt]

I'm using 18mm Baltic Birch for this one, but it's going to be kinda heavy. My last was 12mm BB & it was great. I chose 18mm for the extra thickness to screw the insert into.

what are you guys using for the base? i am also building a sled, though for cutting miters. i will have an insert for cross miter work, and one for 90 degree work. thinking 1/2 in aircraft ply for mine.

[Rick Moyer]

Just something to keep in mind: the thicker the sled the higher you'll need to raise the blade. Unlikely that would be a problem unless you're cutting thick material.

[Shawn Pixley]

I have two crosscut (90 degree) sleds. One is small and one is for panels (26" clear). I have mused about rebuilding the large one to allow for dados but haven't done it yet. I plan on making replaceable inserts for the base and the rear fence.

But until I really need it, inertia takes its toll. The real problem is where to store the large sled. Space in my shop is at a premium.

[Dan Cameron]

Since I like maximum accuracy through hot/cold and wet/dry conditions I make my sleds with a single runner. This allows me to use the sled in one miter slot for zero clearance cuts and in the other miter slot for dados and bevels.

[Bruce Page]

I made my sled based on one from American Woodworker magazine. I think it covers all the bases you're looking for. To be honest, I've only used the insert option a few times.
The sled works great but is much too heavy. I made it out of 3/4 melamine, I would slim it down if I were making it again. I added the two cross bars to help lift it onto the saw top.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/pr...-crosscut-sled

[glenn bradley]

Even with replaceable bed and fence inserts I still have 4 sleds. I can't imagine a sled for each task; I don't have the room. I did make all my inserts the same width. In two cases (the router and the bevel sled) I made the insert 3" high but, 5" wide to allow for the various angled cuts. When I make inserts I never make less than 6. It takes longer to setup than to make one so as long as I'm setup, I make a batch of whatever it is I'm making.