Sleds are a very valuable asset. They provide a way to allow the work piece to travel parallel to the blade or cutter head to ensure an accurate cut on both large and small pieces, and even irregular shapes. They can have hold downs, clamps, and/or fences to hold the work piece secure during the cut, preventing the piece from flying off or moving out of parallel with the direction of cut. And most importantly, they help us keep our fingers away from the blade or cutter head. Have we ever had a small piece that needed just a “little cut here”, followed by a potentially stupid move?
So let’s have a discussion about sleds. This article gives you an overview of my four favorite sleds. With a little imagination and ingenuity on your end you’ll be able to adapt those you need for use in your shop.
Miter Sled
The first one we all think of is the 45-degree miter sled. Mine is similar to the one George made, just bigger and I used oak for the guides. I found it useful to mark the location of the blade area with blue tape as a reminder where NOT to put my fingers.
Here I’ve added a piece of hard maple as a zero clearance fence.
This sled came in handy when writing the article Jake’s Tips on Making Miters to make cuts in very small and delicate 1/2” by 3/8” trim pieces on cabinet doors.
Panel Cutting Sled
The second sled, a panel cutting sled, is invaluable for cutting large pieces, such as plywood case parts and panel doors.
The fence is located at the top of the sled, perpendicular to the blade. The alternative is to place the fence at the rear of the base, but the size of the panel is then limited by the size of the base. Placing the fence at the top of the base allows for much larger panels to be cut. Note that I made the fence extra long to help stabilize longer panels. Making the panel sled for the left or right side of the blade is a matter of personal preference.
Crosscut Sled
The third sled is a small version of a very traditional design.
A cross cut sled can be small, like mine, or cover the entire surface area of a table saw table. It’s designed to give maximum stability and accuracy for any cross cut operation. The sled has a beefy fence at the front and rear edges of the base to keep the base together, since the base has been cut in two to accommodate full travel of the sled through the blade.
This smaller version was built to hold small pieces of irregular shaped feet for planter boxes.
As can be seen in this picture, by using the sled the foot can be oriented as needed to insure that the top and bottom are cut square to each other not to mention how secure the piece is and how safe my fingers are when making these cuts.
Adjustable Box Joint Sled
The problem I have always had with making jigs to cut box joints (finger joints), is readjusting the locator key to loosen or tighten up the fit of the fingers. So I decided to make a sled with two adjustable tables instead of an adjustable key.
By cutting slotted holes for screws in the base, the key can be moved back and forth to adjust the spacing between the fingers of the joint. I also made the key longer because I was making multiple small boxes out of oak, and wanted to speed up the manufacturing process (I have highlighted the locator key with black marker). As this picture demonstrates, by making the locator key longer, several pieces of wood can be clamped together at one time and cut on the sled. I was cutting up to 10 pieces of 1/4” thick oak at a time with this sled.
Happy sledding
Jake
SawDustbyJake.com
Setting up shop in garage, but will move to basement shop in the future. Interested in doing mostly small projects, but have a some larger projects in mind.
Please delete previous comment. I accidentally hit submit before completing comment.
Hi Jeffrey,
Thank you for contacting us.
Sorry I think it’s too late, I don’t see another comment.
Sincerely,
Joan
Woodworkers Guild of America Video Membership
Any plans yet for making a cross cut sled? I see folks have been asking on this thread for years. Any available plans yet? Thanks.
Thanks for checking in on this. We haven’t added one yet, but when we do we’ll provide an update on this thread.
-Paul
Woodworkers Guild of America
Are there any actual plans for a good sized sled?
Hello Lawrence!
What is a good sized sled for you? We’d love to help!
Thank you!
Jessica
Woodworkers Guild of America Video Membership
As a premium member, how do I get plans for each of these for sleds?
Regards
Mike Fullen
Hello Michael!
Great question! This was a post created by a friend, Jake.
For more information regarding his sled creations you’ll want to head to his website, SawDustbyJake.com, and click on “Contact” to reach out about the sleds he created!
Thank you!
Jessica
Woodworkers Guild of America Video Membership
I have a table saw. I am thinking of building a table saw sled, but I have a radial arm saw too, would a sled do much more than the radial saw? TOM Z..
Hi Thomas. That’s a great question. I’m not a radial arm saw owner so I’m a bit biased, but I would favor a good table saw sled. I think this gives you better control and safety, particularly when cutting small parts. But a well-tuned radial arm saw can give you great accuracy as well.
Thanks
Paul-Woodworkers Guild of America
I have an inexpensive Craftman tablesaw. The 2 miter slots are in a removable top on one side of the blade. Do you believe it is possible to build a sled on this type of tablesaw. I’m sure I’d need to make sure that the sled and removeable top is perpendicular to the blade every time I used the sled. Do you see anymore issues? Every time I use a miter gauge to cut I have to adjust it to the blade because of the tabletop being removed and replaced. Thank you for your response.
Hi Nancy. I think it will be possible to build a sled on this table, and I believe that you have the correct concern. It will be critical to get this alignment each time, but the jig might actually be a useful aid for aligning the removable table itself.
Thanks
Paul-Woodworkers Guild of America
Are there no cut list or plans to DL?
Hello. I am sorry there are no plans for this article.
Thanks
Jean-WWGOA Video Membership
Hey Customer Service: Instead of promising content that never happens (things change, I get that…) , and then replying over and over “there are no plans for this article” – I’m suggesting that you put some kind of flag on whatever content DOES have plans – a little “Plan” icon. That way someone will know whether or not a plan is available. Make sense? Send checks to….
Hello. Thank you for your feedback. I will forward your comments on to the proper department. We do appreciate your feedback.
Thanks
Jean-WWGOA Video Membership
Hello. I want to build these Jigs but I can’t find the plans. I have a premium account and am logged in. Please help. Thank you.
I am sorry we do not have plans for this. Hopefully you can gain enough insight from the pictures to be able to build something comparable.
Thanks
Jean-WWGOA Membership
Reading earlier comments it was stated that you hope to have something for these in Feb. March. Now it is almost May and i can’t find any plans. Is there an estimated time? Would really like to make a couple of these jigs.
Hi Michael. Apologies but we have not yet completed this as our editorial plan has changed a bit with greater focus on classes and videos. We are still planning to update this article, but we do not currently have this work scheduled.
Meanwhile, we are happy to answer any questions that you might have as you build one of these.
Thanks
Paul-WWGOA
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advise him/her to visxit this webpage, Keep up the pleasant job.
do you have any PDF plans for table saw sleds
Hi Gerald. These images have now been fixed. We are sorry for any inconvenience.
Thanks
Jean-WWGOA Video Membership
Do you have plans for asled
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Where do you get the plans to make these sleds?
Hi, Cindy. We do not have any additional detail on these sleds. Hopefully you can gain enough insight from the pictures to be able to build something comparable. This video provides some helpful ideas, including a miter sled: https://www.wwgoa.com/video/making-shop-made-sleds-for-small-project-pieces-000322/
I really want to make a miter sled. Are there any plans available? Better yet, is there a premium video, downloadable video or even a DVD on this sled? I have the DVDs about shop made jigs but this one isn’t featured.
This article https://www.wwgoa.com/article/four-table-saw-sleds-that-will-improve-accuracy/ (https://www.wwgoa.com/article/four-table-saw-sleds-that-will-improve-accuracy/) covers four table saw sleds, including a miter sled. We realize it doesn’t provide any great info on how to accurately construct the sled, but it will give you a starting point. Recognize the shortcomings of this article, we’re reworking it and will, in the future, have definitive how-to for all four sleds. The box joint jig has already been done (though I realize that’s not what you’re looking for) and can be found here https://www.wwgoa.com/video/wwgoas-box-joint-jig-10812/
I look forward to that. I’m new to woodworking and have been a premium (now gold) member for just a couple months and have already learned so much. This site and the DVDs I ordered have been money well spent! Keep up the great work…….
Can I get plans for the “adjustable box joint sled” ?
Here is a link to a plan for the adjustable box joint jig: https://www.wwgoa.com/plan/how-to-make-a-box-joint-jig/
I just became a premium member and I have the same problem as Edward w
All I get is pictures
I even clicked on the link in your reply to Edward
We are sorry that you are having trouble locating the plans. You may try clearing your cache/browser history or maybe using a different internet browser.
We will be happy to assist you further, by contacting us at 1-855-253-0822.
I signed up as a premium member, logged in and wanted to build a sled for my table saw. When I clicked on the site pictures, all I got was bigger pictures.
I went to the outdoor section for plans on bird cage building and it sent me to a place to buy cages? I want to have plans to build them. I want plans to make outdoor furniture!!! What good is the membership if I just need to buy the things already made? I can search the web for items to buy.
Hello Edward, we are sorry that you are having trouble locating the plans. We will be happy to assist you by contacting us at 1-855-253-0822. In order to have access to most of these plans, make sure that you are log in as a premium member. Here is the link the plans: https://www.wwgoa.com/projects/woodworking-plans-and-projects/
Sorry, WWGOA Team, but you need to check your web site. The above link just recycles to the article with all the photos; there are no plans for the sleds at that link.
How about a direct link to the supposed plans themselves and not to a general videos/articles page?
So far I’ve found my premium subscription to be a waste of good money. While some of the demonstrated techniques are interesting, general information without actual dimensioned drawings behind it is pretty much useless.
Hi, David! There are no plans that accompany this article but George is planning on reworking it to include more information, including plans. Essentially the one article is being split up into 3 new articles about table saw sleds that will each include a plan. First one will be out in January, others will be out in February and March.
AMEAN
I have a table saw but no channels to run the guides for a table sled. Will it still be accurate if I put the runners each side of the table?
Thanks
This could work assuming that the sides of your table saw are parallel with one another, but you will need to keep in mind the fundamental objectives of the design which is to deliver a cut that is perfectly square to one edge of your work piece. In order to do this, the rear fence of your sled (the surface that your work piece is placed against) must be perpendicular to the blade. If the sides if your table saw’s top are parallel with the blade, then it will be relatively straightforward to ensure squareness of the blade and fence on the sled. If, however, the sides of the saw’s table are not parallel to the blade (this is a likely situation), you will either need to adjust the saw so that these two items become parallel, or you need to add a strip in front of the sled’s fence that is perpendicular to the blade. This strip will become your new fence.
You could bolt a 3/4″ aluminum bar on top of the saw table parallel to the blade, using that as a guide for a dado (on the bottom side of the jig) to slide over.
If the table top is a composite, not metal, rout the channel or build a wooden overlay with channels.