Thanks for sharing this sled build. I did the aluminum version in May 2023. It set me back $165 with no regrets. This thing will last generations. I built according to the video and then when I went to use it I got a drill and saw out and modified it so I could fit a 7” board between the two aluminum fences. As proof of concept I used a pine board to make a small trinket box (7.5L x 3.5W x 3.5H). It was all 45° miter joints with .5” stock for sides and .75" stock for lid . I never would have held the boards without this sled. It was also a great learning experience to discover extruded aluminum. Your numbers were perfect for ordering my aluminum. However, I spent a bunch of additional time going over the website to figure out the nomenclature and the types of accessories available. For the young guys out there - built this it will last forever and lends itself to modifications. Also figure out the extruded aluminum thing as it will be the Legos of your hobby or trade.
Exactly what I needed for an upcoming cabinet door build! Bought your plans and built the plywood version today. Turned out perfect! Thanks for posting... you have a new subscriber!
you could have simply exchanged a longer bolt on the clamp rather than making a wooden one yes?? Grabbed the plans from your website and built it already. Works great! Thanks Definitely the best one I've seen on RUclips
Well done. I have a simple sled I use, but love this one. After putting the guide on (when I make yours) I will re-square the main fence to the router fence as the guide may not end up square to the base (small variations in hole placements). I am ordering the parts for the aluminum one.
Exactly the type of thing I am looking to build. Using aluminum extrusion is a good idea. Thanks very much for providing the links to what you used and for shooting such a helpful, detailed video. Great job!
Thank-you this was a great inspiration for my build. I started with the extruded parts that you recommended, drilled the sliding fence one slot off as I see your mistake and also mounted the clamps< I added two more to the tracks on the extrusion using 10 mm sliding nuts. Thanks again
I have some projects coming up that I'd like to try this joinery. I have the bits. But sometimes they are intimidating. This is a great fix for that. Thanks.
Great explanation, I enjoy it very much. And try to make one for myself. Just to make sure. I believe that nothing in the T-track on the Router table is sliding from the coping sled. and The operator will push the sled towards the fence and the contact, and reference is that piece of polycarbonate, and slide the jig trough the router bit.
Hey MWA!!! Just received all the extruded aluminum from Misumi-vona and assembled my sled according to your video.......Wow what a frigging beast this sled is. your informative video made it supper simple to assemble and I'm now able to make square, safe coping cuts accurately and efficiently at the router table. Life long sub here my friend!! keep up the great work and I'm so glad to stumble across your channel!!! Do you offer stickers for sale.? would love to have you represent in my woodshop on my bansaw!!! Cheers pal!! well done 👏👏👏👏👏
Nice sleds! Two questions. 1) what were you mixing the epoxy in? 2) how did you ensure the plexi was perfectly perpendicular to the sled fence? Thanks in advance for your reply.
I'm mixing the epoxy in the lid of a plastic container 🤣 and to square everything up put the plexi against the router fence and then square the coping sled fence to the router fence. Since the plexi is parallel to the router fence it will also be square to the coping sled fence👍
I had the same question and it would have useful to include this in the video. That’s actual the crucial step, not the squatting of the fixed fence .... maybe modify the video and add that step? Right now, you make it look as if the squaring happens automagically and people will be disappointed when their versions give them poor results. Thanks for an otherwise great, clear, and succinct video!
So Carsten, how did you install to make sure the plexiglass fence is installed parallel to the router fence and perpendicular to the router coping fence. How did you check? The way I think it should be done is to have an adjustable slot on the plexiglass. What you would then do is secure the rail piece on the coping sled fence, butt up the rail piece to the router fence, and then butt up the plexiglass to the router fence and tighten it down. Or maybe you don’t need that the plexiglass at all and use a sacrificial piece with the rail piece to ride the router fence instead.
Great job! Will the plans for the plywood coping sled be available to purchase or can you tell me the size of the plywood base piece? I checked your "Downloadable Project Plans" but couldn't find anything. Thanks and keep up the good work!
What size length is the t-bolt (x1) for the sliding fence and the hex bolts (x2) for the stationary fence. Am I right saying the base is 3/4 inch plywood, and is that the same for the sliding and stationary fence? I really want to try and make this. Thanks.
I have used wooden ones for years in my opinion they are a better option then the metal one. If you leave the wooden fence as long as the wood and run both through the cutter you get a backer board that keeps the trailing edge of the wood from chipping out. you could add a wood spacer to the metal fence to do the same thing.
The plywood one is nice and light for sure. It just doesn't have the durability, or ability to configure it different ways (without drilling new holes)
I’ve built one of aluminium extrusions and used to use wooden ones. To be honest, I haven’t found any reason why a wooden one is better - certainly cheaper if you have scrap which I do. I always use a backer board in any case; with my wooden ones, if I had used the timber fence as you suggest, then , for the first profile, it would have acted as a backing board but for a different profile, it’s no good. If I have a particularly wide or deep profile to make (for example, 3” wide piece of timber), then I feel I need some support under the piece of timber so that it doesn’t shudder when going through the router bit. With the aluminium, I can achieve this by moving the polycarbonate from one slot to another (ie nearer the router fence of further away); however, this has limitations so I also use where needed an auxiliary sacrificial piece in front of the aluminium sled between sled base and router fence but not touching the router fence so that the polycarbonate continues to act as the reference. This second piece of timber is the same height as the sled and obviously goes underneath the piece you want to cut. With this, the piece you want to cut is held firm right at the junction of router bit and the piece. This may not be necessary, and almost certainly not for soft woods but if I’m putting a profile onto some hard oak or some even harder apple (that’s by far the hardest domestic timber that I’ve used), then I’d rather make that extra precaution than find the joint is less perfect than it could be. The one issue that arise is if you have a split fence on your router and those 2 halves are not exactly in line with each other (I do use the table with the halves not in line for when my cut reduced the whole height of the timber and it would be unsupported on the 2nd half and risk an inaccurate cut. For that eventuality, I might well make a narrower sled that can easily be fixed to the main sled but which has guides to fit into the T slot on the table. I hope that all makes sense. It’s quite clear in my mind but harder to write down succinctly
If you made your plexiglass stand-off adjustable, could you also use it to cut tenons and laps of various depths? Did you consider using a miter slot guide instead of the plexiglass? Do you see any benefit to one over the other?
No need to adjust the guide you can just adjust the work piece. Using a guide over a miter slot is more versatile and you don't have to have as big of a sled to reach the bit. And of course some folks don't have a miter slot on their router table (my other homemade router table doesn't have one)
Two request please! I like the aluminum design when looking at the links for the extruded aluminum parts it is difficult to navigate, ie the part number you give does not correlate directly, I am guessing they sell by the foot! Could you clean up the links so they work? And how did you determine the offset of the polycarbonate what is the distance from the edge of the fence to the center of the stand offs. I did pick up on the 6 inches that you cut in half, does that mean it is three inches Minus half the blade kerf width? If this is detailed in your plans I have no issues with buying and supporting you. Yes your plans are a great a price but as a old retired fart I have to spend wisely. Do the plans also reference the building of the aluminum style sled? Thank you.
When you order from Misumi everything is custom. So there is not a link directly to what I bought because you have to specify everything for them. But the part numbers I listed contain all the specifications right in the part number. Also, the plans I sell are for the plywood sled only.
No not really. As long as it has complete contact with the fence it's good. The critical thing is to make sure the fence on the base is square to your router table fence with the polycarbonate sheet pressed fully against the router table fence.
My router won't elevate enough to reach the workpiece if the bit is bottomed out in the router. What kind of router do you have or did you raise your bit up in the chuck 3/4 inch or so?
I have a porter cable router. No special settings and I didn't raise the bit in the chuck. If you need to you can buy a collet extension. I know CMT sells one.
Great video, and thanks for sharing, but the links for the aluminum parts is to a site that is a complete pain in the butt. I could get a top secret security clearance from the FBI before I could order $25 worth of aluminum parts from them. I think I will stick to the plywood model.
When going to the @t and input part number @-15250-300 The site can not find the any of the parts. Can you research this post curent part numbers? what are the dimensions the for the aluminum base plate so that I can order the extrusions. Again Thank You
Use the first part of the part number before the last dash to search. The last part is how many mm long the part is, in this case 300 mm. There is not a way to directly link to the parts because everything they sell is custom spec. You can also call their phone number and order these parts that way
Sarcastic comment warning re. "Sharp as crap"..(BTW I really do like the video) I work in the medical field. I've seen a lot of crap. None of it has been sharp.
I must say that what you did in creating this jig; is about THE neatest DIY I have ever seen in woodworking. Better: I was just about to buy Woodpeckers' "Coping Sled". Now I am going to build your aluminum sled. Many thanks kind Sir. I have an identical length of the smaller extrusion already. Yipee. But since I love Woodpeckers, I must say that they still have THE best; if you want to pay more for it. Myriads of people do it every day all over the world. I have bought MANY things from Woodpeckers. Check 'em out. IMHO the only other ones that are that great is "Leigh Jig" and "INCRA". Check 'em out.
![CHILE vs. BRASIL [1-2] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5ObJt_71AYc/mqdefault.jpg)
Was looking at buying a sled, but now am definitely put some 80/20 scraps to work on the aluminum version. Thanks!
Purple heart stop blocks, fancy! I need to build one of these for my shop, building kitchen door and drawer faces. Thanks for sharing.
Ya I always keep scrap off cuts of stuff like purpleheart cause I can't stand to throw it away 🤣🤣🤣
@@MWAWoodworks I hear ya, might as well put it to good use. Besides their a couple bucks a piece.
Thanks for sharing this sled build. I did the aluminum version in May 2023. It set me back $165 with no regrets. This thing will last generations. I built according to the video and then when I went to use it I got a drill and saw out and modified it so I could fit a 7” board between the two aluminum fences. As proof of concept I used a pine board to make a small trinket box (7.5L x 3.5W x 3.5H). It was all 45° miter joints with .5” stock for sides and .75" stock for lid . I never would have held the boards without this sled. It was also a great learning experience to discover extruded aluminum. Your numbers were perfect for ordering my aluminum. However, I spent a bunch of additional time going over the website to figure out the nomenclature and the types of accessories available. For the young guys out there - built this it will last forever and lends itself to modifications. Also figure out the extruded aluminum thing as it will be the Legos of your hobby or trade.
😃
Found your videos today. Extremely useful tips! Thank you very much!
Awesome, I wish I could purchase exactly this
Exactly what I needed for an upcoming cabinet door build! Bought your plans and built the plywood version today. Turned out perfect! Thanks for posting... you have a new subscriber!
you could have simply exchanged a longer bolt on the clamp rather than making a wooden one yes?? Grabbed the plans from your website and built it already. Works great! Thanks Definitely the best one I've seen on RUclips
Nice video and something I have to build too. At the end you demo it with a nice router bit. Can you share which one you use?
Never knew I needed this. Love your channel and I appreciate your knowledge and talent. I have so much to learn
Well done. I have a simple sled I use, but love this one. After putting the guide on (when I make yours) I will re-square the main fence to the router fence as the guide may not end up square to the base (small variations in hole placements). I am ordering the parts for the aluminum one.
Exactly the type of thing I am looking to build. Using aluminum extrusion is a good idea. Thanks very much for providing the links to what you used and for shooting such a helpful, detailed video. Great job!
Thank-you this was a great inspiration for my build. I started with the extruded parts that you recommended, drilled the sliding fence one slot off as I see your mistake and also mounted the clamps< I added two more to the tracks on the extrusion using 10 mm sliding nuts. Thanks again
😁
Nice job and good to have 2 methods/materials to do the job. 👍
Thanks 👍
Very nice build... as soon as I can find the handles I should be off to build my own.
I have some projects coming up that I'd like to try this joinery. I have the bits. But sometimes they are intimidating. This is a great fix for that. Thanks.
this definitely makes it less intimidating
Great explanation, I enjoy it very much. And try to make one for myself. Just to make sure. I believe that nothing in the T-track on the Router table is sliding from the coping sled. and The operator will push the sled towards the fence and the contact, and reference is that piece of polycarbonate, and slide the jig trough the router bit.
So simple but solves a myriad of problems I've been trying to solve. Many many thanks. (Upthumbed, subscribed and looking forward to more)
Thank you so much for your support
Hey MWA!!! Just received all the extruded aluminum from Misumi-vona and assembled my sled according to your video.......Wow what a frigging beast this sled is. your informative video made it supper simple to assemble and I'm now able to make square, safe coping cuts accurately and efficiently at the router table. Life long sub here my friend!! keep up the great work and I'm so glad to stumble across your channel!!! Do you offer stickers for sale.? would love to have you represent in my woodshop on my bansaw!!! Cheers pal!! well done 👏👏👏👏👏
Nice sleds! Two questions. 1) what were you mixing the epoxy in? 2) how did you ensure the plexi was perfectly perpendicular to the sled fence? Thanks in advance for your reply.
I'm mixing the epoxy in the lid of a plastic container 🤣 and to square everything up put the plexi against the router fence and then square the coping sled fence to the router fence. Since the plexi is parallel to the router fence it will also be square to the coping sled fence👍
I had the same question and it would have useful to include this in the video. That’s actual the crucial step, not the squatting of the fixed fence .... maybe modify the video and add that step? Right now, you make it look as if the squaring happens automagically and people will be disappointed when their versions give them poor results. Thanks for an otherwise great, clear, and succinct video!
So Carsten, how did you install to make sure the plexiglass fence is installed parallel to the router fence and perpendicular to the router coping fence. How did you check?
The way I think it should be done is to have an adjustable slot on the plexiglass. What you would then do is secure the rail piece on the coping sled fence, butt up the rail piece to the router fence, and then butt up the plexiglass to the router fence and tighten it down.
Or maybe you don’t need that the plexiglass at all and use a sacrificial piece with the rail piece to ride the router fence instead.
Pretty brilliant idea, dude! Beautiful job! 😃
Stay safe there! 🖖😊
Hey thanks MC!
Great job! Will the plans for the plywood coping sled be available to purchase or can you tell me the size of the plywood base piece? I checked your "Downloadable Project Plans" but couldn't find anything. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Cool video man, nicely made and a useful jig too 👍👍
Glad you liked it!
Nice video and practical as well! Thank you for sharing!
You're welcome 👍
Great video. Love both sleds. Is the aluminium sled - a single piece of aluminum or multiple pieces attached..
Thanks
What size length is the t-bolt (x1) for the sliding fence and the hex bolts (x2) for the stationary fence. Am I right saying the base is 3/4 inch plywood, and is that the same for the sliding and stationary fence? I really want to try and make this. Thanks.
Perfect! 100% what I was looking for. Just picked up the plans, thanks!
I need those tools 🤗
I'm trying to understand why the fence guide is not being checked to be square relative to the stationary fence. Doesn't it matter?
Awesome work, thanks for the info! 😃👍🏻👊🏻
I sure like the aluminum design. Wondering if you ever run into problems with the overall length of your router bits with the 15mm (0.60") base?
For the work I have done I haven't had an issue with that yet
Very nice! Thanks! 👍👌🌟
Thank you for this one. Would be nice if you do one for a spline jig.
I have used wooden ones for years in my opinion they are a better option then the metal one. If you leave the wooden fence as long as the wood and run both through the cutter you get a backer board that keeps the trailing edge of the wood from chipping out. you could add a wood spacer to the metal fence to do the same thing.
The plywood one is nice and light for sure. It just doesn't have the durability, or ability to configure it different ways (without drilling new holes)
I’ve built one of aluminium extrusions and used to use wooden ones. To be honest, I haven’t found any reason why a wooden one is better - certainly cheaper if you have scrap which I do. I always use a backer board in any case; with my wooden ones, if I had used the timber fence as you suggest, then , for the first profile, it would have acted as a backing board but for a different profile, it’s no good.
If I have a particularly wide or deep profile to make (for example, 3” wide piece of timber), then I feel I need some support under the piece of timber so that it doesn’t shudder when going through the router bit. With the aluminium, I can achieve this by moving the polycarbonate from one slot to another (ie nearer the router fence of further away); however, this has limitations so I also use where needed an auxiliary sacrificial piece in front of the aluminium sled between sled base and router fence but not touching the router fence so that the polycarbonate continues to act as the reference. This second piece of timber is the same height as the sled and obviously goes underneath the piece you want to cut. With this, the piece you want to cut is held firm right at the junction of router bit and the piece. This may not be necessary, and almost certainly not for soft woods but if I’m putting a profile onto some hard oak or some even harder apple (that’s by far the hardest domestic timber that I’ve used), then I’d rather make that extra precaution than find the joint is less perfect than it could be.
The one issue that arise is if you have a split fence on your router and those 2 halves are not exactly in line with each other (I do use the table with the halves not in line for when my cut reduced the whole height of the timber and it would be unsupported on the 2nd half and risk an inaccurate cut. For that eventuality, I might well make a narrower sled that can easily be fixed to the main sled but which has guides to fit into the T slot on the table.
I hope that all makes sense. It’s quite clear in my mind but harder to write down succinctly
Great video and go Tribe!
Go Tribe!
If you made your plexiglass stand-off adjustable, could you also use it to cut tenons and laps of various depths? Did you consider using a miter slot guide instead of the plexiglass? Do you see any benefit to one over the other?
No need to adjust the guide you can just adjust the work piece. Using a guide over a miter slot is more versatile and you don't have to have as big of a sled to reach the bit. And of course some folks don't have a miter slot on their router table (my other homemade router table doesn't have one)
I have to say it u r amazing !!! Why didn’t I think of that blessings to u Matt
So the plexiglass actually rides against the router fence correct?
Yep
That looks great, I was just about to buy an Incra mitre guage to do some draw box rabbets but maybe i'll try this instead. Thanks man!
I have that miter gauge. This is definitely the cheaper route :-)
MWA Woodworks I was thinking the same thing! I called the folks at Incra and asked what they used since I have the Incra TS LS joinery system.
Nice! That's what I need.
brilliant. hope I can get the aluminium base in the UK.
In the Misumi links just replace us. with uk.
the aluminum version is excellent, one question- are the available plans the same for aluminum version? Thanks.
There are no plans for the aluminum version. The video shows complete assembly and the parts are linked in the description
@@MWAWoodworks thanks will take that into note, thanks for the reply.
I’d like to get the plans for the aluminum coping sled. It only showed the wood one. How can I get the plans for the aluminum one?
There are no plans for the aluminum sled. I just purchased all the parts and assembled it 🤷
It seems more important for the fence to be squared up with the plexi than the sled base. Correct?
That's correct
Two request please! I like the aluminum design when looking at the links for the extruded aluminum parts it is difficult to navigate, ie the part number you give does not correlate directly, I am guessing they sell by the foot! Could you clean up the links so they work?
And how did you determine the offset of the polycarbonate what is the distance from the edge of the fence to the center of the stand offs.
I did pick up on the 6 inches that you cut in half, does that mean it is three inches Minus half the blade kerf width?
If this is detailed in your plans I have no issues with buying and supporting you. Yes your plans are a great a price but as a old retired fart I have to spend wisely.
Do the plans also reference the building of the aluminum style sled? Thank you.
When you order from Misumi everything is custom. So there is not a link directly to what I bought because you have to specify everything for them. But the part numbers I listed contain all the specifications right in the part number. Also, the plans I sell are for the plywood sled only.
MWA Woodworks thank you for the reply, what are the dimensions the for the aluminum base plate so that I can order the extrusions. Again Thank You
Question does the Polycarbonate sheet need to be aligned to the base? There doesn't seem to be any checking.
No not really. As long as it has complete contact with the fence it's good. The critical thing is to make sure the fence on the base is square to your router table fence with the polycarbonate sheet pressed fully against the router table fence.
@@MWAWoodworks So really it just needs to be parallel to the base.
If the sled fence is square to the base then yes
Loving the channel - I am a new subscriber. Thank you so much for this video.
Thank you for your support 🙌
do you have a link to the hardware you used for the plywood sled
In the description
Awesome
What the height of the guide from the table, just want to make sure my router fence is tall enough
2 7/8 inches
My router won't elevate enough to reach the workpiece if the bit is bottomed out in the router. What kind of router do you have or did you raise your bit up in the chuck 3/4 inch or so?
I have a porter cable router. No special settings and I didn't raise the bit in the chuck. If you need to you can buy a collet extension. I know CMT sells one.
Good job
SO-CAL, are you in LB ?
Where you got the black handles???
McMaster Carr
@@MWAWoodworks THANKS!!!!! For a cheap carpenter like myself... This is perfect!!!!
Great video, and thanks for sharing, but the links for the aluminum parts is to a site that is a complete pain in the butt. I could get a top secret security clearance from the FBI before I could order $25 worth of aluminum parts from them. I think I will stick to the plywood model.
Yeah it's not easy to use if you're a casual browser. you kind of have to know what you want before hand 🤣
When going to the @t and input part number @-15250-300 The site can not find the any of the parts. Can you research this post curent part numbers? what are the dimensions the for the aluminum base plate so that I can order the extrusions. Again Thank You
Use the first part of the part number before the last dash to search. The last part is how many mm long the part is, in this case 300 mm. There is not a way to directly link to the parts because everything they sell is custom spec. You can also call their phone number and order these parts that way
Links have been added. I believe they work correctly but double check your order against my listed part numbers to be sure.
MWA Woodworks Thank You Matt! I like your design the best of all the sleds that I have at.
Couldn’t get links to work. Nice kid.
hmmmm.... the links work fine for me
How do you set the guide polycarbonate square?
Press the guide to the fence and square the rail to the fence
@@MWAWoodworks Thanks !
Sorry I ment nice job.
Great jig - thanks!
Small point... al-u-min-ium not aloo-min-um 😉😆
Oh Lawd 🙄🤪
@@MWAWoodworks 🤣
first comment! also, great video!
🥉
Sarcastic comment warning re. "Sharp as crap"..(BTW I really do like the video) I work in the medical field. I've seen a lot of crap. None of it has been sharp.
Cool stuff, but I don't think it is really necessary...
I must say that what you did in creating this jig; is about THE neatest DIY I have ever seen in woodworking. Better: I was just about to buy Woodpeckers' "Coping Sled". Now I am going to build your aluminum sled. Many thanks kind Sir. I have an identical length of the smaller extrusion already. Yipee.
But since I love Woodpeckers, I must say that they still have THE best; if you want to pay more for it. Myriads of people do it every day all over the world. I have bought MANY things from Woodpeckers. Check 'em out. IMHO the only other ones that are that great is "Leigh Jig" and "INCRA". Check 'em out.