On 1/20/10 1:41 PM, StephenM wrote:

I hear you on the slippery of the melamine. I guess it's 6 for one and a
1/2 dozen for the other. You wax the bottom of plywood and I use stick-on
sandpaper for the top of melamine. In other words, you start with grip
work for stick, and I'm vise versa.

OK

As for strength, it's really a moot point in this application.

My point was more about weight than anything else. My big sled probably
weighs in over 15 lbs ... it's just awkward. But, I'm all about "free" too.


Understood. But I also like some mass to things like this. The weight
holds it down to the table. I like the mass on my tenoning jig, too. I
don't what it is... it just feels better to me to push something with
some mass. It's like it doesn't feel any different to push whether you
have a big or a little piece of stock in it.


However, I already made my own out of hardwood and found them to be
superior to the factory made ones, and very easy to make from shop scraps,
which are "free."

You either have better skills or better hardwood that I have. IME maple
works fine for dual runner sleds but it's either seasonally sticky or sloppy
in a single-runner application. Your milage apparenty varies.


I don't know about better skills. :-)
I had a long strip of poplar or hickory close to size. I ran it through
my planer until it was a good height, then again to get a perfect width.

And you're right, there seems to be more play with double runners. Even
though both runners fit perfectly, I'm prepared to deal with some
seasonal change, by employing something similar to this technique...
http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-plans/tablesaw/make-an-adjustable-miter-bar/


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