The table saw sled is one of the most useful jigs you can make for your shop. The sled I designed last year has served me really well for getting accurate and repeatable cuts. Not to mention it doubles as a miter sled too! Making perfect 45° cuts along with spot on 90° cuts, I go back to this jig again and again. It is my most used fixture in the shop as well as my most popular build video on my youtube channel.
Now is your chance to build one for no cost!
To celebrate its popularity I have teamed up with Kreg® to do a Table Saw Sled Build Giveaway. Now you have the chance to build this awesome sled for free!
How to Enter
Fill in your name and email address in to the provided boxes & you’re entered to win. Only US residents are eligible to win. Sorry, I don’t write the laws.
[contesthopper contest=”2697″]
What The Winner Gets
Winner will receive all of the following:
(2) Kreg® 30” Jig & Fixture Bars
(1) Kreg® Swing Stop
One each of both left to right as well right to left reading tape measures.
23 Page digital copy of the table saw sled plans
$50 gift card to purchase plywood & fasteners.
Increase Your Chances To Win
Upon entering you will be given links to share on social media. For each person that enters through your link you gain an additional 2 entries!
Rules & Fine Print
I will NEVER sell or share your personal information. If you want the details they can be found in the official contest rules and/or terms and conditions.
Table Saw Crosscut & Miter Sled Plans
$15.99
23 pages of high quality, full color step by step PDF plans for the cross cut / miter sled combo I made in episode 58. All downloadable products are non-refundable. On checkout receipt you will be given a link to download the file.
Description
A table saw sled is a jig that is essential in any wood shop. When built correctly it offers improved safety, repeatability and extreme accuracy. This has been years in the making for me and I have put many hours of thought, trial and error into this design. This sled combines both a cross cut sled and a miter sled all in one. These are my most comprehensive & detailed plans I have made to date. I am sure you will love building this awesome table saw sled!
What you get:
- 23 pages of highly detailed full color plans
- Materials list
- Step by step instructions
- Plywood cutlist and sheet goods cutting plan
- Illustrations & pictures showing each step
You will need Adobe Acrobat reader to view the file. Most computers already have this installed. For a free download click here.
Sverrir Hjörleifsson –
Do you have the plan with meters measurments ?
Nick (verified owner) –
I don’t as of now but remember 25.4mm to an inch
umpire20 –
I recently purchased and read your plans for this sled “combo” and they are absolutely EXCELLENT. I’ve never seen such a detailed step by step set of plans. It was like “reading your video”. They are certainly worth the price to purchase them. Kudos to you, sir.
I’ve ordered the parts necessary for this build and am awaiting their arrival. I’ll try to post a picture when I am through making my sled. Thank you………
Nick (verified owner) –
Thank you – I can’t wait to see it!
Mark A. Brown –
Seriously considering your plans. However, one thing you might want to add that has me holding off is the rough cost of the parts/pieces you used. The wood is a given as anyone can price that at their local lumberyard. Not knowing the cost of other parts you purchased that are pretty integral to your design has me hesitating to pull the trigger on your plans.
Nick (verified owner) –
the reason I left the price of materials out is because of the varied ways in which to build it – some have even built it without any aluminum parts – I used Kreg products but they are a lot of other manufacturers and their prices vary widely
Mark Burrs –
Your videos rock. I look forward to building this sled. My only outstanding question I need to answer for myself is if I want to make it with an open front or with a fixed depth. The one I whipped together has a fixed depth and I keep coming across situations where the wood is too big.
Any thoughts?
Nick (verified owner) –
thank you! – The main reason for having a back is to keep the 2 halves stable and keep the blade kerf a consistent gap so it doesn’t pinch the blade – as for larger pieces I would most likely make a panel sled or use another way to cut it to size
RHINO (verified owner) –
I was disappointed that I did not win this. I really need one ! I guess I will have to download your plans and make it myself. I suspect your other subscribers will too. Do you think it can be made without a bandsaw and some of the other tools you used ? I have a jigsaw and 3 x 18 sander and drills and other hand tools I priced the Kreg items on Amazon. It can be built for $250-300, depending on local cost of material. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanx
JRR
Nick (verified owner) –
you can most definitely use a jigsaw in place of a the bandsaw – it might just take a little longer – another thing to keep the cost down is to use cheaper plywood (I used baltic birch) or leave out the Top Trak on the fence – you could just use a clamped stop block – personally I like the convenience of it, but you don’t have to have it – hope that helps!
Kevin Kemp (verified owner) –
I built this last weekend and I love it. I got the plans which are very well done. The video was extremely helpfu too. Top notch stuff. I looked at different sled projects and I think this one is significantly better than any others I found. I used different but equivalent parts that i got from Woodcraft. I did use the Kreg miter guides which I have to say I’m not real impressed with them The quality is not consistent. One of the guides worked fine, but the other one was horrible. The set screws were so tight I could barely get them adjusted without damaging the screws. I think next time I need a miter I’ll try a different brand.
Nick (verified owner) –
glad you liked the sled and were able to build it – as far as the miter tracks, I spoke with Kreg and they said they had a bad batch from manufacturing and pulled the bad ones from inventory and corrected the problem – some unfortunately got out – they will replace any defective ones free of charge – so check with them for a replacement
Jon –
Hi Nick, why do you suggest that when gluing your sled base to the runners, we offset the center of the
plywood 1 1/2″ to the left of the saw kerf? I am not sure I understand the operation or reason.
Nick (verified owner) –
so when you utilize the rip fence as a stop block you are not equidistant to the left and the right of the blade – for example the stop block to the left of the blade goes from say 0-10″ and the fence picks up at say 8.5″ to your fence system size – granted I just used generic number for that example – doing the offset allows for an overlap of measurements to get to – hope that helps
Jon –
Thank you for the reply Nick. Much appreciated.
If you happen to have a chance, would it be possible for you to sketch out what you mean visually about the center offset of the sled to the saw kerf?
It would be a huge help to us visual learners. Perhaps append it to the Episode 58 post?
Thanks again.
Nick (verified owner) –
no problem – I will see what I can do – crazy backed up on stuff now – heck, I’m still in Atlanta from the woodworking show
Michael Prochaska (verified owner) –
I purchased your plans I think they a great. I do have a question that I posted on you tube today. I appreciate it if you could help me her is my post. This is a great video thank you for all the great advise. Was wondering on the miter slot tracks on top of the sled you went 4 1/2 inches from the kerf. I cant cause I would be sawing threw the screws from the runners on the bottom. I can make mine 3 1/4 inches or 5 3/4 inches. Which would you recommend? Thank you
Nick (verified owner) –
either distance should be fine – I would probably make it the 5 3/4″ to keep the hold downs a bit further apart – that would keep the miter insert more stable against twisting – it shouldn’t twist either way though – I do have plans for add-ons in the future and again either the 5 3/4″ or 3 1/4″ should work with those – hope that helps
Daniel (verified owner) –
Hi Nick. Your table saw sled design rocks! Bought the plans and have already built the sled but at a slightly smaller scale. Im getting rid to build the miter sled insert this weekend hopefully for some picture frames I want to build. My only question is why did you add miter tracks to your miter sled? Was this purely for the use of stop blocks on smaller pieces of work or did you have something else in mind? Thanks again and keep up the great work!
Nick (verified owner) –
thanks – mainly for stop blocks but I may try and incorporate some other things using them – showed using the stop blocks here
Jared J Treser –
Purchased these plans a few months ago (right before the giveaway) and I can honestly say, these were the easiest plans to follow! I used melamine for the base and both front and back fences as I found my plywood to be too warped to make an accurate sled. Worked great though! Absolutely love it, recommend to anyone on the fence about purchasing it. Ya, could have made a basic sled without them, but this is top notch. Thanks
Nick (verified owner) –
Wow, thanks Jared – glad you liked them and glad to hear you enjoyed building it!
Paul (verified owner) –
I just purchased your plans, and starting to get all the materials needed for the build – can’t wait to start building! Quick question: I don’t have a dato blade set, but thinking about purchasing one for this project – Any recommendations? Looks like Freud SD208 could be a good option, what do you use?
Nick (verified owner) –
As of today, this is my dado blade set – the Freud set looks pretty good too but I have yet to use it – I’d like to test out the difference between the SD208 and the SD508 – having a truly flat bottom to the cut is my biggest concern – my current one does that really well
Russ (verified owner) –
I purchased your plans and have the sled mostly complete. I’m working on the miter portion now and I’m wondering about the utility of putting the T-tracks in the miter portion on top of the miter rails vs. on the front? This might allow for T-track hold-downs to be used for loooong pieces – those that are too long some sort of basic stop.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Nick (verified owner) –
I used them for stop blocks when doing picture frames – I show it a bit here – https://nickferry.com///2015/08/how-to-make-a-shadow-box-ep59/
Bryan Babbitt –
Hi Nick,
I am a new subscriber and very very new to woodworking. In fact, I have a hard time reading a tape measure lol. However, I am on a mission to get better at this. I have been learning about the table saw sled and thus far, your build has been my favorite and I would like to build it but here is my concern. I have a small Dewalt compact job site table saw. Not know much about all the sleds and amazing jigs that are out there.. would this build work for my saw as well?
Thanks for feedback you can provide and keep up the great content! I am really enjoying your videos! Now if I could just make some of the things you make and do it as gracefully as you make it look!
Bryan
Nick (verified owner) –
thanks Bryan – you are not the first I will not be the last that has issues with tape measures – practice makes perfect – the sled would absolutely work – when making the base, size it up a bit and see how big you can go without it being a tipping issue – most likely taking 3-4″ inches away from the depth of the base should do the trick
Eric (verified owner) –
Great plans. Had a little issue with the download but Nick quickly responded to my email and took care of the situation, no problems. Looking forward to building this sled.
Miles (verified owner) –
Thoroughly enjoy watching your videos, and was pleased to be able to buy these plans and support your channel. Looking forward to making this sled… It’s by far the nicest one I’ve seen in looking the past couple weeks on YouTube. Thanks Nick!
Nick (verified owner) –
I appreciate you saying that – you will have to let me know how the build goes – I really love mine and use it all the time!
Chad (verified owner) –
Hi Nick, enjoyed watching this video and I am definitely buying your plans for this sled! I am just getting started in woodworking and I have little to no experience. I was given a few items from my dad and it just seems to be a great hobby to start up. A question I have is, what brand table saw are you using in your video to make this sled? The table saw I was handed down is a 10″ craftsman….it is so much louder and more clunky than most saws I see on youtube. Is this an ok saw to start with, or should I look to upgrade right away? I don’t know where this hobby will end up just yet, but I do plan to make some nice things and don’t want to be held back by sub-par equipment. Thanks for your time.
Nick (verified owner) –
I have most of my tools listed here – https://nickferry.com///my-tools-equipment/ – nothing wrong with the saw you have if it does the job – upgrade over time if you want something quieter and more accurate and the work you do calls for it
Mario (verified owner) –
I just received your plans and I’m looking forward to the build. I’m just getting into woodworking and purchased my first table saw, a Bosch TS3000. I have built a couple of beginning projects with good results; but, the more research I do, the more I want the sled combo. My concern is I might be starting off to big. The saw tabletop is 21-1/2 X 40-1/2 (fully expanded) with the blade 11-3/4 from the left side. Am I aiming to high for my first sled or will this design work for my size saw? Thank you for any assistance in advance.
Mario
Nick (verified owner) –
congrats on the new saw! Mine table top is probably 43″ wide by 24 or 25 deep so you’d probably want to make the sled 4-6″ less in depth to keep it from tipping – hard to say without actually being there though
Joseph (@mrjoedave) –
Love the channel! Just about to get a new saw delivered. This will be my first project. I thought I remembered seeing a tenon jig you made for it also. Is that right, or am I confused?
Also, has anyone done removable throat plates for this? It seems like that would be nice to have, but maybe I am over thinking it.
Nick (verified owner) –
thanks much – you can see the tenon jig build here, and the cut-list for it here – I had thought about a throat plate for dados but never pulled the trigger on it and have no regrets on not having it
Barett Engelhardt (verified owner) –
Can 3/4″ MDF be substituted in place of Plywood?
Nick (verified owner) –
you could but it would be substantially heavier and won’t have as much resistance to bending
Lee (verified owner) –
This may be s dumb question but doesn’t cutting through the aluminum mess up the blade on your table saw?
Nick (verified owner) –
not a dumb question at all – it’s not the most well known thing to do – cutting aluminum like this is perfectly fine to do with carbide tipped blades – A higher tooth count blade typically works better – yes it will dull the blade quicker than cutting wood but that’s how it’s done in manufacturing all the time