Routing with coping sled

[steve-norrell]

I recently purchased one of these but I am running into what may or may not be a problem. Hopefully someone out there has solved this "problem" already.


Under the assumption that the sled rides against the fence (as shown in the picture) I have not figured out how to cut the rails without cutting into the sled, What am I doing wrong?

I have tried raising the rail with a 1/4" piece of hardboard (sacrificial) and/or raised the bit to clear the sled. This seems to produce good cuts without damaging the edge of the sled. At the most, the bit is raised only about 1/2" higher than the usual 1/16 - 1/8". Is it safe to do this?

I usually use the roller on the router bit to set the location of the fence and have thought of advancing the fence just enough so the sled clears the router bit, Would this give me good rail and stile joints?

Thanks in advance for helping me with this problem. Regards, Steve

[rnelson0]

I don't know what the proper way would be, but I would take two pieces of wood the thickness of your tenon and clamp them to the fences. Position your wood with it extending the length of the tenon past your jig edge and slide your jig against the clamped wood pieces. If it takes multiple passes, then use some stepped wood for the shims.

[MikeMcCoy]

It's normal to take a small bite out of this particular sled out. I had one similar if not the same several years ago and found is just as easy to screw a clamp on a backer board and use that for end cuts.

[steve-norrell]

It's normal to take a small bite out of this particular sled out. I had one similar if not the same several years ago and found is just as easy to screw a clamp on a backer board and use that for end cuts.

Mike,
You are probably right. Indeed, I have made some reasonable rail and stile joints doing just as you suggest, but I was hoping that the sled would make things just a little easier and somewhat more reproducable.

Anytime you change the profile of the rail/stile set, you would take a different-shaped bite out of the edge of the sled. Does this result in a gradual nibbling away of the sled?

So far, I have found that the 1/4" piece of hardboard raises the piece being cut just enough to avoid taking that bite out of the sled. The hardboard (double-sided taped down to the sled surface) takes the bite instead of the sled and can be easily replaced. This does take a little more time for the set-up, but when doing a several cabinet doors, it seems to be reasonable.

I don't think that setting the bit (all are 1/2" shanks) slightly higher in the chuck (1/4" to 1/2") creates any safety or 'wobble' issues.

Regards, Steve

[MikeMcCoy]

Steve - I have several different profiles but I have a couple of large ones that give me the creepies as I'm approaching the bit and I don't like holding on to a backer board with those. For those I just used some replaceable scrap stock tacked onto hardi board that duplicates the one in the first post. I use the clamps but don't bother with the front adjustment and it seems to work and they also assist in setup the next time those bits get used.

[JR]

Steve, I don't have that sled, so take my comments for what they're worth. I used this jig on a recent project:



The fence is sacrificial - you can see by the top part that I've already flipped the fence once. I occurs to me that if you position the jig so it clears the bit, but let your sac. fence ride against the router fence, you would be ok. You'd still get the intended protection against tearout.

The benefiit to your setup is that the jig rides in the t-track, minimizing any wobble. With mine I had to be extra careful to keep the jig tight against the router fence.

JR

[steve-norrell]

The benefiit to your setup is that the jig rides in the t-track, minimizing any wobble. With mine I had to be extra careful to keep the jig tight against the router fence.

JR

JR, unfortunately, the sled pictured (from Rockler) does not use a t-slot or miter slot. It relies on the fence, so any alteration of the sled edge changes how it aligns to the fence.

I need to think about mounting a miter slider and using the miter slot instead of the fence, but that would seem to be a bit much when the fence alignment works well.

Mike, That sounds pretty much like what I did: a fresh backer board but with a taped-on riser.

Thanks for the input. Regards, SN

[ragswl4]

I have cut numerous (over 30) rails with that same sled. I raise the router bit until it just clears the sled and the fence is even with the bearing on the bit and make the cut in one pass. The wood I have been cutting is goncalo alves. router is 3 1/4 hp hitachi with whiteside bit. Never a problem for me. I just run the edge of the sled against the fence until the bit clears the end of the board. The bit does cut into the sacrificial board on the sled but its designed that way.

[steve-norrell]

Rags,

You may have provided the answer. I have tried Rockler "traditional" profile and Holbren "ogive" profiles and both of them produce seriously off-center cuts when they are raised to just clear the sled. The Holbren bits are noticeably larger than the Rockler bits. It may well be the case that different brands of bits would result in different clearances. At this point I don't want to order yet another set of bits so I will stick with the Rocklers.

I use 3/4" boards for the rails and stiles and about only way I can get good, on-center cuts is to either not use the sled at all or to use it with a 1/4" riser as a sacrificial surface, adjusting the bit height accordingly.

Thanks for the input, regards, Steve