A table is an integral part of many woodworking tools. It provides a solid foundation for your cuts, and the time I spend at the table saw or router table accounts for a significant portion of my total shop hours. As such, it's important to put some thought into the function of your machine tables.
For this issue’s Great Gear, we’ll be looking at two items. First up is an accessory for any tool with a table and miter slot. Second is a series of products to keep your tables in tip-top shape.
WOODPECKERS JOINERY SLED
Woodpeckers makes some good products. Their bits and blades see a lot of use around our shop, but their jigs deserve attention as well. The one I'll discuss here is the sled shown on these pages.
A JIG REPLACER.
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| The sled can be macro-adjusted by repositioning the miter bar or by loosening the four bolts on the sliding base and moving it by hand. | For fine-tuning the setup, the back knobs can be |
| tightened down to lock the rear of base, allowing you to use the micro-adjustment knob for final positioning. |
Woodpeckers' Joinery Sled is intended to replace a variety of jigs you'd construct for your table saw or router table. It's guided by a miter bar and can be tilted anywhere between 44° and 91°. Additionally, the fence that backs the workpiece can be tilted, too, allowing for compound angle cuts.
In practice, this replaces my tenoning jig, as well as two jigs I had for cutting at 45° in both directions. Compared to a shop-made jig, the micro-adjustment knob is nice for cutting joinery, and hold-downs are always good to have. While the ability to cut at any angle is a niche need, it does save you from having to construct a jig just for those parts when that need does arise.
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| The fence tilts to make angled cuts on ends, such as the groove for this splined miter joint, or to make compound cuts. | The joinery sled isn't just for the table saw. Any tool with a miter gauge slot, like the router table, will work great with this accessory. |
WORTH THE BUY?
Recommending a purchase always comes with the assumption that it'll be something you use. For me, there are a number of shop-made jigs for the table saw and router table that I make frequent use of, and this sled can take the place of many. Considering the time and material cost that goes into shop-made jigs — and the advantages of this version — I would consider the joinery sled worth the initial investment.
