I’ve seen HDPE used as a smooth layer on the sled. I can’t get it locally without buying a full sheet. The full sheets available are very smooth black. I special ordered a 1/8” white HDPE and picked it up today. It has a textured finish unfortunately so I dont think its gonna work.
Were you able to find small pieces (1/4 sheets) locally? I’d buy a cutting board but dont think they make them commonly the size of the meticulous sled.
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HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0070Z8I34?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
This is what I used for my sled.
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Does the HDPE cut pretty well on the Maslow? I just ordered my kit yesterday, but I would like to use this material as a sled too. Any tips for cutting the material would be great! Thanks.
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Cuts like butter 
Turn the speed to low and don’t sit in one spot too long. I used a round over router bit on it after putting it in the sled.
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That looks great! Thanks for the tips!
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Sam’s club has large cutting boards that should be the right size. I use them for projects (not Maslow related) and work great.
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Since it mills easily, can you sand off the texture?
The same texture is on both sides?
Since I’m a tight wad and impatient I thought about sanding it off. Couldnt hurt right? Lol
Idk, we’ll see.
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If you sand it off, you will need to do several passes to try and get the scratches out. Burnishing with a flame can help, but can also burn the hdpe if you are not careful. If you have access to another CNC, or think that you can set the Maslow up to do it, you might try milling the surface flat.
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I thought about gently flaming it to get the sand marks out. Otherwise it won’t be beneficial. Might end up with a curled up, sand marked, burnt chunk in the trash can lol
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With fine enough sanding I think that the scratches would be negligible. The material is soft enough it’s going to gain its own texture, or patina if you will, just from use. I believe the surface from sanding will be obsolete in short order. I could be wrong but my understanding of this material seems like this would be likely. You could even try a scraping card or card scraper.
Might work.
I don’t have enough experience to know if this is likely to be the case when it is used on wood. I am not sure the wood would wear it down like a metal part rubbing on it would. That said, even with scratches, it would likely be much better than plywood, assuming the scratches weren’t too deep.
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My opinion is that if you sand it or mill it (anything other than the glossy factory finish) the friction will be about the same as a nice piece of plywood or finished hardwood. Over time, the HDPE will get scratched up and may end up being the same as finished wood anyway. The pictures I posted are after not many hours of cutting on $6 underlayment.
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What about acrylic? I have .08 acrylic. Its smooth, glides well but also scratches easily. Probably be fine really since the scratches would be so fine.
Thoughts?
I tried sanding the hdpe. It sands ok, not super easy. I even used the belt sander on it with 180 grit hoping it would heat up and help smooth it at the same time. It did but no matter what it seems it wont be nearly as slick as the slick stuff.
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These 16" soccer training plastic rings might be an easy way to decrease sled friction. Most say they are PP plastic, which is polypropelene also known as HDPE.
HDPE is high density polyethylene and is more expensive and more durable than polypropylene. Polypropylene is harder, but less “sturdy.” If they will both work, that sounds like a reasonable option. Do these rings work?
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you are right, Not enough coffee this morning, lol. I bought some to test out