I was assuming that there would be other weights if needed
Full disclosure, Iām a HDPE Piping Engineerā¦ Iām using 1" thick x 18" round HDPE sled (density of the HDPE is ~0.96). Slurry piping in mines (gold, copper, etc) are HDPE due to the abrasion resistance so I figured I wouldnāt have to worry about wearing the sled out for a very long time.
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I talked to a uhmw company and the engineer there said 1/32" would be fine for this application.
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How will you hold something that thin in place?
double sided tape made especially for polyethelene.
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UHMW and Nylon sheets have finally arrived.
Will be uploading some concept files here for review before getting everything cut.
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Letās see if we can get this rolling this week.
@aluminumwelder, you lay out your ideal sled you want to test
@blurfl, do you have a design you want to try out?
@dlang, whatās your ideal setup?
Once we get these designs locked in, Iāll make one of each for everyone and the bake-off can begin.
Thoughts, suggestions, feedback?
I vote Stop Sign shape - it has worked the best for me.
Iād like to see 2 water weight vessels on the sled to allow balancing.
Thank you
ideally I think you want as small a sled as possible that will still fit a ring or lnkage kit. no need to support both IMHO.
12" to 16" diameter would be good
you can also offset the center hole so the router is not in the center but towards the top, that way the sled will automatically be weighted towards the bottom.so no extra weights are needed.
there is a tendency in this group to want to make everything universal, which over complicates things. your average user just wants it to work. they are not going to be changing sleds and gear, they will just stick with one system that works IMHO. if they are locked into using one router and a certain linkage ring kit that is fine.
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Have you made an off center sled like this? If so, do you have any pictures or any downsides vs. the standard, centered design?
None of the sleds are center weighted. The wood sled is geometrically centered but uses bricks to move the center of gravity lower. I have seen octagon triangle and rectangle sleds all work fine. Only thing that is important is that the chains forms a triangle with the router bit at the point
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I understand that the sleds arenāt center weighted, but with all the shapes Iāve seen people use, they have all been with the router centered on that shape with weights on the bottom. I was more curious about the differences in using the offset geometry to achieve the same effect and if there were any pros and cons over the normal sled.
Yes I have a 12" diameter, 3/8" thick steel base with router hole 1" above the center works fine, no bricks needed.
The reason most sleds have the router in the center is because that is the default sled provided in the instructions/kit. Not really any pros/cons either way. Other than simplicity. Most important things for any sled is
- Heavy enough with low center of gravity 20 to 26 lbs.
- Low friction using wax, UHMW or other methods.
- distribution of weight needs to be below router. Concentric weight is not as stable.
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one more requirement, the sled needs to not fall into any pockets that you cut.
This is the primary reason the sled was designed to be symmetrical, it allows a
bigger pocket without falling in than if the router is off-center.
David Lang
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On that point, I had my sled laser cut in 1/8" steel and the shipping within the US was only $14 (granted only had to go a couple east coast states)
Delrin