My home depot has pvc foam sheets in 3/4” thickness. Is there any reason I shouldn’t cut a sled from PVC?
It seems like it should slide better than plywood.
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Foam? Or a rot free wood replacement? A material made from that kind of plastic would work to slide better than wood I would think. I have heard people talk about the cutting board type plastic working great.
hdpe is cheaper and better, you can get some off ebay cheap. pvc foam is pretty light and less durable.
UMHW is the best.
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PVC in general, no. PVC foam? Not so sure about that. Depends on how dense the foam is, that is, whether it will hold up under normal use. Assuming it’s reasonably rugged, it should work. Of course it you are putting 3/4" of materials between your router and the work surface, that’s more of the available reach of the router in the z direction being used up. Whether this is a problem for you depends on what you are planning on using your machine for.
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It’s expanded pvc board. Sintra and ProjectPVC are two trade names. This was unbranded.
I saw the uhmw and hdpe sleds, I thought cutting one piece was easier than cutting two and attaching them.
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Beware of static build up on PVC… I’ve seen it create problems in other applications. the problems were with electronics, but in extreme circumstances static + flammable dust has been known to create near explosions too… I would guess with decent dust collection, its probably much more unlikely here.
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What about a formica sink cut out? Nice hard surface, large enough to cut the Maslow sled diameter, could round over the lower edges with a 3/8" round over bit.
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I hadn’t thought of static electricity. Is the issue normally in sliding situations like this or in dust pipes?
That seems like that would work if the substrate is good. Are those normally plywood or some sort of particle board?
Most I’ve seen are like a MDF, swell up if they get too much water. I use one cut out for a router table top. Made it decades ago, still in service.
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its a function of friction and ungrounded surfaces, so depending on what is and isn’t grounded, potentially, all of it.
edit: my intent was to point out that PVC in particular does build up a static charge quite easily.
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It might be that the grounded case of the router would bleed off the static charge from the PVC.
yeah probably, but I don’t really know. My sled is 3/4 ply, sanded baby butt smooth with a round over inside and out and many (>6) sanded coats of poly… took a few days but its smooooth.
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different triangulation kits require different amounts of strength from the sled
the wood “45” kit needs the sled to be very strong
the ring kit requires a little strength to keep the ring from deforming, but not
much
the top mount kit requires very little strength from the sled as all the forces
are internal to the kit.
David Lang