Let me paint you a picture, and tell me if it looks familiar. You're in your workshop, on the workbench to your right there's a stack of walnut blanks, dimensioned to a spindly two inches wide by twelve inches long and a half-inch thick. You're making - I don't know - a humidor for your niece; doesn't really matter, just keep reading. Now, in front of you is your router table, and in that router table is a shiny Lock Miter Router Bit from Infinity Tools. In order to use that router bit, you're going to need to prop these two-inch wide sticks of wood against the fence VERTICALLY, and run each of them along the cutting edge, one-by-one.
Scary, right? There's a lot that can go wrong here. You could - and probably will - tilt the wood by accident as it passes over the spinning cutting edge, which will, at best, ruin your joint. At worst, it could kick back and ruin your day.
Relax. Thanks to Infinity Cutting Tools new Vertical Router Sled, this is no longer a scenario to sweat over...
The Vertical Router Sled is comprised of 41 precision-made pieces of the highest quality materials Infinity Cutting Tools can source; but don't let that fool you into thinking it's overly complicated. The key to the sled's accuracy and repeatability is the pair of precision CNC machined aluminum brackets that hold the sled's face firmly at 90° for every single cut.
The VRS-100 is incredibly accurate, yes, but it's also staggeringly simple to set up and use. Wood is placed between the two vertical alignment bars and then clamped against the face with the included quick set toggle clamp. The alignment bars are fully adjustable, so you're able to tilt your wood right and left between 90° and 45°, allowing you to make anything from straight tenons and rabbets to more complicated mitered joinery.
It also sports an adjustable stability foot located to the front of the sled and three inches above the table that is designed to ride against the fence and give it a second point of contact when working on narrow pieces.
Because vertical cuts in wider stock can be tricky, the sled will accept material up to 8-1/8" wide. If you plan to make these wide cuts often, Infinity Tools has made available an Accessory Clamp Kit (100-526.VRS) that adds a second quick set toggle clamp to the sled.
Cutting into wood that has to be cocked at a 45° angle would be a tricky operation by any other means, but the VRS-100 makes creating fancy mitered joints a no-brainer.
To top it all off, this sled is incredibly safe to use. The sled itself stands as a protective shield between you and the spinning cutter while the two handles keep the user's fingers far away from danger. You're able to keep pressure directed into the fence and move through the cut confidently and cleanly.
To top it all off, this sled is incredibly safe to use. The sled itself stands as a protective shield between you and the spinning cutter while the two handles keep the user's fingers far away from danger. You're able to keep pressure directed into the fence and move through the cut confidently and cleanly.
Even if you have a tall fence on your router table or shaper cutter, you'll be able to use the Vertical Router Sled. Because the quick-set clamps are mounted to the alignment bars, they can be raised to allow for use with fences as tall as six inches without getting in the way.
The moment you take the VRS-100 in hand, you'll get a sense of all the possibilities it opens up. It feels weighty and dense, and that makes you feel confident in its ability to hold up against the spinning carbide tornado that is trapped inside your router table. It looks smart, too, because a lot of care has gone into its design. Put all of this together and you're left with a tool that will make you a better, safer woodworker.