cross cut sleds

[heathicus]

I finally built a cross-cut sled this past weekend. I didn't plan to build it so hadn't reviewed any designs or re-watched videos or such.

I used ash for the runners as it was the only hardwood I had that was long enough. I planed it to the thickness of the miter slot then ripped out a bunch for this and future jigs. Baltic birch plywood scraps (that I got from a local cabinet shop that gave me permission to "dumpster dive") for the base, fence, rear brace. The fence is two layers of 3/4" ply which might have been overdoing it.

I used the 5-cut method to square the fence and nailed it after one adjustment. I added a blade guard behind the fence, and made a stop block that clamps to the fence that I'm not entirely happy with. I might have to invest in some T-track.

The only "problem" I ran into was one that I knew was going to be a problem. This sled was for my Craftsman table saw and I learned a while back by using a dial indicator that my miter slots aren't parallel. I picked the most used one and aligned the blade and fence to it. I don't recall how much the variation in alignment was. It wasn't huge, but enough to give me fits while I was aligning using the dial indicator until I figured it out. And enough to cause the runners on the sled to bind a little in their travel. It just now occurred to me that I could have used only one runner in the slot I aligned everything with .

[forrestb]

At url http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=UbG ... =endscreen William Ng demonstrates how to absolutely square your sled fence to the blade.
Forrest

[randyrls]

A cross-cut sled is high on my list of shop projects, but I haven't made one yet.

Have you watched The Wood Whisperer's video on making a cross-cut sled? I found it pretty informative - especially regarding how to make sure the fence is square to the blade (the "5-cut squaring method").

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/ ... s-projects

I like that and got several good ideas from the video. I often work with very small pieces, so the tip about the two piece stop block is a good one. I have often used a hold-down that clamps both the stock and off-cut at the same time so neither one moves during the cut.

This is my saw sled made for my table saw, (not SS). I have a smaller one that fits the SS. Notice that the saw blade does NOT extend beyond the sled, but remains safely buried in the sled. I can mount many different fixtures to the sled.

http://www.coleman-family.org/gallery2/v/Pen_photos/Table-Saw_Sled/

[dusty]

This is a very interesting clamping concept. Thank you for posting it.

[JPG]

This is a very interesting clamping concept. Thank you for posting it.

Indeed!!! Gotta love all those t-nuts!!!!

Add my thanks!!!!

The blade 'surround' (front/back) is a very good thing also.

[keakap]

A home made sled which straddles both sides of the blade also will have the advantage similar to a zero clearance insert. With the SS sled you lose this function .

That seemed to be a weakness from the git-go, and bothersome to fix, since we're dealing with a laterally mobile arbor.
But there also was a support issue to the left of the blade. That was solved by simply adding a 1/2" shiny faced ply board to cover the table left of the blade.
And son of a gun one step further was a larger 1/2" sfpb that went from blade to the outside of a floater table added for cutoff support of a large workpiece.
And the next obvious step was to move that larger piece up agin the Sled and rip it as far as to cover the table, thus creating a Zero Clearance "insert".
If there then comes a blade change, next time to use the sled just take that lefty piece and cut a new ZC slot again. So ya lose, what, an inch? Small price for the luxury of not having to "zero" out the blade laterally.

There are other ways to do it. What I'm looking at next-- and it always seems like a worthwhile idea to find better ways to use the sled-- is a small, mebbe 1-1/2" wide piece as the ZCI, but with Biscuits tying it into the sled itself, for forward-back align, and rare-earth magnets in the edges to hold 'em together laterally. Biscuits would be floaters, not glued.
{whut I'm using now is a 8 in. piece that I do adjust the blade for when I setup. Very minor matter. Good for small stuff, and since it doesn't move it aint complicated to use.}

[keakap]

......PS: I, personally, am unable to relocate my fence with that sort of precision. I can get it there but not near as gracefully as was done in this video clip....

You might want to find a way to get your Incra unit up on the SS. With it controlling the rip fence you can repeatedly, consistently and predictably cut shavings of a piece so small you can't Hear the cut. Think of that. If you want that 47/64, for instance, once you're zeroed to the blade you can make that cut, then simply dial in the change from .734 to .733 and cut that one, then re-dial to .735 and cut the third, so you have a skinny, a nominal and a fatso for them slots what aint standard.
Ya know, we all say that some of us go to extremes of accuracy in woodworking, but when it comes to miter gauges and their slots, every 'thou' really Does make a difference.
Besides, for an accuracy junky like myself it is always a kick to make those cuts, like setting a rip of .001 off, looking around to make sure no one is watching you, and then measure it with the calipers and see that yes, it actually is one thousandth less than it was. Waste of time? Heck no! Fun!

[bffulgham]

I've always been frustrated in the amount of time it took me to set up the table saw or the miter saw and do all the tweaks to get exact 45 degree angles. So, over the years I've prowled the net looking at various ideas to build a dedicated sled for this function. I put together a "proof of concept" sled....I did not want to waste a lot of time, energy, or dollars; then toss everything in the fire-starter-scrap-bin.

Here's my "bill of materials"...all dimensions are in inches:

• 24 x 24 x 1/2 Baltic Birch plywood
• 3/4 x ?? white ash milled in thickness to just slide in the SS miter tracks then strips ripped to match the miter slot depth (slightly thinner than the depth of the slots)
• 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1/8 aluminum angle from a big box store
• various pan head and wood screws

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This is the absolute critical positioning/alignment point. The metal fences MUST be at EXACTLY 90 degrees.
They should be as close to 45 degrees from the blade as you can get them, but "absolutely 45" is not necessary. (reasoning to follow in a later post)

[bffulgham]

One more shot of the bottom of the sled:
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Here's the proof that my "proof of concept works":

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These are gallery frames 1 3/4 x 3/4 cherry. When I glued them together, I used a Bessey web/strap clamp and when I pulled the joints together, all 4 corners were exactly square.

My reason for saying that the alignment of the metal fences do not have to be absolutely 45 degrees to the blade:
When creating 90 degree miter joints....if one angle is at 44 degrees and the other angle is at 46 degrees, it still makes a perfect 90 degree joint. With this sled, you do have to make the first cut from the left side, the next cut from the right side, next from left, next from right...and so on.
This means that you have to have repeatable stops on the right side for the 2 different lengths of frame sides (unless you are doing square frames).

Course, if you want, you can start on the right side, then cut on the left side, etc. The key is to alternate sides of the sled for the cuts for each corner.

[JPG]

Nice job(and thinking)!