Crosscut Sled

[chucks]

Being new(relatively) to using the Shopsmith....I haven't used a sled. But having seen many of them demonstrated...I can see that they might hold some advantages over my current set-up. BTW, I haven't yet used the shop-smith;s Table saw function(Have a contractors saw), for it I have two miter gauges with a shop made fence W/a T-track on top for Fence Flip Stops. Been gathering tools..and finally getting the shop(ex-garage ) put together.

[dusty]

Hi,

Thought I would mention that I too had gone the route of using my 510 rip fence as an upgrade to the shopsmith sled. I have since removed it as it was in my opinion to heavy. And to be honest I don't use the shopsmith version much anymore.

I have both the appalachian sled and the incra miter express as well as some home made models. I personally like the appalachian sled more and more and use it on most projects followed by the incra for angle cuts. The shopsmith is very primitive in its approach to setting angle cuts and I have never liked it for anything but simple straight cuts.

If anyone is interested I have done reviews on the two sleds I've mentioned and they should be able to be found using the search function.

Ed

My cross cut table is heavier than it was but not so much so that I have to abandon it (yet).

How much does the Appalachian weight, Ed?

PS 10/20/09 - First liar never has a chance but here it is anyway: My modified cross cut table weighs 14.2 lbs.

[reible]

Well I got a few confused looks from the wife but the bathroom scale says 12 pounds. I personally think the scale says things weigh more then they do... at least when it weighs me. I also wonder why wife's give you strange looks when you bring woodworking fixtures into the kitchen or bathroom... bedroom????

The other thing about the appalachian sled is it is also more balanced due to the dual runners cut down the center design and also front to back.

I'll put a picture below so it might be easier to see what I was trying to say.
[ATTACH]6244[/ATTACH]

Ed

My cross cut table is heavier than it was but not so much so that I have to abandon it (yet).

How much does the Appalachian weight, Ed?

PS 10/20/09 - First liar never has a chance but here it is anyway: My modified cross cut table weighs 14.2 lbs.

[dusty]

Well I got a few confused looks from the wife but the bathroom scale says 12 pounds. I personally think the scale says things weigh more then they do... at least when it weighs me. I also wonder why wife's give you strange looks when you bring woodworking fixtures into the kitchen or bathroom... bedroom????

The other thing about the appalachian sled is it is also more balanced due to the dual runners cut down the center design and also front to back.

I'll put a picture below so it might be easier to see what I was trying to say.
[ATTACH]6244[/ATTACH]

Ed

Thank you, ED. Two pounds lighter and it appears to be considerably larger than the Shopsmith version. This increased front to back work area is very important.

[allsas]

I made several crosscut tables because the commercial table has to be adjusted, a fence added for measuring tape and stop blocks.

1. I added a guard to mine to prevent casual contact with the saw blade. The guard is removable and held in place with dowels in the guard and in the pedastal (leading edge).
2. I made stop blocks that are tightened over the fence with socket button head bolts and burrs embedded in the block. I use the 5/32 hex wrench to tighten the stop block.
3. I made triangles with 45 - 22.5 and 30 - 60, angles for mitering stock.
4. The triangles have silicon caulk buttons on them to raise them above the table and keep the edge above the sawdust on the table.
5. Test frames were made to proof the triangles - crosscut sled.

I would suggest making the guard longer to cover the blade when it exits behind the fence. Consider making the guard from polycarbonate (clear). Build an offcut table if you are going to use the offcuts (or better yet a ZCI offcut table as shown in the opening post. How is it held on the table?).

The cross cut table was invaluable for cutting laminate flooring. The cross cut sled was used to cut panels for intermixing two colors of flooring laminate.
I lost a utility knife and had to hunt down the measuring tape 47 times during the 5 day project replacing water damaged flooring in hall, Dining room and kitchen. REPLACE THOSE POLYETHYLENE ICE MAKER water lines!

Custom Crosscut Table with Guard, Triangle, and stop blocks. Table is made with 1/4" vinyl covered MDF. Vinyl was peeled off the edge of the MDF and glued to MDF. Fence is a jointed to make it straight and smooth. The edge of the table is used to support the stock as a zero clearance (table). Triangle with silicone calk buttons for cutting miters. Trianges have holes along the base to allow them to be clamped to table with the dowels protuding from the bottom of the short leg of the asymmetric stop blocks. [Please excuse the cammera strap in the upper rght. [ATTACH]6250[/ATTACH]

Crosscut table with Guard removed. Triangle. Asymmetric stop blocks.[ATTACH]6247[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]6248[/ATTACH]

Test miters with the 45 degree miter on the triangle, dual guides, bottom of the guard showing dowels in guard and the dowel in the pedastal. [ATTACH]6249[/ATTACH]

[allsas]

I made several crosscut tables because the commercial table has to be adjusted, a fence added for measuring tape and stop blocks.

1. I added a guard to mine to prevent casual contact with the saw blade. The guard is removable and held in place with dowels in the guard and in the pedastal (leading edge).
2. I made stop blocks that are tightened over the fence with socket button head bolts and burrs embedded in the block. I use the 5/32 hex wrench to tighten the stop block.
3. Two guides were used one in miter slot the other along the table edge.
4. I made triangles with 45 - 22.5 and 30 - 60, angles for mitering stock.
5. The triangles have silicon caulk buttons on them to raise them above the table and keep the edge above the sawdust on the table.
6. Test frames were made to proof the triangles - crosscut sled.

I would suggest making the guard longer to cover the blade when it exits behind the fence. Consider making the guard from polycarbonate (clear). Build an offcut table if you are going to use the offcuts (or better yet a ZCI offcut table as shown in the opening post. How is it held on the table?).

The cross cut table was invaluable for cutting laminate flooring. The cross cut sled was used to cut panels for intermixing two colors of flooring laminate.
I lost a utility knife and had to hunt down the measuring tape 47 times during the 5 day project replacing water damaged flooring in hall, Dining room and kitchen. REPLACE THOSE POLYETHYLENE ICE MAKER water lines!

Custom Cross cut table with Guard and stop blocks. Table is made with 1/4" vinyl covered MDF. Vinyl was peeled off the edge of the MDF and glued to MDF. Fence is a jointed to make it straight and smooth. The edge of the table is used to support the stock as a zero clearance (table). Triangle with silicone calk buttons for cutting miters. Trianges have holes along the base to allow them to be clamped to table with the dowels protuding from the bottom of the short leg of the asymmetric stop blocks. [Please excuse the cammera strap in the upper rght. [ATTACH]6250[/ATTACH]

Crosscut table with Guard removed. Asymmetric stop blocks.[ATTACH]6247[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]6248[/ATTACH]

Test miters with the 45 degree miter on the triangle, bottom of the guard showing dowels in guard and the dowel in the pedastal. [ATTACH]6249[/ATTACH]

[dusty]

allsas,

If that is the Shopsmith Crosscut Sled (555502) in your photos, did you relocate the miter bar so that the left side of the table was against the blade.

I really like the modification to the fence and the stop blocks look to be clever solutions.

[allsas]

allsas,

If that is the Shopsmith Crosscut Sled (555502) in your photos, did you relocate the miter bar so that the left side of the table was against the blade.

I really like the modification to the fence and the stop blocks look to be clever solutions.

The SS Crosscut sled is unsused. This sled was made with lighter materials than SS cross cut sled, 1/4" MDF instead of 3/8" panel, 1 x 3 x 36" pine for fence, therefore the concern about how it would perform. I wanted a lighter, smaller, sled than the ones that straddled the blade and an open leading edge for slightly wider materials. Lots of internet sources for making crosscut sleds.

Cost for the materials was less than $5. Really makes cross cuts and miter cuts easy and accurate for the woodworking experienced challenged. Excellent starter project with terrific rewards before you fill your house with woodworking projects.

Using the extension table to rest part of the sled on and the 3 ' length make it usable for long pieces. It is useful for long pieces and for dadoing. The guard, is only a reminder to be careful, but it really reduces the discomfort of working around an exposed, whirling saw blade without becoming complacent.

Two guides were used, miter slot and table edge. Miter slot guide was doweled and glued to the sled with 1/8" dowels. The table is moved to the left side of the throat plate so that I can cut (wear) a little of the sled away and still get the blade close to the sled. The sled and fence show a 1/32" kerf from the inaugural cut.

The Guard is a compromise, it would be nice to have it wider and move the dowels away from the edge. A wider opaque gard is harder to place the material on the cut line beneath the guard. It is easy to allign the material with the edge of the sled and fence by sighting under the guard on the left side of the sled. That portion of the problem goes away when you mark the length on the fence or triangle leg, the second cut has the end/mirered cut on the mark and the material on the left side of the blade is the offcut.

With the triangles, I cut miteres w/o the miter guage and that allows a lot of support of the material, cutting long pieces, and worrying about the miter guage setup. Triangles were easy to make from measurements obtained from a drawing program.

The examples used the same mark on the triangle leg to make the three trial frames. Differences in the sizes is the differences in the widths of the frame stock.

Dusty, Thanks for the ? and your contributions to the forum.

[dusty]

allsas,

Nice job. Really well thought out and executed. It is obvious that this sled meets your specific needs as a result of your design preparations.

I would make one observation. If you have not already done so, I suggest that you create an axillary table left of the cutoff table. I believe it is a safety issue. The cut offs are less likely to migrate into the blade.

[osx-addict]

Stupid question.. If I wanted to make some cabinet carcasses for the garage or otherwise (kitchen,etc) and working with sheets of MDF or other cabinet grade plywood, is this the tool of choice for cutting those 4x8 sheets to size or would it be easier to use something like a worm-drive skil saw running up against an aluminum fence? I would agree that if you could fanagle the 4x8 sheet up and cut it (and keep it running straight) on the SS, that it would probably be straighter than using a hand tool.. I'm just thinking because I'd really like to build some cabinets in the house and am not sure what the best set of tools to do the job is with regards to the SS.. I've only got a 510 and it does have some sort of MDF like table I got from the previous owner (never used it yet) but don't have any sort of panel jig,etc.