shop built crosscut sled for ShopSmith

[tfrayne]

I am acquiring parts for a new crosscut sled for my Mk V.

I built a crosscut sled for my jobsite table saw several years ago and it has served me well. I now want to make one for my Mk V but I want it to be extra cool.

For the sled itself, I have a 2'x4'x3/4" piece of dark brown phenolic. I want to laminate strips of a hardwood for the front and rear supports. I'm still trying to decide exactly what wood I will use. I'm thinking that laminating them together will prevent any future movement of the wood. I just received two SS miter bars for it, and I have ordered an aluminum stop block for it. In addition, it will have T Track to hold some clamps.

I did a search for crosscut sleds on the forum and did not find much.

Can anyone show off their ShopSmith specific crosscut sleds? I'd love to see what others have done in this area, and will hopefully get some ideas.

Thanks.

[Erik]

tfrayne,

I built a sled using Nick Ferry's design about 5 years ago and am extremely happy with it. I followed his design and choice of materials exactly with one minor addition. The addition is a thin (1/4"), replaceable "shim" on the front of the fence that allows me to true the fence if it ever gets out of alignment (or I redo my alignment). It also serves as a replaceable ZCI if the kerf gets too wide and I want to return to a zero-kerf fence. The one change I might make is to add a replaceable ZCI for the table part of the sled. I have replaceable ZCI's for my spline jig and really like the ease with which I can get back to a zero kerf.

There was a discussion of sleds a couple years ago where I posted a picture of my sled. Here is that link: viewtopic.php?p=278698#p278698. As I mentioned in that post, I don't know how I got away without a sled for so many years. I use it all the time because it is incredibly accurate and (I think) much safer for crosscuts. I also like having hold downs and stops on the sled so I can make repeatable cuts.

The only downside to my sled is dust collection above the table (I use a SharkGuard when ripping or using a miter gauge). My work around is to dangle a dust-collection hose above the table and pull as much air as I can in the vicinity of the blade (my 5" hose that you see in the picture draws about 900 CFM). This gets quite a bit of the dust, but is not in the league of the Sharkguard. Nevertheless, I would encourage you to make a sled ASAP --- you will will find it to be one of your most-used jigs.

Cheers,

-Erik

[tfrayne]

Thanks, EriK -

That's a nice looking sled and pretty much what I'm looking to do with mine. I'm pondering a wider opening on the bottom for beveled or dado cuts, with replaceable inserts on the top layer to provide ZCI that is replaceable. I saw one YT video (cant remember who's) where this was done with double sided tape to secure the replaceable inserts.

[Ed in Tampa]

I watched a YouTube discussion on crosscut sleds. What I learned keep it light, keep it a reasonable size that you store easy, make is accessible so you use it.
They made on about 12x18 out of 1/2 inch Baltic ply, used a steel miter bar (taken from old miter gauge) and put only the back fence on it they made that from two laminated beech 1x3 stock. Guy says since he built it, it is the only sled he uses and because of size he uses it instead of a miter gauge. You can add hold downs or make the fence swing for angles but he says he mostly keeps the fence fixed and uses jigs to set angles.

He has great points I have seen sleds that are really nice but they are heavy bulky and nearly impossible to store and when stored too much bother to dig out to use.

[rpd]

Just saw this recently, looks similar to the one Ed mentions.

[tfrayne]

I haven't decided on the dimensions yet, but it certainly won't be 2'x4'! That's just the size of the sheet of phenolic I have to work with.

I am really contemplating leaving off the rear support. The 3/4" phenolic should be strong enough to support itself without it. I am thinking of routing out a 3 or 4 inch channel so I can put a 1/2" piece of sacrificial MDF that is replaceable. That way, if I did dado cuts or bevel cuts I could retain a zero clearance with the blade. The sacrificial MDF would be held in place by two strips of double sided tape on either side of the blade.

RPD, I think I saw that video awhile back but I will watch it again.

[Erik]

tfrayne,

Sounds like you have a good plan for your sled. I was in my shop today and took some measurements of my sled: 24"x27" and 9 lbs. The kerf is not symmetric so that I have a little extra room on the right side (15" vs. 12"). I also put a 45 deg on the lower part of the right side of the fence so that you can run longer boards off the end (i.e. there is a 1.5 in "window" that boards up to 1.5" can slide underneath the fence if you are mitering longer stock. I also like having a protective cover over where the blade exits the fence (put a big orange X on it to remind me there is a blade underneath). I have mixed runners: one is a SS miter bar that I had laying around and the other is a hardwood runner that I properly sized. I live in a relatively dry climate and so do not have problems with swelling miter bars.

I like having a back fence because I think it really helps with the rigidity of the sled. If you plan to run a dado stack you might want to include it. The ZCI in the table is a great idea -- someday I might retrofit mine to have that too. I'll probably go with 1/4" masonite when I make that upgrade to maintain the rigidity of the 3/4" BB plywood that makes up the base. I used Kreg track for hold downs and stops. Went with Woodpecker for the actual hold downs since I find them more versatile and beefy than the other manufactures.

All the best.

-Erik

[tfrayne]

I've been working on it here and there. So far my dimensions are 28" x 18 1/2". I had to make three jigs before starting on this. Two came from Scott on My Growth rings ( the outfeed support and Jack The Stripper) and a ZCI. For that I followed Mike Young's video and made three blanks from a piece of 1/4" poplar. I needed all three jigs to cut 1/8" strips of walnut and maple to get the look I wanted. The other thin strips were wider. I decided that back support was indeed needed. I did not have enough material to run the entire length of the backside, but this will cover out to beyond both sides of the miter bars.

I have most of the pieces made. I need to route out channels for the T Track on the sled, and a 4" wide channel 1/2" deep to lay a piece of MDF. This will allow me to keep a ZC on top because I can replace it as needed.

My plunge router is not well, so I can't use it. My palm router is (I think) not up to the task.

So, unless someone has a better idea, I will use my special 10" blade for cutting phenolic and plastics and make many, many 1/8" passes. I have the adjustable stop collar so I am comfortable with getting a precise depth. But so many cuts can make lots of chances for errors.

Here is a mockup of the parts made so far. I'm liking the look it is taking.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Looking GOOD!

[tfrayne]

I blew a big chunk of the day due to Dr appt, so I came home early and got a bit more work done on the sled. I made the handles. After this it may be awhile before I make any more progress.

I noticed two issues when drilling. One was that the downward force of the quill shifted the table position. So I tightened that up a bit. Also I noticed the depth stop slipped. I checked to make sure the knurled ends of the washers were correctly installed. They were, but the knurling looks worn. I think I should replace them.