Well, if you all have been following my blogs, you’d know that I recently purchased a new table saw. Being that this is my first table saw, I want to ensure that I am using it as efficiently and as safely as possible. So after doing a good bit of research I decided to make a few jigs to improve my accuracy with my new saw. The first jig I made today is the crosscut sled. Shortly I will be making a miter sled and a jig for cutting key slots on boxes. So without further adieu, here is the new sled:
The sled was fairly simple to make with the hardest parts being the runners and the rear fence. The runners I cut slightly thiner than the tracks. I then pushed them toward the blade using folded sheets of paper and I raised them slightly using thin cardboard shims. I was then able to glue and screw them and got a tight fit with no side to side play.
The problem I had with my fence was that the poplar I used for the fence was slightly warped. Not a good thing when trying to square it with the kerf of the blade. So to overcome this problem, I put one screw up from the bottom of the sled into the fence right where the kerf line was. I then squared the right hand side of the fence and screwed it in. after that I was able to bend the wood on the left hand of the fence, square it, clamp it, and screw it. After I made sure the fence was completely squared to the kerf, I ran some more screws up and down the length. Finally, I removed the original center screw so it would not interfere with the blade. Surprisingly after all that, it turned out very square.
-- Sgt_Lobo -- Aurora, CO
9 comments so far
cajunpen
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5968 posts in 959 days
posted 736 days ago
I would say that you have successfully built a cross cut sled. You should find it very useful in cross cutting pieces for your projects.
-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/
Muzhik
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128 posts in 1031 days
posted 736 days ago
Looks like a nice sled. I can’t help but notice the attention to detail. You even made sure the lettering on your sawblade was perfectly level for the the picture! You must be a career military guy ;-) How is the stock blade on that Rigid saw, anyway?
Thos. Angle
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4013 posts in 855 days
posted 736 days ago
Sarge,
It certainly looks like it will work. One suggestion would be some means of a stop block. On my big chop box I have a sliding rod stop block on the back that allows me to make multple cuts out to about 40 inches. It makes all the pieces come out the same. Nice gauge lines. I never thought of that.
-- Thos. Angle
mot
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4901 posts in 930 days
posted 736 days ago
Yup, stop block makes something that looks almost perfect, perfect. Nice sled and excellent idea to have with any saw. I’m sure it will get alot of use. Kudos on the gauge lines as well. That isn’t something I ever considered.
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
Sgt_Lobo
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87 posts in 751 days
posted 736 days ago
Yes Muzhik, definitely career military… I don’t even realize when I do stuff like lining up the blade for the pictures… Anyhow, that is not the stock blade. That is a 90T finishing blade I purchased with the saw. It cuts like butter!
Angle and Tom: I’ll definitely look into a stop block, thanks for the suggestions!
-- Sgt_Lobo -- Aurora, CO
Karson
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25792 posts in 1294 days
posted 736 days ago
Great Job Sarge.
I’ve never made one because I’ve got a sliding table on my say. But the stop block is a requirement. If you were to put an additional block of wood on the front with a sliding track in it, you could then use a stick on ruler on top of it to give you a scale for your sliding stop. This is like I use for the Incra track that I have on my sliding table.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
gizmodyne
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1672 posts in 983 days
posted 735 days ago
Very nice. Like the guage. When I made mine I had to spend a lot of time doing test cuts and checking for square, resetting, and repeat.
-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne
Chip
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1058 posts in 986 days
posted 735 days ago
Great job Sarge. And we’re honored to get to see it before it’s first complete pass through the saw (at least it doesn’t look like the rear fence has been cut yet). Really nice jig.
-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.
oscorner
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4572 posts in 1204 days
posted 734 days ago
Nice idea to put the markings on the crosscut sled!
-- Jesus is Lord!