Hello,
I am thinking of building a sliding cross cut sled due to the fact that I don’t own a quality miter gauge.
The miter gauge on my table saw is 3/8″ thick and 3/4″ wide. Now when cutting the sled runners should I plane the narrow pieces of hardwood for the runners a little bit less than 3/8ths I want to make sure the sled slides smoothly.
Wanda
Replies
When you use a crosscut sled or the miter bar, you want good accuracy. This means that the slides should fit without any side to side play. Making slides out of wood will, generally mean, that the wood will change it's dimensions along with changes in humidity. Sometimes the sled will work as intended, other times it will be too loose or too tight. I would highly recommend using something other than wood, or a very hard and stable wood species. I use adjustable metal slides by Incra. They cost $20 but are well worth the money. Any time of the year you pull out your sled, it will work.
Your miter bar may just need some fitting. Often they are a bit loose. If you place the bar on a hard solid surface and hit it with a hammer in a few spots, flat ways, you can mushroom out the thickness of the bar in a couple of places. Usually, mushrooming the ends and middle will tighten up the fit. To do the final fitting for smooth action, you use a mill bastard file and tweak the mushroomed edges. Of course, your saw will have to be tuned if a sled or miter bar is to work accurately. You will also have to tune the miter bar so the stops are set correctly.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Wanda, some years back I used a site saw which did not have mitre grooves. I got round that by making a cross cut sled mounted to the saw by quality drawer slides bolted to the sides of the saw table.
It worked as well as my present dedicated rail c/cut table on my Lurem. The great thing was I could detach the sled but only on purpose! It had no side play- that was eliminated when bolting up, and it was cheap!!! Finger joints became a doddle.
Wanda,
Why a cross cut sled? don't you own a sliding compond mitre saw? They can accurately cut wood as wide as 12 inches. Mine I can be accurite to a tenth of a degree.
wider than 12 inches treat it like a standard rip cut.. It'll work!
The forgoing advice from frenchy is very poor, and he should know it. One must always consider the length/width relationship of the stock being ripped in a tablesaw. Generally, the length along the fence should be greater than the width of the piece perpendicular to the fence. If this isn't clear, do some research in good tablesaw manuals. As to a crosscut sled. I have used one for many years. I've settled on using UHMW for my runners. Mill this to fit without binding and without slop: I rip to rough size on the tablesaw and then use my surface planer to adjust the fit. A scraper can do final tweaking if needed.To fit it to the sled, I place the UHMW in the tracks with the ply for the sled on top. I drill through the ply into the UHMW. I use machine screws for attachment. So drill the holes the proper size for your screw tap. I use 6-32. Drill all the holes at the same time...... be sure to clamp down the ply to keep it from shifting. Remove the ply and drill out its holes to clear the screws and countersink. Tap the UHMW using the correct tap. This can be run throuh with the tap mounted in an electric drill. Replace the UHMW runner into their respective grooves, replace the ply and add the screws. The addition of the screws will bulge out the UHMW a bit. This can be planed or scraped off easily. Don't be afraid of going too far, slight indents here or there won't affect the overall fit.You should now have a well fitting sliding plywood platform. Cut the plywood center only and using that as a reference, add the rear fence. Add a front keeper and the job is finished. The UHMW will never wear out in this application nor will it require any maintenance.
sapwood!
OK. Take your crosscut sled and cut a nice 90 degree cut on a 8 foot long board. Now change that to a 73.5 degree cut..
OK check it and if you were successful do the same on an 18 foot long piece..
Now try it on a sliding compound mitre saw..
"wider than 12 inches treat it like a standard rip cut.. It'll work!"I interpret the above to mean: you can crosscut any board that's wider then 12" by treating it as a rip on a tablesaw. So I should take your 8' board thats (say) 14" wide and "rip" it on my tablesaw letting the 14" side run along the fence. If this isn't what you meant, then I apologize. I would also be curious to know exactly what you did mean.
sapwood,
What is your personal threshold for cutting a board on the table saw? (rip cut)
For me even with sticks and the guard in place I won't cut anything less than about 12 inches.. Call me a chicken but a small piece less than 1/4 inch thick x 2 x3 broke off, kicked back and broke my arm in two places.. (actually it fractured the.... tibia?) and sheared off the knob on the wrist bone.. Prior to that short boards were always cut on the sliding compound mitre saw..
Whatever that threshold is, is what you can rip cut as a cross cut..
If you can abuse a ripping tool like a table saw and do cross cuts with it you can also abuse a cross cut tool like a sliding compound mitre saw and do rip cuts.. The differance is in one the work slides past the blades while the other the blade is brought to the work.. To me sliding a small piece of wood past a spinning blade is more dangerous than holding that small piece rigidly against the fence while the blade is placed over it..
While both have spinning blades with one the wood needs to move quickly enough to prevent burning while the other can be rigidly fixed in place and the blade carefully aligned prior to starting the blade spinning..
Frenchy,were you cross-cutting that piece on the tablesaw using the fence as a guide?
BIG FRANK.
No I was ripping..
Hello,
What if the piece over twelve inches isn't square to start out with.
Greg
Grey Glove..
what if your rip cut isn't square to begin with? How do you deal with that? Why wouldn't that work for the crosscut?
I have a Makita sliding CS, I also have several crosscut sleds. Both have their place. Both have unique uses.
For absolute precision crosscut type cuts (when stock size permits), I always use a crosscut sled.
Steve
Hi guys,
I own a 10" compound miter saw. Widest board it cuts... 8" not 12... I have a woodworking project I'm doing.. night stand which requires me to cut a board (panel) 16" wide. 16X 48... Perhaps the best way to cut it is with my jigsaw and then trim the edges using my router (trim bit) That way both pieces will be identical.
cross cut sled would definitely do the job. I will look up Lee Valley and see what kind of miter slides they have. I know Incra sells them but they're an American company and I would pay extra for customs. I believe House of Tools here in Canada carrries Incra brand miter slides as well. So I will call them see if they have them.
One more ? regarding cross cut sleds... What is the best material to use for such a jig. Plywood is expensive. And it's not easy finding quality Baltic birch plywood. Is MDF ok? and how does it take screws?
Wanda
Wanda,
You are correct, I should have been more specific. Mine is a 12 inch sliding compound mitre saw..
The weakness of any sled is in dealing with long or large panels. Once the wieght of the panel that isn't on the sled exceeds the wieght of panel that is on the sled you have a potentially dangerous condition.
In addition dragging out a sled to make a small cross cut seems to me to be extremely time consuming and inefficent..
Finally, I dispare of the quality of the cuts made with many cross cut sleds.. At best it is near 90 degrees however Many times I've seen crooked cuts made and sanded pretty close to straight.
Frankly I treat large or wide cuts like you mention as rips. So what if it's with the grain or across the grain?
While you can't do that safely on smaller pieces, on the piece you describe I see no reason not to..
Frenchy,"The weakness of any sled is in dealing with long or large panels. Once the wieght of the panel that isn't on the sled exceeds the wieght of panel that is on the sled you have a potentially dangerous condition."That weakness is inherent in any cross cutting of long stock or large panels. It has nothing to do with a sled. For such operations there must be supports outboard of the supporting saw table/sled."In addition dragging out a sled to make a small cross cut seems to me to be extremely time consuming and inefficent."Dragging? How hard is it to place a sled on the table? The accuracy, control and safety it gives over a miter guide is enormous. I find it second nature to use."Finally, I dispare of the quality of the cuts made with many cross cut sleds.. At best it is near 90 degrees however Many times I've seen crooked cuts made and sanded pretty close to straight. "Dispare? What's going on in your workshop? A properly set up sled is the most accurate and repeatable way to assure absolutely square cuts or cuts to whatever angle you want to design the fence.You must have worked with some pretty terrible sleds!Rich
To all who asked about squaring up the fence.This is a general machine-shop technique. With a little imagination, the general method can be used to square up any device including jointer fences, and all manner of saws. The method assumes the fence is straight along its length.It's twice as accurate as using a square because it magnifies the error of an out-of-square cut by a factor of 2, making any that condition very apparent. It also eliminates the error caused by using a square that's not (very common).Start with 2 pieces of thin stock about 1/4" x 12" x 12". Plywood, paneling, masonite, etc.First, align the rear fence to the sled's saw kerf as accurately as you are capable, using whatever method you have.Trim a fresh, straight edge on each piece. You can use the unadjusted sled to do this. Use a fine-tooth carbide blade that leaves as little tear out or roughness as possible. This is the "trim cut."Align the 2 pieces, one on top of the other with their trim cut edges firmly against the rear fence, in position to simultaneously trim a new cut from the right edge of the stack. Hold the stack firmly against the fence and firmly down on the sled as you make the cut, so that the 2 pieces do not move out of alignment to each other during the cut. This is the "test cut."Turn the saw off!Pull the sled back toward you. Pick up the top piece by its left edge and flip it over as though opening the back cover of a book, so that the 2 test cut edges are together and the top piece lies to the right of the bottom piece, both trim cut edges still against the fence.The test cut has 3 possible conditions: (there are no other possibilities)1. It is perfectly square to the trim edge.2. It is less than 90 degrees.3. It is more than 90 degrees.If the test cut was perfectly square, the 2 pieces will align all along their test cut edges while their trim cut edges are held firm to the fence. It will be very easy to see a deviation of even a tiny fraction of a degree from square, in which case a gap will be obvious at one end or the other of the test cut.In fact, a truly square condition will be so obvious as to be impossible to miss.If a gap exists, adjust the fence and cut again until the square test condition is achieved.Once the square condition is achieved, you will have 2 accurate square references. You can test any machine square you have in the shop. Use the "bookmatch technique" to magnify any potential error in the test square. Lay a refererence square under your left hand, trim edge against the fence, and the square to be tested under your right hand with its base against the fence and its blade against the reference piece's test cut edge.If you want, you can increase the accuracy of the whole method by a factor of 3 or 4. Rotate the stack of thin stock to make additional cuts, before unfolding, holding the stack tightly together with each rotation, keeping them aligned. It tends to get complicated. Besides it's really over kill.Using this technique, I have aligned fences so that I can cut parquet pieces square to a tolerance which allows a tightly fitting pattern, consisting of 1"x 2" pieces to cover an area of many square feet, without the slightest gap beginning to occur.Rich
Rich, thank you so much for posting your method and such a thorough description. I am definitely going to try it.
I do have a question though. When using commercial slides, adjustable w/ ball bearings, does the need to fit only to the inside of the miter track disappear?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Forestgirl,
Sorry, I'm not sure how to answer because I don't know what you mean by "commercial slides."
I first came across the method I described a long time ago, using only wood as the construction material, as I described.
Then I came across it again in the Taunton book where roller bearings are used rather than wooden rails/runners. Maybe the drawing there would answer your question. (That project actually uses clear plastic for the sled body)
The technique, no matter what kind of "runner" is used, is that it is much easier to get the accuracy needed by referencing to two surfaces (the inner walls of the miter slots) rather than both walls of both slots.
(The outer walls could just as well be used, but it's a little harder to hold the sled against the outer walls during construction.)
In fact, in machine practice, it is just about impossible to accurately reference to 4 surfaces all at once, as well as completely unnecessary. I think we think in terms of runners tightly fitting to both walls of the miter slots because saws come with miter gauges that run in one slot only. In that case the runner does need to tightly fit the slot. (sadly, even when it does, a single slot miter gauge is an inaccurate device, especially the cheap ones, and especially compared to a good sled.)
Rich
This Incra slide is what I was thinking about, just couldn't find the name in my brain. I hear ya, though, on your main point.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
OK, I see now.
Using that device, obviously buys one a machine reference to both walls of both miter slots. And that accuracy has been achieved by metal-working equipment - the only way to achieve the tolerances needed.
I suppose one puts those things in the miter slots with machine screws sticking up through mating holes in the sled. The retaining nuts would have to be recessed into the top of the sled bed. Or, are the devices threaded for a machine screw?
You'll need 2 at $18+ each and the mating slot inserts. I guess the slot inserts press fit. What do you do if you want to use the slots for another device?
Should work great. Much higher tech than the design I described. But the low tech version gives up nothing in accuracy.
Rich
They are a tad expensive -- I picked up 2 on sale at Woodcraft awhile back. You don't need the track unless you're building some specialized thing. The slider fits in a standard MG slot. I sure wouldn't want to be buyin' 'em for every darned thing though. ;-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Wanda,
I would suggest UHMW plastic (3/8" x 4" x 24") for the runners. Rip it slightly oversize, then plane it to fit your miter slots. Plane each face that rides against your tablesaw fence after ripping one, this way you will always have one nice surface on each runner to work from when planing to width. Get them here: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32045&cat=1,43455 . Pretty reasonable price, one piece yields 4 runners. Don't get the UHMW plastic that is 3/8" x 3/4" x 24", they are not consistent enough in width and will likely be too sloppy in your miter slot. Make 8-12 all at once and be set for whenever you need to make a jig.
I have used hardwood before, it might work for a while, but the shrinking and swelling will cause it to be tight or loose in the miter slot at times.
I use 1/2" baltic birch ply for the base of the sled, get the straightest piece you can find.
This is what I do:
1. predrill and counterbore (not coutersink, this will bulge the UHMW) for screws
2. Cut base ply to size
3. Place runners in miter slots, shim under runners (tape or a thin ripped piece is good) to get runners as close to flush with the top as possible. (the shim prevents the runners from deflect down when brads are shot into them later)
4. Place base on top, mark where runners will be on top side of ply (very important to be accurate here, you will see in next step why this is so) Mark where screw holes in runners are.
5. Double check placement and marking of runner layout. Shoot 3/4" brads (for 1/2" thick base)(very important to verify brads will not hit bottom of miter slot) on center where layout lines are for the runners. Tack every 3-4", flip it over, remove tape, and screw runners to ply. This process ensures perfect alignment. As long as your careful laying out where your shooting brads you will be all set, be extra cautious (and safe).
6. The rest is easy, attach fences and go. It's easier if the front fence is made adjustable at least to start. Zero it in and then screw it more permanently.
You can make a dead accurate fence in no time using this method.
good luck.
Steve
Hello,
I am a cabinetmaker, and I have used every type of commercial and shop made crosscut saw and jig. If you can afford the space get at least two cabinet saws, make one a rip and the other crosscut, if you don't have the rip fence you can put a table on either side of the blade and join them with solid lumber front and back. I would also advise using 3/4" cold rolled steel as the runners, thats right you can put runners in both grooves. The problem with all available saws of this type is they have an active side and a passive side, some are split at the blade but most are a foot or more from the blade. Think of the possibilities, throw a peice of sheet goods cut to 45 degrees on the left table cut some stock, move it to the right do the same, your good side up both times. Of course you need lots of room, my sliding table measures over five feet by ten. By the way I have hooked up a vaccuum in reverse and used the air hockey concept to beat drag. If you have a smaller shop and only one saw do the same thing only smaller, if you make it over twenty four inches you should be able to square most gables. The first thing you will love about this setup is your off cut ( to the right of the blade usually) moves and is not dragging or is not hanging a half inch in the air if it is a home made version. The one in my shop is the only large version I have ever seen set up, but I wouldn't trade it for twenty thousand dollar, one side passive, sometimes a rip, sometimes a crosscut saw on the market.
Later, Greg
Is there any way you could post a digital picture of your cross cut device?
I agree with you that a dedicated crosscut sled / saw is optimal. After picking up and moving my crosscut sled hundreds of times, I decided to commit to a dedicated unit. No more resetting my rips and crosscuts.
I set my sights a bit lower and bot a used Rigid 10" contractor saw, stripped it down to just the table and trunion units and mounted on a 7 ft wide table unit. Why so wide...well sometimes I wonder myself. In the midst of design, I thought if 3 ft is good, then why not 5 and if 5 why not 7? I wanted a unit that would glide with little drag and slide effortlessly plus provided great support.
I decided to use linear bearings on high-end machined rods to support the sled just ever so slightly above the table itself. The sled was built with a "light density fiberboard" i.e with the strength of MDF but much lighter..I forget the name just now but something like "Lou-an" spelled phonetically. The linear bearings have no side to side play and are designed to run very smoothly. I was lucky to find two used units in Texas for a reasonable price. The original design was to forgo using the mitre slides to cut down on friction. I actually saw a picture of a unit slight similar to the one I designed in an old Fine Woodworking book built many years ago by a gentleman I believe in San Francisco. I guess someone else also had a similar vision.
How well does it work? Well I would give in a C+, I guess. The sled is accurate but I need to use the miter guides for accuracy tho I do think I could work around that. I think the mass of the table is just a bit much even with the lighter weight material. It was difficult getting a perfectly straight 7 ft piece 2" wide stock. I used poplar rails.
Your hockey air concept sounds very interesting. I would be interested in seeing it. If you are interested, I could forward pictures of my unit.
Matt Yerkes, Cincinnati, Ohio June, 2006
Edited 6/4/2006 8:23 pm ET by mattyerkes
Hi Mat,
Send me a postal address and I will send a movie cd to view.
Mine was origonally built with a ten inch contractors saw, I will never buy another but thats another story, my deaf fellow is killing it, I will soon be building the super version of it.
Greg
Ditto Hammer1 on the Incra slides, they are sweet and not effected by seasonal change. Suggest using two, one for each slot. Those will do the trick, BUT !! Don't get in a hurry, The cost of those two slides are one third the cost of the Incra 1000, I have one and think it's a very good bang for the buck. Save, you won't be sorry.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Wanda,
I believe a table saw cross-cutting sled is indispensible. It's imperative that the sled both slide smoothly and stay absolutely aligned perpendicular to the blade as it slides. There are all kinds of sled building projects that advise ways to fit the rails to the miter slots. Almost every plan advises that the rails (runners) must fit snugly side to side in the slots, just loosely enough to let the sled move, but not loosely enough to cause a sloppy fit.
Then there are all the methods that advise against using wood for the rails because it shrinks and swells (true). Various plastic materials such as UHMW get suggested. UHMW is hard to work with because screws make it swell even if you pre-drill. So the plastic runners are tight at the screw locations, loose in-between.
Worse, fitting perfectly dressed rails to the underside of the carriage in such a way that they remain perfectly true to the miter slots is an exercise in frustration, despite all the clever methods developed to accomplish the job, such as gluing the carriage to the rails as they sit in the slots, then cutting the blade clearance slot.
Here's how to use the table saw itself to automatically align the carriage to the highest accuracy while maintaining the perfect amount of clearance of the runners in the slots to allow smooth travel.
The trick is that the runners should NOT fill the width of the slots. Make them out of hardwood (yes wood!)and make them slightly more narrow than the slots. They will run against the inner walls of the miter slots against which they will press firmly. They will not touch the outer walls of the slots. It is infinitely easier to achieve machine accuracy to two surfaces than to all four surfaces (inner and outer walls of both slots). Any swelling or shrinking of the runners will be inconsequential.
The technique is very easy. The description below may sound complex, but once you make one like this, you will realize that it is ridiculously fast and easy to make a perfectly-fitting sled, and you'll want to make more for specialized cutting. Read the instructions a few times until you can picture the process.
Picture the sled as 2 separate halves, left and right. Use plywood or MDF for the sled body halves. Prepare 2 x 4 stock or hardwood, planed square for the front and rear fences.
Mill the hardwood runners and attach one each to the underside of each sled half. Work carefully to keep each runner reasonably perpendicular to the sled. Absolute accuracy is not essential at this step. I route a shallow slot in the underside of the sled body and glue the runners in there. Or you can screw and glue them.
THE RUNNERS MUST BE POSITIONED UNDER THEIR SLED HALVES, SO THAT WHEN THEY ARE IN THEIR MITER SLOTS, THE LEFT-HALF SLED PIECE PROTRUDES TO THE RIGHT OF THE BLADE BY ABOUT AN INCH, AND THE RIGHT-HAND SLED PIECE PROTRUDES TO THE LEFT OF THE BLADE BY ABOUT AN INCH.
When the glue has set, place the left-hand sled piece in its miter slot (it will be a sloppy fit). Turn on the saw, and, WHILE PUSHING THE SLED PIECE FIRMLY TO THE RIGHT AGAINST THE MITER SLOT, CUT OFF THE EXCESS OVERHANG OF THE SLED BODY.
Put the right hand sled piece in the right miter slot, and, WHILE PUSHING IT FIRMLY TO THE LEFT AGAINST THE MITER SLOT, CUT OFF THE EXCESS OVERHANG OF THE SLED BODY.
You now have 2 halves, perfectly matched to the saw and the blade, which will now sit in their respective slots so that there is a zero-clearance blade "kerf."
Attach the front fence (the one furthest from you) and rear fence to the left sled piece, ONLY. Glue and screw (countersink) the FRONT fence, only. Attach the rear fence with screws (countersink), DO NOT GLUE. The rear fence gets adjusted later to achieve squareness to the blade.
Place both sled halves in their slots. The right ends of the fences will sit loosely over the right sled piece. Using 2 long clamps, bring the 2 sled halves toward each other. Press on the OUTER edges of the beds, near, but not on the ends of the fences. Very little force is needed. Too much and the rails will bind against the inner walls of their respective slots. Too little and the sled will slide very easily and the rails will be sloppy in their slots. Just enough and the sled will slide just right, with no play at all.
Clamp the REAR (near) fence to the right sled piece with C clamps. Drill, countersink and screw the fence in place (no glue). It's easiest to do all this leaving the assembly on the saw table. Take off the clamps.
Squeeze some glue under the FRONT (far) fence where it overlays the right sled piece and clamp the fence down to the sled with C clamps. Leave the whole assembly in place until the glue sets hard. Remove the sled, drill, countersink and screw the fence.
The sled is now ready except for squaring the rear fence. Loosen the screws holding it a little, squeeze some white or yellow glue under and tighten the screws, not quite firm. Align the fence to the saw "kerf" with a large square known to be true. Position the fence with a pipe clamp pulling either the right or left end, as appropriate toward the corresponding front corner edge of the bed (don't pull on the front fence). There will be just enough "give" in the screwed and glued assembly for a few minutes. Then tighten the screws all the way. Don't distort the relationship of the bed to the glued front fence while positioning the rear fence.
That's it.
If you want, I can tell you how to position the rear fence, using a self-aligning method, much more accurate than relying on a square.
Rich
Hi Rich,
Oh my! that is unusual. I have yet to come across any detailed instructions for building a cross cut sled like the ones you just gave. certainly a different way of doing things.
wanda
Wanda,Yes, it does seem like an unusual way to make the sled, until you have tried any other way.It seems more logical to fit runners to a full sled and try to make them true to the miter slots. I challenge you to get a good fit this way.But do it the way I have described and you will slap yourself on the forehead with recognition as it becomes obvious that it's the only way to assure an absolutely smooth-sliding, play-free motion.The construction technique, using ball bearing guides, not wooden runners is described in an indispensible book: Taunton's "Tablesaw, Methods of Work, The Best Tips from 25 Years of Fine Woodworking," Edited and Illustrated by Jim Richey.This book contains many other sled designs as well as hundreds of jigs, devices, hold downs, techniques, methods, etc. It's a paperback book from a collection including ones devoted to finishing, routers, workshop and other subjects. Hightly recommended.Rich
Hi Rich,
Thanks for the book recommendation. Yup, I know that book. I've thumbed through it at Chapters. I should definitely consider buying that book for my collection.
Ball bearing runners hey.. hmmmmm and not hardwood
Wanda
Rich,
That's the most practical method of building a crosscut sled I've ever read. Good description too.
If you want, I can tell you how to position the rear fence, using a self-aligning method, much more accurate than relying on a square.
I can't speak for anyone else , but I would like to hear about your method.
-Chuck
Just found your description on squaring the fence. I need to keep up with some of these threads.
Thanks
Edited 6/7/2006 10:49 am ET by chuckh
Chuck,
Take a look at message 20 also, regarding the Taunton book.
Rich
I did take notice of your review of the Taunton book and I'll look into it.
Thanks
Hi Rich14Your method of sled consruction sounds good, I think I will give it a try, but what is the other way to position the rear fence using a self-alining method that you mention, if its more accurate then I would like to try that also.Cheers
Terry
Canberra, Australia
I can't wait to try making a crosscut sled like this. Please share the self-aligning method of attaching the the rear fence.
Rich: I'd like your method for squaring the rear fence without using a square. Thanks.
He posted it the night before. Click here.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hi Rich,
I just have to jump in here in defense of UHMW for runners. I disagree with your comment: "UHMW is hard to work with because screws make it swell even if you pre-drill. So the plastic runners are tight at the screw locations, loose in-between."
UHMW will not swell when holes are drilled to the correct size and the screws are conterbored and not countersunk. Swelling of the UHVM will only occur when you displace material with the screw. My miter slots are .762-.763, I rip UHMW strips to .775 or so, and then take a couple passes with the plane for final sizing. I normally end up at .758-.760 for runner width. UHMW works easily with WW tools.
Steve
SteveMy experience has been that the material swells when holes are sized to provide adequate grip of the material. To prevent swelling, the holes needed to be oversize and the screws lost their holding power.I'm glad the UHMW worked for you.At any rate, I've never had to use exotic materials for a cross cut sled.Rich
Swelling of the UHMW is negligible if tapped screws are used. I fasten the UHMW by screwing from the top of the sled down into the UHMW. I detailed this procedure in an earlier post. The tapped holes hold well enough for the purpose at hand. Like others, over the years, I've used a variety of methods of building sleds. This latest method is by far the most accurate and easiest that I've tried.
Hi Rich,
I completely understand your directions on how to build the perfect cross cut sled now. LOL A pic/pics are worth a 1000 words! :) I thumbed through the latest issue of Fine homebuilding at the grocery store earlier today. Great article on how to build a cross cut sled. Thank god for pictures!
They joined 2 pieces of plywood for the front and back fences. One taller than the other. However, the article didn't go into much detail on how to join the rear and front fences to the base. Your way sounds good. using clamps to push them together without too much force.
I would love to know how to attach the rear fence using the self aligning method. I do have a good square but I'd still be interested in that technique.
Wanda
Wanda,See messages 14 and 28. 28 describes the general method of testing a cut piece for it's squareness. I didn't explicity say it in that message, but you have to move either one side or the other of the rear fence, causing it to pivot about the the other end to get the cut into squareness, as verified by the "book match."After the glue has set on the front fence, attach the rear fence with screws and glue as accurately as possible. Then use the squaring method, pulling one side or the other of the rear fence with a pipe clamp anchored on the corresponding front corner of the sled. You have about 20 minutes working time after tightening the screws with glue in there to work and make the minute adjustments.There's a video on the Fine Woodworking site about building a crosscut sled. It's not the design I have given, but it shows the process of "tweaking" the position of the rear fence with a pipe clamp to get it square, after screwing it down in glue.Rich
Edited 6/10/2006 7:52 pm ET by Rich14
Hi,
I bet you have to be a paying member to be able to view that video. No more free video watching on finewoodworking. I am limited in the information I can read on this site because I am not a member.
Luckily I can still post and receive messages on the woodworking forum.
wanda
Hello,
Just located that video you were talking about but unfortunately I can't view it due to the fact I am not a paying member. So I don't have access to any of the PDF files.
Wanda
Too bad Taunton has changed the policy about viewing such information. I'm not a paying member either. The Internet business model. Build the viewing base (lure the customers) with free access, then charge a fee for what once was free. I guess they gotta pay the bills, but I think there is a better way to do it.I remember the video from the "old days" here.Not a great loss, though. The author simply shows the use if a long clamp to move the rear fence slightly after glue up. One end of the clamp on the end of the fence, the other on the front edge of the sled body, just under the front fence, but not on the front fence.
Just finished building a sled this way and I have to say, it was pretty damn intuitive. The only tricky thing I found was trying to figure out just exactly what the correct amount of pressure to put on the clamps was. Thanks for great instructions!Oh yeah, I did use the UHMW (?) stuff. WIth correct drilling of holes, i had no problems. You can actually buy grab bags at Woodcraft that will usuall have the correct size piece in it for around $20.
I hope it works well for you. One warning though, having built one, you will now have the compulsion to build other sleds, dedicated to one task or another (like cutting 45 degree miters.)
A little Off Topic, but probably of interest to anyone following this thread:
I have recently been looking over specs for several European combination machines. I've looked at brochures and videos of the Rojek and Laguna machines, and will probably take a look at a Felder in a week or so.
These machines are a shock for anyone used to machines typically designed for the North American continent. The combination machines contain a cabinet saw, jointer, planer, spindle shaper and slot mortiser.
The build and fit and finish of these things are light years ahead of typical cabinet saws, jointers, shapers, etc. Everything is MASSIVELY designed and precise. Yet the combination machine takes up much less floor space than the 5 machines it replaces.
Now before this really veers OT, I have been marveling at the cross-cut/sliding table capabilities of the cabinet saw module. The engineering and execution of the machine parts holding the work, and the precision and ease with which the machine carries the work past the blade, gliding on practically frictionless bearings, have to be experienced to be believed. Every part is polished, refined, robust, elegant, engineered as though holding and cutting that piece of wood is the only thing that matters in the universe. Think Mercedes-Benz applied to woodworking.
While my cross cut sleds get the job done, my sled/table saw combination is positively Neanderthal compared to the Euro designs which feel more like laboratory gear than than woodshop equipment.
I'm going to have the opportunity to demo Laguna equipment in late July-early August. At $6000-9000 per, they are a bit steep. But, hey, this might be the last workshop I build.
Rich, that's exciting! (combo machine). Tom (tms here and WWA) has a MiniMax combo and it's quite impressive! The star of the party at his place last year.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
There's a good TS article in the Latest Fine Homebuilding by Gary Katz. He lays out some really good techniques on how to make one.
Hi Jer,
Thank you so much for letting me know about that article in the Fine Homebuilding mag.
Wanda
Wanda,
Here is a pretty good link for a bunch of crosscut sleds... I'm sure it will help you...
http://woodworkstuff.net/woodidxjigs.html
Look for Crosscut Sleds down toward the bottom...
Have fun!
Hi Little Joe,
Thanks for the link I'll be sure to check it out in more detail when I'm finished doing what I have to do in the garden.
Wanda
"when I'm finished doing what I have to do in the garden. " Yeah, right! Impossible this time of the year. I finally just abandoned the yard so I could clean up the shop and get something done in there!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hey, Wanda, you might want to stop by the bookstore and pick up the Wood Magazine special "Woodworking Jigs, Homemade Tools & Shop Organizers." It's got lot's o' stuff in it, including a few tools you can make (dead-blow mallet, marking gauge...). It should be on display until September.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
HI, Forestgirl,
You seem to be on top of everything. :) Yup, I'll have a look for it next time I go to Chapters. Just too many great woodworking books out there. Popular Woodworking Aug issue has a lot of interesting stuff in it. Even has an aritcle on fold up outfeed table.
Great day to be in the tool room. (nice and cool in the basement)Too hot out there in the garden to put pumpkins in. LOL Temperature here should reach around 27 today....
Wanda
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