I am about as new to woodworking as one can be, and have observed a sort of Catch-22 when it comes to tools. That is, sometimes, a needed tool being built requires that same tool to build it. For instance, it is apparent a cross cut sled is far superior to a miter gauge, but to make accurate cross cuts for the pieces, I need, guess what? A cross cut sled. I suppose I will have to settle to start with a miter gauge with a 24″ long piece of relatively piece of flat wood on it. For a beginner, I see many seemingly simple projects that often require substantial tools, such as a jointer, planer, band saw, chop saw, or tablesaw (I have the latter two, along with a router kit). It seems to me the cross-cut sled is very valuable, but I do not have the tools to build precise fitting runners for the slots. Will the Incra aluminum ones suffice? Some other alternative? I don’t think I have to tools to make ones out of wood. – Phil
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Replies
I don't see why you need a
I don't see why you need a cross cut sled to make another - I would most certainly recommend making one - perfect for cross cuts really, The board you use can be cut against the fence - after that it's a matter of creating a dado for the runners - or you can get some uhmw for the runners - correctly sized (which you can buy that way) will do nicely. Once you bring the blade up through the board all you need to do then is measure 90 degrees from blade to make the fence and voila - all of this in far greater detail can be found by searching FWW or you can also learn a lot from here:
http://www.eaglelakewoodworking.com/post/Crosscut-Sled.aspx
also check this out -
http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/howto_crosscut.htm
the first link - that guy also makes a "super sled" which is on my must make jig list - but you sled should be pretty straight forward and you can make it as simple or pimped as you like.
if you follow my directions - it would not be pretty but accurate - just make sure to connect both sides of the board on both ends before you cut all the way through it and make the fence boards stand higher than the blade will be at both ends.
hi phil,
you have a table saw, right? i've been using 1/4" plexiglas for my sled runners and like it very much. the stuff doesn't shrink, expand or argue with you. it is easily "ripped" on the table saw to fit the miter gage slots. i make the fences from dry, flat 2x4's and the sled from plywood although mdf also works, just don't bang it around or get it wet...
the constant quest and struggle to achieve squareness in all we workers of wood do has made it so that i like to make the fence adjustable by means of bolts, washers and nuts.
watcha gonna make?
eef
Eef,
Just so happens I have a sheet of 1/4" scratch-resistant plexi in the shop right now.
How do you make the it fit your table slots? There must be lots of play. How did you compensate for that?
-jonnieboy
Jonnie,
I think you're
Jonnie,
I think you're thinking the wrong way. I believe the plexiglas strips are 1/4" thick and 3/4" wide - the 3/4" side going against the base of the sled.
Ohhh... yeahhhh... Duh.
--jonnieboy
Yes, I have a full size contractor's table saw (Ridgid TS3660). I think for now, I will just make a sled that is 90 degrees. Angle adjustable will be for another day. I like the plexiglass idea.
How do you assure the fence is 90 degrees to the blade? Seems like even a small error could cause problems.
Things to make, starting with simple.
Work bench. Using Taunton's plan in Video Series w/Asa.
Garage cabinets
Shoe rack.
Shelving unit for daughter.
Quting/spinning box for daughter.
End table(s).
Entry way bench with mirror and coat rack.
End table.
- Phil
I'm assuming by your question
I'm assuming by your question that you are relatively new to this craft.
I built my first set of cabinets without a table saw. Therefore, I believe people could figure out several methods to build a crosscut sled without one, and even without a tablesaw if they had need for a crosscut sled without the saw.
That said:
I have made several crosscut sleds over the years. I always start with a straight cut (How you make it is not important). Mount the fence flush with this cut edge. Attach the runner next, using a square to assure it is perpendicular to the fence. You must first know the distance from the blade to your table slot. Attach the runner at a greater distance (than this dimension) from the sled edge. This means on the first cut, you will be trimming the sled to a zero clearance dimension.
Using this procedure, the fence is automatically square to the cut and you are not having to attempt to locate the sled runner at a specific dimension from one edge while holding it perpendicular to another edge.
Take a new approach to your woodworking. When we're new to the craft, it seems that it would require a router table to build a router table. Don't let this philosophy be a roadblock for not building. Find a way to accomplish the end result with the tools you have.
For what it's worth, I just
For what it's worth, I just built a new sled for my table saw to replace one that warped. I used my table saw to do all the cutting and hand held power tools for fastening things together. The size I settled on was 36" wide and 28" deep. The warped one had 1/2" plywood for the bottom so I thought I would try 1/2" mdf this time. Put a good blade on your table saw and just make sure whatever you cut the bottom out of is dead square. I use a large rafter square to check all the corners then measure diagonally from corner to corner making sure it measures exactly the same each way. I then used a 5/4" x 4 1/2" v.g. hemlock fastened to the front and back edge. These fence boards need to be as flat and square as possible. I tapered these boards down to about 2" on each end leaving about 8" full height in the middle where the blade will pass under then I ran a round over bit along all the top edges for comfort. I find it helpful to run an 1/8" rabbet at the inside bottom edge before attaching it so that the sawdust has a place to go so as not to get between your workpiece and the newly installed fence. Use extreme care to perfectly align all the edges when fastening the fences to the bottom then double check for square again. After making sure that your table saw fence is perfectly aligned with the channels in the top of the saw, set it at 18" from the center of the blade set at about 2 1/2" high and run the saw curf through the middle of the sled then check to make sure the saw curf is perfectly sqare to the sled fence. Now cut some hardwood strips to fit the exact width of the channels in the top of you table saw but not quite the full depth. Place some thin scrap into the channels then place the hardwood strip in place so that they sit up above the saw top slightly and apply glue to the tops of the strips and with the saw turned off and the fence still set at 18" set the sled carefully into place against the fence. I then used a brad nailer and firmly fastened the hardwood strips to the bottom of he sled by nailing down through the top, flipped over and added some screws, fine tuned the sliding action using a sanding block on the hardwood strips, eased all the edges withe the sanding block and added a generous coat of Johnson's Wax to the bottom surface and hardwood rails. Made a test cut, perfect! The MDF was a good choice, nice and flat and slides good with wax.
Please forgive the naive questions, but do not want to misunderstand anything.
Understood. When cutting out the bottom, if it is not square, how do I square it up? This is where having the sled in the first place helps.
- Phil
Square you blade first to your miter slots if the blade is adjustable - if not then don't worry move on to the next step. once you push the blade through the board while holding the board down with a push stick (not over the blade if you can help it) you then get a confirmed 90 degree angle square and place it on the non-spinning blade between the teeth not on them - this will give you the register for the sacrificial fence.
in other words don't fully attach the fence until you have brought the blade through.
If you don't have a really nice square - get one, it'll always be your best friend.
I hope this was clearer then mud.
PSM,
Your first question has to do with the fact that you perceive that you don't have the right tools to build what you want to build, and your second message says that "you don't want to misunderstand anything".
There is a lady who wrote a TREMENDOUSLY LONG MESSAGE about her troubles in picking out a table saw. You should read it to find out what your problem is. It is the same as hers, except that she has it worse.
Your problem, like hers is "Paralysis by analysis". You are overthinking everything and doing nothing. The answer to becoming a good worker is to continue to do woodwork. As you do it, you will understand problems better than you can just by reading about them. Don't read about crosscut sleds, MAKE one. You will better underrstand the problems with them by actually making one. Then make another. You can do it all with scrap material, and it is a great learning experience.
If you just ask people on Knots, you will find that everyone of them makes their sleds differently, and you won't know which is "best", because none are best. The only truth in woodworking is that everybody does everything differently.
You learn by doing. You won't learn much by posting on Knots and getting more confused.
Learn woodworking by doing woodworking. Don't stop doing it. You can build beautiful furniture without having a table saw , so you certainly don't need a sled.
The most important part about becoming a woodworker is the point at which you have learned that you can figure things out by yourself. If you become dependent on others to solve your problems rather than relying on yourself, you get into "paralysis by analysis", where you think so much and so badly that you never DO anything.
Have fun. Make sawdust. Be safe. Make stuff. Make more stuff. Then write a book which tells others how to do it.
Enjoy. Don't spend so much time on Knots. It can make you crazy if you don't understand that everyone is correct andthey are all different, which makes you crazy if you are looking for single answers.
Mel
I agree with Mel, just do it. You will learn from experience. Every time I make something it seems too get a little better.
bduffin,
Glad to hear that someone. There is too much discussion about "the best tool" or "the best technique" around here, which is fine for oldbies who understand that there are lots of ways of doing anything, but which confuses the heck out of newbies. I like you line on your profile, "If it was easy, everyone would do it."
Have fun,
Mel
I go back to high school woodworking - we were not allowed to use anything that was electric powered. What I'm saying is that if you can't cut to size and build something wihtout power tools - you're not ready to operate with power tools. Walk before you run !
SA
WC,
You pontificate, " ......if you can't cut to size and build something wihtout power tools - you're not ready to operate with power tools. Walk before you run" !
On the contrary! Anyone who does not use power tools first, thus learning just how dangerous woodworking can get, should not be allowed near chisels and plane blades! Those simple and seemingly easy-to-use implements have damaged my flesh more than any power tool, as they look so innocent.
But this is just my sarky jest....
In fact, there are many roads to wisdom and we may travel them as they suit us. Yes, it is a modern age with not so much need for "not allowed" as a desperate need to take responsibility for one's own education, otherwise we will be made parrots (or is it apes). In either case, parotting or aping our "betters" often leads to a state of not necessarily blissful ignorance of the fundamentals.
"Why do you do it that way"?
"Well, it is the rote of my gurus, Aloyius Cantanker (aged 97)".
Lataxe, who made over 100 items exclusively with power tools before he ever discovered the joys of handtools. (Route 87e, I have heard of many others).
Hey Lataxe -
I had to open wikipedia three times to understand your sentiments - you're making me work too hard -
There's a Divinity that shapes our ends - rough-hew them how we will !
SA
"...Your problem, like hers is "Paralysis by analysis". You are overthinking everything and doing nothing...".
Admittedly, I have a tendency to over analayze, but it is overstating things to say I am doing nothing. I had to read about crosscut sleds, because I did not even know what they did, or why it was preferred. That led me to the many types available.
"Doing" is educational of course, but I am not about to start making sawdust with a table saw or router until I know what I am doing (going to 3 hour safety class tomorrow at Woodcraft). While I wait to complete that task, I thought I would ask questions on the sled, cabinets, etc.
I spend very little time on Knots.
- Phil
Phil,
Ha ha, I see you have been MELed. Yes, just plunge in happily (have fun, at all times, by order) and you will learn lots, such as how to get your fingers sewn back on or how it is possible to spend thoudsands of dollars on tools that are not what you needed.
There is a lot to be said for a bit of decision-making paralysis, whilst pros are weighted, alongside the cons. Also, there is the excellent shorthand of seeking advice from others with knowledge and experience rather than taking the lonely fur trapper route. (Most of them died of ice or were etten by bears, serves them right).
But I digress. Suffice it to say that experimenting blind whislt pretending its having fun is a poor way to learn about or to implement the tools you need.
Have you considered a TS with a sliding crosscut carriage? Only an option if you have plenty dosh and are willing to give up unisaws. But think! No need for floppy mdf kontraptions of suspect squareness and immense, unweildy size.
Lataxe
Mel has been "verbified". Tee-hee.
How dare you say there is no one ultimate right way!
haha. you are right, of course. There is a point where you have read so much and start to do it that when things don't jibe with what you have read you get very frustrated by the abyss between your book knowledge and your actual knowledge. First you discover that everyone else was wrong and through practice you discover exactly what you have written here - everyone was right.
great post.
Hi Phil,
If you think it's a
Hi Phil,
If you think it's a challenge to make a saw sled without having a saw sled, wait til you decide to make a lathe. Hehe
Back in the dim distant past, the first project in the shop I was setting up, was a bench. Sure would have been handy to have a bench to hold the various parts, but I built it on the concrete floor. Once I had the top joined up, I used it, still on the floor, to work up the legs. I was younger then, terribly independant, and much more agile.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
Ray
The bench analogy resonates with me. The bench I have is not suitable for wood working, and will have my older body on the floor making one, or for some pieces, on an old Black and Decker Workmate.
- Phil
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