Replies

1. 
   Donald_C._Brown | Mar 18, 2002 05:52am | #1

   *
   Frank-

   Use a scraper on the runners until they run easily.

   Attach a tall block of something to the top of the rear fence. Make it long enough so that you can grip it well away (side-to-side) from the blade.

1. 
   gpwestmoreland | Mar 18, 2002 08:31am | #2

   *Frank, I had the same concern about the blade exiting the fence on the sled I built. I attached a thick block of wood, spray painted red, to the front of the fence, to keep most of the blade buried in the block, when the blade exits the fence. Also, my saw has a shop made extension table attached to it, on the far side of the saw, to help support long workpieces. The top of this ext. table has grooves routed into it for the sled runners to slide in. The grooves are stopped about a foot short of the far end of the table. I keep a short piece of 1/2" dowel in a convenient place near the table, and when I'm using my sled, I put the dowel at the far end in one of the ext. table grooves. The sled runner butts into the dowel, limiting its travel at the point where the blade would exit the near sled fence. GP

1. 
   Rob_Millard | Mar 18, 2002 04:27pm | #3

   *Frank,Like you I also hate to make jigs, but as you noted the cross cut sled is an excellent one. I would do as the other suggested and put a block that encloses the blade the limit of travel. I also, would put a stop to limit the travel of the sled. You may try waxing the runners and the grooves. I made my runners from UHMW plastic, which is very slick, and planes easily, so it was no problem to get a snug non-binding fit.

1. 
   Don_Cameron | Mar 18, 2002 07:22pm | #4

   *It may be tight because the screws expanded the runners when you attached them. Try scraping just around the screws first.

1. 
   Terry_Jennings | Mar 18, 2002 10:39pm | #5

   *Frank - the design I used incorporated a block of wood in front of the blade, as well as a stop on the bottom of the sled to prevent the blade from cutting through the block. After you scrape/sand the runner to loosen it up, try waxing the runners, the top of your table saw, and the bottom of the sled. You'll be amazed at how smoothly the sled will slide. I've attached a picture of the sled I built.

2. 
   Wade_ | Mar 19, 2002 12:22am | #6

   *Frank, congratulations on your new tool. I don't know how I managed to make square cuts without mine.I think all of the solutions have been covered already: Limit the travel, cover the blade, flag the danger area or use a handle to keep your hands away.I think any of them are good, but you know yourself well enough to choose the one that will work best, I'm sure. My solution was to build a handle to the left of the saw kerf in the fence. Being right handed, I ALWAYS place my hand there, holding the work piece to the fence with my left hand. I also painted the area around the kerf with red paint, but that was more for style. If you aren't paying attention anyway, a little red paint is probably not going to wake you up. The problem with a stop on the outfeed table is that you want to pass at least half of your blade through the workpiece. That will mean that at least half your blade will come out past the fence. If you elect to use a stop, you probably want to sheath the blade with a block to bury it in. If fact, if you use the block guard method, I think you HAVE to use a stop or else you run the risk of pushing the blade right through your block, as you did. I'm just glad that it wasn't more of a surprise to you.One tip on waxing your sled: I used birch cabinet plywood and waxed the bottom of mine. The next day it had bowed up from the table due to to uneven moisture absorption. Wax it on both sides, or seal it and wax the bottom. Also, I think the real danger of a large sled is the tendency to do layout work between the fence and the blade while the blade is moving. I catch myself doing this all the time. Of course, the room you have between the blade and the fence is only a function of where you left the sled on the table. In that regard, you can be fooled into thinking that the fence will be a reference to show the location of the blade, when in fact it is no such thing. This was brought home to me recently when a business associate took the end of his finger off on a router table. He was doing freehand routing, but had only moved the fence to the back of the table, not off of it as he should have. In a brief lapse he went to brush dust off of the table, using the location of the fence as the reference for the location of the bit. His mind, and his eye, told him that the bit would be near the fence, but of course it was a lot closer to him than that. Ouch.

3. 
   dspete | Mar 19, 2002 04:49am | #7

   *Here's a photo of a sled I built for my saw. It's stored directly above the saw. When needed I flip a switch on an old hospital bed motor hooked up to some pulleys over the saw. The motor has a limit switch and is reversible. It raises and lowers right where it's needed, so it's always convenient to use. The sled is also hooked up to two air clamps, which speed up the clamping operation greatly. For safety, the sled can only go forward just enough to make the cut. I have a plastic shield that covers the blade when it's pushed to it's maximun.

4. 
   dspete | Mar 19, 2002 04:51am | #8

   *Forgot the picture! Here it is.