Crosscut sled

Ned Bulken

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5,529
Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
OK gang,
I did the search thing already, but struck out... I don't speak enginese evidently.

I have my honking big 6 or 7 yr old panel sled, it is Massive, and I'm suspecting out of whack... so I'm sitting here in the rain (technically I'm waiting for it to Stop raining... at work), thinking of projects for the shop. And a cross cut sled came to mind.

Got a good one you enjoy using? Mind posting a photo and/or link to plans? thankee kindly and all that. :D

Shopnotes had one which I might start from, but I'm not all that enamored with it at the moment. And I'm primarily interested in just crosscut, miter sleds are welcome too.
 
Simple to extravagant, they all serve the same basic purpose. Mine is a mid-point model; 3/4" BB ply base, solid glued and screwed front bridge, t-bolt attached and adjustable rear fence, dummy block where the blade comes through, ZCI inserts for the blade path and the rear fence face.

The same sled (and same basic design in 3 others) has served me for years. I have a bunch of ZCI parts which I have very professionally (read, felt tip marker) labeled for 80T blade, dado widths, box joints and so forth. I use 1/4" melamine for the inserts as this makes blade position visibility very easy on my old eyes.

I have used commercial aluminum, UHMW and QSWO runners, all with equal success and reliability. Your location and weather could effect the stability of organic runners. The replaceable inserts and adjustable fence are necessities as far as I am concerned. I finished my parts in dewaxed shellac, sanded the bottom to 400 grit and paste-waxed it. I have yet to need a re-wax but, I keep my tablesaw top pretty well maintained so the sled could just be getting "auto-waxed" from use ;-) I have very few other items that take only a few hours to make and get used so much.

You'll wonder how you got by without one. My main user has a 22" front to back capacity and is about 36" wide IIRC. Two thirds of the width are to the left of the blade for me but, this will vary depending what you use it for. I didn't bother with track for hold downs on my main user or my larger sled. I do find them useful on a sled I made for bevel cutting small box parts. I made all my rear fences a standard height so my stop blocks and such can be used on any of the sleds.
 
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I've got a couple Ned. One is big, about 22-24" depth, the other small, about 12" depth. I use the smaller one most of the time. Just easier to use than the bigger one.

Though you get a more rigid sled if you use 3/4" for the base, you also lose 3/4 height of blade. For this reason, 1/2" baltic birch may be a better choice. Glenn has some really good suggestions too.
 
Thanks Guys,
I've got some 3/4 borgply at the shop, but probably will pick up a 1/4 sheet of 1/2" just the same. I use my big sled all the time, but i'm certain I'll be hanging that up on the wall as an ornament... since it is suspect, and I know I glued it together back in the day... (think so anyway..., that was several years ago). It has a 3/4" thick base, so I'm not terribly worried about blad height, 95% of what I cut is at most 2" thick... after all , who affords 10/4 stock anyway? Well, besides mr Ambassador and his clientele.

I'm debating whether or not I want to go 'dubby' style and put in the swing arm arc fence or not... at the least I know It will have a nice tall rear fence with blade capture block for safety's sake, and two t-slots for hold down clamps to keep the fingers out of the red zone. I'm thinking of a nice piece of walnut for the handle/ push point, the rest is still in flux.
 
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