Is my table saw sled salvagable?

Brian Altop

Member
Messages
274
Location
Tacoma, WA
My sled is out as you can see in the photo, well their is a gap at the front of the cut here(1st photo). This is after I cut off the end of the MDF with both top and bottom of board being parallel with each other. I just flipped the cutoff piece over (top to bottom, cut still to cut) and butted it back up to see if it lined up perfect or not. I think when I had my saw repaired and then re-aligned the blade to the miter slots is where I'm getting this discrepancy now. Did the cherry move a little?:huh:

The sled is cherry with purple heart in the corners and BB as the base.

Everything is glued together. I thought about sanding the back fence a little, but don't know if I could get it exact enough.
Thought about kicking the runners on the bottom of the sled over a tad...:huh:

What are your thoughts?

I need this to be exact, if need be, this weekend I'll just make a new sled.


Thanks!

Brian
 

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That's too nice of a sled to scrap. :thumb: I think I'd kick the runner over an inch or two and cut a new slot (being careful to have things square before cutting the new one). You can add on another blade guard block, and although I don't think it'd be necessary, you could even fill the old slot with anything from Bondo to wood to epoxy.
 
i am with vaughn on this to nice to trash,, but i think i would cut out a strip from the sled now and put in new insert that when it gets worn out can be replaced with a couple screws. are your runners glued as well? if so then the sled needs to realigned with the back fence which could be cut off from the sled and reattached with screws not glue and have a screw at one end of it slotted for adjustment then the next ones can anchor it in position.. when i saw cut off the back fence i am referring to this being stood up on end to just cut the fence of not the base.
 
Ouch. That's painful. Even if it were perfect today, what about in 6 months when the weather changes? You've done some beautiful work there so I would try to salvage as much as I could. I'd cut that fence off and see if I could remount it as adjustable. This would make your sled a bit shallower in depth or, you could just use a new base board.

In order to keep a sled from becoming a throw away:

- Adjustable fence; Seasonal changes make subtle changes. Subtle changes translate into non-square cuts and all the problems that go with them.

- Replaceable blade path insert and rear fence throat piece; Even if your blade tracks perfectly, the abrasion from saw dust will eventually widen the blade slot. Changeable inserts allow a wide variety of blades and uses (dados for finger joints, angled cuts, etc.)

I've tossed a couple starter sleds:eek:, modified the design and now have gotten years of use out of the different sizes I use. Fall back, re-group and forge ahead. JMHO :thumb:
 
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