My Christmas present to myself came in

That's some pretty nice burly spalted maple there!

Side note: for similar cuts for turning, I made myself a small sled that runs in the miter slot. It made getting consistent cuts a lot easier/safer and I could shave the last bits off a bit easier. I don't have an outside index (fence) but just eyeball from the cut line. I added some "swing into place" arms made from flat iron with short spikes welded on the end to hold things in place and a front "stop" with a couple short spikes on it so the piece is pretty well locked in place while I slide it into the blade.
 
That's some pretty nice burly spalted maple there!

Side note: for similar cuts for turning, I made myself a small sled that runs in the miter slot. It made getting consistent cuts a lot easier/safer and I could shave the last bits off a bit easier. I don't have an outside index (fence) but just eyeball from the cut line. I added some "swing into place" arms made from flat iron with short spikes welded on the end to hold things in place and a front "stop" with a couple short spikes on it so the piece is pretty well locked in place while I slide it into the blade.

Thanks Ryan. Do you have some pic's
 
Well Dave, I'm not claiming my implementation is the most elegant or prettiest thing ever (cause it sure ain't), I was in a hurry to slab off some small pieces of wood for a project and trying to do it without better support wasn't looking so good so I slapped this together. After getting it done it worked well enough I haven't ever been motivated to ever really make a better one. I also made a bigger one (about 7') that I've used with roller stands for infeed/outfeed support for doing larger stuff. That out of the way, here it is.

Setting in place
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The underside is a piece of HDMW plastic screwed in place with some washers to hold the thing down and in alignment.
IMG_20180108_201437.jpg

Spikes on the front help keep things from rotating
IMG_20180108_201419.jpg

Rough piece of wood (this is actually some monkey pod, although it doesn't look like much here heh) more or less in place. I made the swing spikes adjustable so in actual use I might move them in a bit closer to the blade.
IMG_20180108_201405.jpg

I've also put shims under wobbly bits with double sided tape if need be. Some sort of clamping support from the rear would probably also be good but hasn't been a huge issue in actual usage.
 
Thanks Ryan . Very innovative. Simple enough. Appreciate the pic's.
I wouldn't mind seeing how Vaughn made his. Engineering has always amazed me, I've never been much of an innovator.
 
I'm about 98% sure I took the basic design from someone else but can't remember who (and not sure I'd want to embarrass them with my implementation) so I can't really take credit for the engineering.

The basic idea is real simple, something that slides and holds the piece so it won't rotate. I keep a 2x4 next to the saw when using it to give the spikes a whack to set them. I was worried that the 2x2 uprights wouldn't be sturdy enough but at the length they are so far it's seemed ok. It wouldn't be that hard to add bracing if need be.

If I recall correctly Vaughn's had t track on top and a rear clamping setup of some sort. Maybe we can coerce someone to find an old picture of that setup ;)
 
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