Crosscut Slid for Triton

[vcohen]

The driving force behind this Crosscut sled for the Triton 2000 Workcentre, is the need to repetitiously crosscut small parts for jewellery boxes or similar without changing to crosscut mode or fully setting up the sliding extension table. To use this jig you must have the inner rail of the sliding extension table fitted in place. My logic behind the jig is to use the inner rail with inner rail bearings fitted to the jig. The Inner Rail Bearings are readily available from Triton for AUD$2.50 at the time of writing. Travel on the rail is limited by a hose clamp that can be loosened and slid to the end of the rail when not in use with the sled.

This jig is basically made out of Melamine and Radiata Pine with a hardwood fence as it is a prototype to test the theory of using the bearings for a sled. I first mooted this idea on the Triton section of the forum a little while back

[vcohen]

Here are a couple of pics of the completed sled. Note the hose clamp that limits the travel. The sled is good and steady and accurate.

[vcohen]

Sorry about the size of the pics in the first post. Thought I had reduced ot to 6x4 at 72 pixels.

A very remorseful

[zathras]

Brilliant piece of work!

And even better it is fully backwards compatible with the MK3 table as I've got.

Need to order some bearings myself I think. I've actually been thinking of making a second table for my sliding extension table so I have one that is permanently set for 90deg. - I find that swapping from rip to crosscut mode on the extension table requires a few test cuts to get back to an accurate 90deg.

With your idea in mind I think I may now order 4 inner bearings so I can have one of each table ready to go :)

[vcohen]

Thanks Ray,

I will be putting a perspex guard on it as soon as I get some.

Actually I have ordered a couple of Mitre guage slides and I was thinking about fitting one to the jig on the right hand side, but it really doesn't need it, so I will use them for something else.

If necessary I can cut up to 470mm wide and still have the ability to use the height winder without having to put a hole saw throught the jig.

Incidentally, I have a 250mm blade on a Triton saw under the table. So I still have the ability to cut up to 42mm thick stock using the jig

Using the inner bearings seems to be the way to go when making sliding jigs. The sled has a nice solid feel to it.

I am now planning to make an adjustabe Mitre Cutting Jig using the same method. Will post some pics when I have made it (but don't hold your breath).

As a matter of interest I picked up a $2.50 angle finder the other day and it pinch hits beautifully as a blade/router height setting guage. Beats paying $30-$60 for the real thing.

Cheers

[vcohen]

Sorry I meant to attach a picture to my last post,

Here it is.......I hope

[DPB]

I wonder if we would come up with the perfect solution for the Triton Workcentre by combining your idea of using the inner extension rail and bearings with Barry White's idea of using a mitre track runner made from a UHMW plastic cutting board.

The alignment would have to be precise, but that's what it needs to be to achieve accuracy when cross cutting, particularly if cutting mitres.

[vcohen]

Yeah Woodchuck, thanks for your thoughts.

I think it's a great idea to amalgamate ideas, that's probably why I joined this A1 forum.

Barry's idea is a cool one. The only drawback I see for it is that it may be limited in travel (This ain't a criticism Barry!!!!) considering Triton's dead ended channels. As I said in an earlier post I am toying with the idea of the alloy slides on the bottom of the protractor or the cutting board idea for jigs that don't need a great amount of travel.

I will as an experiment try a sliding mitre jig with the inner rail bearings alone in the first instance. If that doesn't work I will modify it to incorporate Barry's idea and/or the protractor slides.

Just as a point of interest, I have now done around 20 cuts with the Crosscut sled and to this point I have not noticed any torsional forces coming into play and each cut has been spot on square. I have done several stub tenons and the shoulders are beeeeeauutifuuuul.

Cheers

[DPB]

v, I must confess I didn't think about the dead-end channel. However, when you push your sled to it furthest point, I believe you still have a fair amount of the sled still sitting on the table. If you used a shortened runner that ran the length from the stopped position to the front of the channel, this would still add some additional stability and accuracy. I think it would be worth doing if the runner was a minimum of 150mm. What do you think?

[John G]

Hang on...

You've got a 250mm blade in your 235mm Triton saw?

Now, I'm no occupational-health-and-safety-know-it-all, but is that really a good idea??

[vcohen]

Whoops John G,

Make that a 235mm blade. But whatever it is it gives me a 42mm cut with the jig in place.

Now where's that red-faced icon???????????

Cheers

[vcohen]

Hi Woodchuck,

I guess my answer to your question would be that I would rather have a spread of 600mm (Distance between the bearings) to a 150mm distance. It seems to me that it would provide better stability overall. I think that the 150mm runner would be quite adequate on smaller jigs provide the fit is snug and there is no lateral movement.

Another point is that if I had used a shortened runner without reducing the front to back measurement of the jig, I would not have had access for the blade height winder without making a hole through the bed of the jig. There may be no other alternative if the Sliding Extension is not available. Although in that case I think I personally would straddle both left and right sides of the table with an 'outrigger'???? jig. (but IMHO the jig would be too heavy).

As I have the extension already fitted to the table it seems logical for me to use it and to take advantage of the stability it provides.

keep the ideas comin'

Cheers

[DPB]

Vince, not to belabour the point, I am not suggesting that you abandon your idea of using the sliding extension table runner. What I am suggesting might be worth a try is to supplement your idea with Barry White's.

The primary stability comes from your modification. A shortened UHMW plastic runner fitted to run in the right hand mitre slot would provide additional stability and assure that the sled would always run square.

As you pointed out, the dead end nature of the Triton mitre channel precludes anything but a shortened runner on the sled. To calculate the length of the runner, move the sled to its furthest point away from the operator end of the table (determined by the stop you have designed) then measure the distance from the far end of the right mitre slot to the front end of your table. This would be the length of the UHMV runner.

[vcohen]

Hi Woodchuck,

I totally agree with you about added stability. Although I have now added a runner to the right hand to the sled, not because I was having difficulty with stability, but to test the idea.

As I had already ordered and received a couple of the protractor slides, I fitted one of those. As you know protractor slides can't be lifted out except at the beginning or at the end of their travel so effectively lock the jig to the table.

After trying a few cuts, including panels, I came to the conclusion that the slide was really not adding anything to the stability, and other than precluding the jig from lifting it was serving no real purpose. So I removed it to use maybe on a tenoning jig.

One initial problem I had when I added the slide was I didn't set the hose clamp to stop the jig at precisely the point that the slide stopped it. The jig kinda bounced only a tiny bit but enough to be noticeable. So if anyone intends to try the idea I suggest you place the hose clamp to stop the jig at the same time as the slide.

I guess when making your decision on the method to to make your jigs, it comes down to what the inimitable Humphrey Bogart said in the 'African Queen' ......"Yer pays yer money, so yer makes yer choices"........

Thanks for the interest shown Woodchuck. By swapping these ideas, hopefully we all become better at what we love doing.

Cheers