Thread: Crosscut Sled 5 cut method

firstly as a Kiwi you should NOT be in the shed. You have the best country in the world get out enjoy the sunshine and wipe your butt on the sled as you take a few days off.

Hi Ged. I followed that method with some sleds a few years ago and I liked the result .

Its hard to know what could be the problem . First guess Id give , Is the fence moving as a straight non flexing piece ? If your tapping it and its hanging on a spot and changing or bowing because of that then Id imagine that would cause something like your saying .

Or is the point the fence pivots on a tight fit so it just pivots and doesn't move at all in other directions?

And then when you tighten the other end of the fence down , similar thing to the last . You dont want any change in setting between adjustment and final tightening if your adjusting that way . From memory I had mine tight but it still moved with a tap from a hammer.

If the base is tight and accurate in the table slots and sliding nicely then its got to be something with the fence.


For stability I think I used veneered chipboard in my bases . Its better at staying flat than ply is .

Rob

The only things I can add are, are you putting the freshly cut edge against your fence before doing the next cut by rotating the mdf clockwise? (Assume you are as William gives a pretty good instruction on this)
Is there any possibility the mdf could be sliding slightly during your cuts?
How big is your piece you are cutting? If it is too big you could be introducing a small amount of movement in the sled when you pull it out towards the end of the runners even though you say they are a good fit.

Thanks all - including the advice to get outdoors. It's a tad hot in sunny Christchurch just now. Got bored late last night so took it all apart. Have now remade it all with a 16/17mm mdf base that is as flat to the table as any bits of wood I have. The plywood was very flat side to side but definitely bowed front to back when I remeasured again last night. The fence is solid. It's 2inches thick and about 5 inches high. Checked it again today and square and flat across it's full length. Pivots around the single screw in the end. I am about to go out and get a couple of small sheets of mdf to redo the test cuts. Counted up the scraps last night and had 19 ! I'll cut about 10inch squares to ensure the sled is on the table fully and doesn't move sideways.

I have a suspicion it could also be either my technique for measuring the offcuts or the el cheapo digital caliper I have from bunnings. Nameless but looks exactly like this - https://www.bunnings.co.nz/craftrigh...iper_p05660301 On the same bit of wood I can get quite a variance of readings between using the tips and further up the jaws and when i return it from measuring it's generally at 0.02mm etc and needs zeroed each time. Will report back later today. Thanks again for the feeback

I can't comment on the particular calipers you linked to, but I had one exactly the same myself that I bought a while back (before picking up woodworking) from EBay.

Suffice to say, it frustrated me beyond belief, and is now in the rubbish bin somewhere - the thought of offering it here for someone for no cost that was just starting out crossed my mind for about half a second, and then I thought it would be better to bury this thing that have someone give up woodworking over it

Bought an iGaging one to replace it with: https://thewoodkid.com.au/shop/igagi...gital-caliper/

Works a treat, and haven't found it inaccurate so far.

As far as measuring is concerned. You should test your measurements against a known object, preferably not wood, measure the width of the object at the same point at least 3 times and see the consistency of your reading. Those bunnings calipers should be accurate enough. What it needs is probably a new battery. Accuracy decreases when the battery goes flat with these cheap calipers, and they go flat if it's left in the caliper over time. I don't think you will need expensive calipers to woodworking. The tolerance should be somewhere between 0.2 ~ 0.5 mm.
Something to consider is your saw alignment. Check it by following this youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xu1...gIdxMzA9TVpXnW.
If you need to adjust your table saw, you may find this useful.

Have a look at this, way quicker providing you have a dial indicator.

Thanks all for the comments and no dial guage just now but was looking at one in the local ( opened today) Machinery House in Christchurch. The table saw blade is near perfect to the mitre slots. Checked that again yesterday. I tried a new battery into the cheapo bunnings caliper and same issues with it. Wildly different readings each time i closed the caliper onto the same lump of steel. After watching me manically pacing around last night the good lady suggested a late xmas present. So a new caliper was had. It's a mid range mitutoyo and had really good reviews and user feedback. Suffice to say it has made the world of difference and the sled is dialled in after two attempts. Might also be it's the now just about dead flat MDF which weighs a fair old chunk. Thanks again for the help. Good to know I wasn't going crazy after all.

Can't go wrong with a Mitutoyo. I have one and it's repeatable every time and the battery lasts for years.
Glad you got your sled sorted.

Glad you had it sort out. The Bunnings caliper must be a real WPOS.

Great to know this is sorted, and also great choice on the Mitutoyo - they too are a quality caliper, you'll have that for many years to come

Also thank you for confirming the issue was the calipers - it vindicates my decision for a silent, "mob style" burial

Can't go wrong with a Mitutoyo.

I'll second that. Every day, I use my Mitutoya vernier callipers, bought in 2002, and they're still perfect. Wouldn't swap them for battery powered units though.

CHRISTCHURCH....

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ahh the serenity, we only dream of days like this............and my dad said yesterday he would still prefer Christchurch weather to Aucklands....nothing surprises me anymore