Thread: Chasing accuracy and convenience with sleds and mitre gauges

Originally Posted by havabeer69

where did you get the 2060 from?

Local guy in Vic. Has tee nut hardware as well.
Home - RM Aluminium & Fasteners

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Basically, there were four things:

-- an outdoor Quick Cutdown solution that simply had a trellis-on-a-trailer where I'd break sheets down
-- an incra fence
-- a sled
-- and rip cuts on the table saw

I now use a home-made cut-up board using 18mm MDF and the PARF Guide System. Brilliant. (I say this, as Ive a Festool MFT and dont use it). This PARF board does all my sheetstock and smaller part cutups.

Sounds like good advice. Keen to read the full articles.

The PARF system has caught my eye before. With the number of CNC owners these days, wouldn't it be easier to get the board fab'd and just use the hardware?

I'm pretty happy with my current setup for sheet stock. I throw sheets in the roof racks, then break 'em down rough on track saw over some foam. The whole lot stores neatly in a rack that takes about 8 sheets, and a bunch of half sheets too, alongside solid stock as well.

Sled next.

The v120 mitre gauge is awesome. Only made a few cuts with it so far, but it's definitely awesome to be able to cross cut parts without getting a sled out. Worth it!

This guy does an MFT top without the expense of the PARF system but getting it done on a CNC would not be too expensive and a whole lot less trouble.

That looks like a giant faff TBH. I'd sooner just buy a jig or have one made up. Either way, I don't think MFT style tops are quite my jam.

When I built my assembly table, I prioritised the flatness of torsion box over flexibility of MFT. I know it's possible to have both MFT and torsion box in same table, but I wanted to get it done, and use it for a while instead of trying to design and build the perfect solution without really knowing what I care about yet. The other work surface in my shop is a fold-down outfeed table on the TS.

I guess I could use an MFT top that is stored in sheet rack, and only used for breakdown, but I don't see the point, I'm pretty happy to cut freehand and slightly oversize, keeping track of reference edges, then clean up and cut to final dimensions on table saw.

Track saw purists would say its faster to cut once, and they'd be right. But it's only faster if that's what you're set up for!

Originally Posted by rogerwilco

That looks like a giant faff TBH.

I only offered it as an alternative but each to their own.

None of your fancy pants MFT benches and sexy heated workshops!

Mate, I have it as rough as guts Thats my cut up table, I flip it onto the "picnic" table, ah... workbench

This sheet, drilled as I have with the PARF, lets me hyper-accurately cut up sheets, part-sheets and timber into components. They can them be finished by hand tools.

A few more holes in some places would be better, but not really necessary.

Decent view, but noisy

IMG_20210614_163434.jpg

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

This guy does an MFT top without the expense of the PARF system but getting it done on a CNC would not be too expensive and a whole lot less trouble.

Clever.

I liked these Bench Dogs he referenced--> Bench Dogs – Benchdogs

I'm with barri in this - have a small one (750x420x100), a long one with sliding hinged stops (1250x450x100) and a large one (1000x700x100) and use them every day. I gave up on MDF (bad for my lungs, bad for my tools) and now use marine ply. Also use those UHMW poly runners from Carbatec and found William Ng's technique for getting the sled square works very well, its fiddly but worth it. Heres the link 5 Cuts to a "Perfect" Cross-Cut Sled - YouTube

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

I only offered it as an alternative but each to their own.

For sure! Some folks would love this, and it is definitely smart.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Thats my cut up table, I flip it onto the "picnic" table, ah... workbench

This sheet, drilled as I have with the PARF, lets me hyper-accurately cut up sheets, part-sheets and timber into components. They can them be finished by hand tools.

A few more holes in some places would be better, but not really necessary.

IMG_20210614_163434.jpg

I like this.

Also watched the Peter Parfitt video, which gave me a better understanding of how bench dogs are used. Makes a lot of sense.

I find the trickiest cut to get right is full length rips from a full size sheet. The rails on my track saw don't stay dead straight when joined together. Parf dogs would probably help that a lot.

You've got me thinking Woodpixel!

I'd probably si this on saw horses, I've got the kind that can be turned into a trellis with a couple 90x45s for support.

Originally Posted by CharlieZ

found William Ng's technique for getting the sled square works very well, its fiddly but worth it. Heres the link 5 Cuts to a "Perfect" Cross-Cut Sled - YouTube

Charlie, I have a quicker, easier and just as accurate method for squaring the fence on a sled or miter gauge as shown in this video

Table Saw Sled Alignment - YouTube

The beauty of this method is that there are no cuts, no mess and no need for a calculator. When I saw this video for the first time I had to try it and within 5 minutes I had a bang on square fence. I checked it with the 5 cut method and it was spot on. I now use this method for every sled and miter gauge.

All you need is a dial indicator (which can be used for other things) and an accurate square. Also this method won't work unless your fence is straight.

That dial indicator method is excellent.

The corner of MDF I've found is 100% bang-on 90°.... a section of that would be an excellent "engineering square".

Originally Posted by woodPixel

That dial indicator method is excellent.

The corner of MDF I've found is 100% bang-on 90°.... a section of that would be an excellent "engineering square".

Yep never seen that method either and it looks super simple

Originally Posted by woodPixel

That dial indicator method is excellent.

The corner of MDF I've found is 100% bang-on 90°.... a section of that would be an excellent "engineering square".

MDF..... must be the Bunnings stuff that I buy..... there is always one square corner but generally NEVER two of them, I can always find one corner to work from but i've got to find it first.

The dial indicator method relies on an accurate square, I noticed he was using a machinist square in the video... might be a bit hard with most cheapish squares from the local stores.
Though i guess if you own a dial indicator then you likely own one or more machinist squares