Thread: Crosscut sled design

I think MDF is the most commonly used, along with ply as it is more often than not flat!

This guy used ply
The Ultimate Shop-Built Crosscut Sled - Shop - American Woodworker

This guy used mdf
Tablesaw Crosscut Sled | After Hours with the WOOD Gang

I made one last year (out of mdf) for what I thought was a one off task. Now I use is quite often. I'm going to make a bigger one very soon.

Andy

Anything that is completely flat will do for the job. Most cross cut sleds ar used without a guard, you need to be aware of the blade at all times particularly if the blade comes right through the back fence when making a cut. I have seen blocks of wood glued into place at the exit point of the sawblade to prevent a nasty accident. Keep your hands well away from the exposed blade at all times.

They are easy to make and can be replaced very cheaply, invaluable in my mind. Good luck with yours.

Jill
Have a look on Rocker's link to his jigs where he has a cross-cut jig

Many thanks Andy, there are some excellent ideas in the links you provided

Originally Posted by munruben

I have seen blocks of wood glued into place at the exit point of the sawblade to prevent a nasty accident. Keep your hands well away from the exposed blade at all times.

I think a block of wood to shield the saw blade as it emerges from the back fence is absolutely essential, together with a stop block to limit the amount of forward travel of the sled. The blade-shielding block should be screwed as well as glued, taking care, of course, that the screw is above the maximum height of the blade.
I used 12 mm melamine-covered chipboard for the base of my sled.

Rocker

Thanks for this information Rocker.

Interesting about the melamine base, nobody has mentioned that yet, but it must be a fairly tough surface to be used by cabinet makers for all their shelves. Do you find it lasts a long time as a base?

Also, what did you think about the Ultimate Sled with clear perspex guard where the blade protrudes through the back fence?

Jill,

My sled lasted me eight years before Cliff Rogers inherited it with my table saw a couple of years ago; I would be surprised if it is not still going strong in his workshop. I think the guard on the ultimate sled behind the fence is unnecessarily complex to make. I attach the plans and article on my sled. I don't think a horizontal perspex guard is really necessary.

Rocker

Many thanks for this, Rocker

Jill this is mine. Its a standard sled with a 2mt long fence. The underside of the long fence has a 50mm wide (front) plywood strip/ledge attached so boards and panels can rest on that for support, and a strip also at the back so an auxiliary fence/stop can slide on and clamp to it to increase it to 2.7mt. (or as long as you want)

A measuring tape has been glued on top and a sliding stop that runs across.

The end is supported by a length of ply (with parafon wax) that has height blocks added so it can slip in and out of my workmate easy. It makes the whole thing slide beautifully even with a full panel sitting on it.

It can comfortably handle (without me holding it) a 2400 x 675mm board and is very, very accurate on the cross cut. Also its never used for anything but 90deg as i have a small seperate ont for angles.

Very neat! Many thanks Lignum, there are some really good ideas here.

Interesting to see you can cut 675mm wide panels, of almost infinite length, depending on the width of your shed and the number of timbermates you can rustle up

What size and thickness base did you use?

Originally Posted by JillB

What size and thickness base did you use?

9mm Interior ply.

And check out this brilliant sled idea from Bridge City. Its on my "to do next" list.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmp2x5VxKhM&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - Parallelogram Table Saw Jig[/ame]

Thanks, Lignum, I need to get my head around this. The first thing that strikes me is that the fence at each end would be chewed up pretty quickly, unless it had some replaceable parts, like a sacrifical insert. After two cuts with the parallelogram in opposite directions, you would end up with a dovetail finger shaped chip instead of a solid fence

Jill, I made one very similar to the one you pictured in your first post - without even the complexity of the stop. I used 18mm ply for the bottom and just a couple of big waste scraps for the front and back. It worked great for me. I didn't worry about an extended guard or a stop, but both are good ideas. Just get it as accurate as you can when you make it (mine was spot on). I used hardwood strips for the slot runners, screwed and glued everything, and just regular furniture wax on the runners and bottom. Quick and easy to make, accurate cuts every time.

Many thanks Bob, that is good to know.