VIDEO - Shop built Mitering and Crosscut Sled

[Jim Eller]

John,

Once again you have shared some great info that I really appreciate.

I have been putting off this sled building thing for years and just keep gettin' by without. As said before the "ah ha" ideas you show are great and many. I sometimes see them as "duh" ideas, like, I can't believe I was dumb enough not to think of that.

I really like your website and again, I appreciate your caring and sharing.

BTW, Did you notice the belt guard fell off of your table saw?

Thanks again,
Jim

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

After you cut the slots, you can "treat" the slots using yellow glue. I've often used yellow glue to seal up the edge of MDF, and it does a great job. A couple of coats and the cut edge is sealed and strengthened by the glue.
John

Nice tip - thanks!

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

John - two items.

following a suggestion I read somewhere, I put a small rabbet on the bottom of the face (that holds the workpiece) - this prevents any dust or anything that gets wedged under the bottom corner of the fence from impacting the aligbment of the piece.

Also - I've seen some people attach the fence with one screw on one end, and then "pivot it" during the squaring process. I used this method, and it does make it a little 'easier' to get it clamped down without throwing the alignment off....

Overall, great sled! I'm going to add the slots in the base of mine (using your 'glue' tip to seal the MDF).

[J. Z. Guest]

Great work John.

Not sure if it was a good move to publish that rather than patent it.

If you could devise a way to mass produce them, then sell them to those of us who are too lazy to make our own....

Maybe make a few and put them up for sale here and on ebay?

Edit: I about fell out of my chair when I saw that old Shopsmith 10ER as your drill press. Nice piece of machinery. I had one, but it wasn't versatile enough to earn a place in my shop at the time. Heavy beast, that was.

[John Nixon]

John - two items.
following a suggestion I read somewhere, I put a small rabbet on the bottom of the face (that holds the workpiece) - this prevents any dust or anything that gets wedged under the bottom corner of the fence from impacting the aligbment of the piece.

Hi John. I considered that little dust relief, but left it out for one reason. I have this 12 inch digital protractor that I plan on using to set the miter fence. The protractor has some magnets along it's edge. I plan on installing some small screws to match up with where those magnet will hit when the protractor is placed against the rear main fence. If not for the protractor, I probably would have added the dust relief.

The dust relief would have also thrown off my method for squaring the fence with the drafting squares, and I just couldn't get past that.

Also - I've seen some people attach the fence with one screw on one end, and then "pivot it" during the squaring process. I used this method, and it does make it a little 'easier' to get it clamped down without throwing the alignment off....

No doubt, a good method. I had seen the same method, and considered using, but when I put the rulers in the kerf and added the drafting squares, I had a high degree of confidence that I could secure the fence in that exact position. My method is definitely a bit riskier becuase it would be a mess if you had to adjust it.

I appreciate your feedback and suggestions on improvement!

[John Nixon]

John,

I have been putting off this sled building thing for years and just keep gettin' by without. As said before the "ah ha" ideas you show are great and many. I sometimes see them as "duh" ideas, like, I can't believe I was dumb enough not to think of that.

Hey, thanks Jim!
After I built my sled (David Marks was my inspiration for building the first one), I quickly realized how nice it was to use. It just felt so much better to have a sled carrying the wood through the saw blade, rather than pushing it through with the miter guage. The same goes for the angling tenon jig I added to the crosscut sled. It's nice to have your wood clamped to something that is moving it through the saw without the friction of something scraping along your tablesaw top.

BTW, Did you notice the belt guard fell off of your table saw?

Thanks again,
Jim

So you saw my red link belt back there? When I got behind the saw to put that screw in the runner, that was the first time I had seen the back of my tablesaw in a long time. Boy, was it dusty back there...couple of dead bugs, and other misc. crap.

Anyway, the outfeed table using tucked right up to the back of my tablesaw...thuse serving as a giant blade guard.

Thanks for your nice comments.

[John Nixon]

Great work John.

Not sure if it was a good move to publish that rather than patent it.

If you could devise a way to mass produce them, then sell them to those of us who are too lazy to make our own....

Maybe make a few and put them up for sale here and on ebay?

Edit: I about fell out of my chair when I saw that old Shopsmith 10ER as your drill press. Nice piece of machinery. I had one, but it wasn't versatile enough to earn a place in my shop at the time. Heavy beast, that was.

Hi Jeremy,

The Shopsmith belonged to my Grandfather (it's a 1951 10ER), and it'll stay in my shop forever for sentimental reasons. I have it permanent drill press mode, which is IMO it's greatest abillity.

There was a fancy crosscut and mitering sled that I saw on Amazon. It looked like they were made by someone (not mass produced that it). They were no longer available, but never-the-less seemed like a nice sled.

I appreciate your sentiment that the idea is worthy of manufacturer and sale, but I consider the idea a culmination of other good ideas and a bit of ingenuity to bring it together. It's a lot like music - there isn't much originality anymore, we're all just borrowing bits and pieces from other bodies of work.