sled for segmented turning

[Mike Minto]

any of you 'seggies' out there use a store-bought gauge/sled for cutting your segments? i looked at some Incra stuff tonight, but it looks like they only cut short pieces off the ends of boards - can they be used to repeatedly cut small segments without having to re-set the gauge/sled with every cut? thanks for any help, mike

[John King]

Mike - Build your own cutting sled. It's less expensive than purchased sleds. And, if constructed correctly, much more accurate. Here are some references.

http://www.turnedwood.com/framesled.html

http://www.segmentedturning.com/acumiter.htm

http://www.woodturner.org/products/a...inter_Sled.pdf

Good luck! - John

[Robert McGowen]

I purchased an Incra 5000 a couple of weeks ago. It has been raining so steadily here in what is normally a dry environment, that I have been worried about getting it out in the humidity. It is still sitting on the dining room table. After some research, I purchased it specifically to cut segments with. While I agree with John that it is much cheaper to build your own instead of buying one, I am not sure that it is "much more accurate" to build your own. I will post my impressions once I get it up and cutting. It should be sometime this week.

If you google "segmented woodturners" the first site listed is a site that Malcolm Tibbetts helped to get started. It is a chapter of the AAW devoted to segmented turning. There is a discussion about the Incra 5000 on it, among other things.

[Dick Sowa]

If you plan to make a few segmented vessels, then an adjustable fence might work for you. But if you want to really get serious about segmenting, then I recommend a dedicated sled...probably several sleds...one each for different numbers of segments.

I have 4 sleds, each one has been adjusted so I can go from cut off to glue up. Total cost, including the toggle clamps, maybe $10 per sled.

I keep my miter gage for my flat work projects

[Bruce McElhaney]

Just a thought Mike, have you considered using a miter saw? I've used both a tablesaw sled and a miter-saw and prefer the miter-saw. Malcolm Tibbetts demonstrates his miter-saw setup in his, Art of Segmented Woodturning book and on his DVDs.

[Harvey Crouch]

Mike, I started with a sled. It was ok, but now I have gone 100% to a miter saw. I consider it more accurate, safer and faster. An added plus is that you don't have to store multiple sleds.

[Terry Murphy]

When using the miter saw, how do you keep the small pieces from banging and flying around the shop?

Terry

[Harvey Crouch]

Build a zero clearance fence. I use MDF (shown in Malcolm's book) Then take the blade all the way through the cut and let it stop before raising it. If you bring it up before the blade stops, the teeth on the back will grab the wood. I still loose an occasional piece when cutting very small pieces, but not many and zero when the length gets to 1" or greater.

[Mike Minto]

thanks for the replies. i have made one; i enjoy making my own tools/jigs (WHEN i have the time). i was just thinking that for something this exacting, a precision store-bought might be the way to go. i'll practice with my shop-made one, though, and get back to you all in a few weeks. mike

[Robert McGowen]

You posted this question last night at 7:17 pm and you have already made a sled and are back posting about it at 1:51 pm today? I think you might have already had your mind made up.

[Mauricio Ulloa]

Hey Mike,

I followed the instructions on this site:

http://www.turnedwood.com/framesled.html

This is the secret to segmented turning. You have to make a sled per each number of segments. So, I have a sled for a 12 segments ring, another one for 15 and so on.... When I make the sled, I attach a screw on the left side of the sled bar and keep it there forever. Then I measure the initial angle and attach the second screw on the right side of the bar. This screw is taken off and placed back in another place to micro adjust the angle of the bar. What I do is that I adjust the sled bar and cut the segments. Then I glue the segments and check for even the slightest gap between them. I continue adjusting the sled bar until there is no gap between the segments. It took me two days to do this with my first one. Once you have it set up, you just fix the sled bar with a screw. Then you won't have to worry about accuracy anymore. The moment you change the bar in one of this things you lost your accuracy and it just won't work.

Here is a pic of the sled that I first made following the instructions from above. On the left side are marks of all the failed attempts until the final accurate position was found. The ring that you see is the final one. The segments fit just perfect!

SDC10080.jpg

I'm also attaching a pic of a sample vase done with this sled.

SDC10006.JPG

Hope this works for you! Good luck!

[John King]

When using the miter saw, how do you keep the small pieces from banging and flying around the shop?

Terry

Terry - Take the paper dust bag out of your ShopVac. Setup the ShopVac with the vacuum nozzle placed on the miter saw as close as possible to the area where the segmented pieces will be when they are cut. When the segmented piece is cut from the stock, the vacuum immediately sucks it up. When finished, open the ShopVac and retrieve the segmented pieces. - John

[Garth Jones]

I use an Incra 5000 and like it very much (for all kinds of angled cutting, not just segments). For segments I move the miter fence on my saw to the other side of the blade and clamp a short piece of wood on it - that becomes my stop block. That way I can cut all the segments of a particular length very quickly. The jig goes in 0.5 degree increments, so many rings are dead simple to cut for.

Cheers,
Garth

[Matthew Bills]

Hey Mike,

I followed the instructions on this site:

http://www.turnedwood.com/framesled.html

This is the secret to segmented turning. You have to make a sled per each number of segments. So, I have a sled for a 12 segments ring, another one for 15 and so on.... When I make the sled, I attach a screw on the left side of the sled bar and keep it there forever. Then I measure the initial angle and attach the second screw on the right side of the bar. This screw is taken off and placed back in another place to micro adjust the angle of the bar. What I do is that I adjust the sled bar and cut the segments. Then I glue the segments and check for even the slightest gap between them. I continue adjusting the sled bar until there is no gap between the segments. It took me two days to do this with my first one. Once you have it set up, you just fix the sled bar with a screw. Then you won't have to worry about accuracy anymore. The moment you change the bar in one of this things you lost your accuracy and it just won't work.

Here is a pic of the sled that I first made following the instructions from above. On the left side are marks of all the failed attempts until the final accurate position was found. The ring that you see is the final one. The segments fit just perfect!

SDC10080.jpg

I'm also attaching a pic of a sample vase done with this sled.

SDC10006.JPG

Hope this works for you! Good luck!

Hello Mauricio,

Maybe you have figured this out by now, but you can cut from 4 segments to 20 segments with one sled. I have one and it is great and accurate every time.

[Dan Henry]

I use a Dubby sled with a shop made extension on the other side of the blade for the stop with a small hold down to keep the cut piece from going airborne, very accurate and I think fast. Also can cut any angle but a the stop needs to be angle being cut.

Dan