X-cut sled, front or rear fence?

[Rich Engelhardt]

My old crosscut sled is done for.
I'm not sure I can salvage anything from it or if it's even worth the time/trouble to try.

I figure I'll just use it as a learning experience of what not to do .

Anyhow, I'd like to build a new one & have been looking at a bunch of them.
Some use the front fence to position the stock and some use the rear fence.

Could someone explain the advantages/disadvantages to each?
TIA!

[Jerome Hanby]

Off the top of my head, a front fence leave you more capacity, especially if you have an out-feed table. The rear fence would be easier to drive the workpiece since you have the fence supporting through the cut. On my old fence (which got broken during the move) I had both fences...

I would probably build two sleds, back fence for normal crosscutting and front fence for panels (like Norm's).

[Bill Huber]

I use the front fence to square off of, to me it is much easier to pull the wood against the the front then to push it against the rear. As you cut the blade is wanting to push the wood to the front which will keep it against the fence better. Just my 2¢ for what it's worth.

[Norman Hitt]

I built a sled for my ww buddy that you can use Either fence for square cuts. It is probably a little larger and slightly heavier than most, but quite handy.

[Alan Schwabacher]

As you cut the blade is wanting to push the wood to the front which will keep it against the fence better.

I guess we'd better be careful what we call the front and the back. I would consider the front to be the fence that first passes the blade, but if I understand your description, you are naming them the other way around. So I prefer a back fence for the same reasons, and think I am specifying the same fence by a different name. I would consider the back fence of the sled to be toward the front of the saw, so maybe your terminology makes more sense than mine.

For a single runner sled, or "panel cutter", I like to put the single fence on the trailing side when the sled is in the miter slot nearer the blade. That way I can turn it around backwards if I use a dado blade, or any blade that would otherwise damage my reference edge.

[Bill Huber]

I guess we'd better be careful what we call the front and the back. I would consider the front to be the fence that first passes the blade, but if I understand your description, you are naming them the other way around. So I prefer a back fence for the same reasons, and think I am specifying the same fence by a different name. I would consider the back fence of the sled to be toward the front of the saw, so maybe your terminology makes more sense than mine.

For a single runner sled, or "panel cutter", I like to put the single fence on the trailing side when the sled is in the miter slot nearer the blade. That way I can turn it around backwards if I use a dado blade, or any blade that would otherwise damage my reference edge.

That is a little problem...

To me when I stand in FRONT of the saw I am standing where I can turn it on and off. I am looking to the back of the saw. So to me when I say the front fence I am talking about the fence that would go by the blade last.
I think it is all in the way you look at it, now you can really get your mind screwed up if you think about it to much..

[Jerome Hanby]

Sure is a problem. I'm always thinking of pushing from the back so my references are just the opposite. That's just for the sled or some other jig, I still think of the front of the saw as where the controls (angle and power at least) are. So on my previous, now defunct, sled, I had a thicker fence to push the wood though the blade and also give my something more sturdy to push the sled and bury the blade on exit. I had a less substantial fence on the front, mostly for stability.

[Derek Stockley]

I would probably build two sleds, back fence for normal crosscutting and front fence for panels (like Norm's).

I built one of each and an quite glad I did. The one with the fence at the leading edge of the cut is for squaring up large panels (think the side of a case piece) up to 30 inches wide. The other is a more "traditional" two-fence version for crosscuts up to 16" wide. I think there's lots of discussion out there on the two fence design, so I'll talk about the single fence on the leading edge.

For the large sled, I felt that it was important to put hold downs on the fence to keep the leading edge of the work piece from lifting on the blade. Since there's no way I can reach over a 30 inch panel to hold it down safely, the hold downs let me focus on guiding the cut. I used toggle clamps, but in retrospect that was overkill - a simpler hold down would be better because I don't use the larger sled often enough to justify the convenience and expense of toggle clamps. The drawback of the large sled is that for large crosscuts where the offcut has any significant weight, it's unsupported and can break off at the end of the cut. In practice, since I mostly only use that one for trimming panels square, I'm removing less than a quarter inch at a time anyway so it's not a problem.

[Myk Rian]

I guess we'd better be careful what we call the front and the back. I would consider the front to be the fence that first passes the blade, but if I understand your description, you are naming them the other way around.

Good point. You got to it before I did.
Bills description left me scratching my head.

[glenn bradley]

I have several sleds and have been through a few iterations. We all work differently but, most of mine have fences front and rear. Both fences straddle the blade. The base and rear fence (what I call the one in my hands) have replaceable zero clearance inserts which have been replaced many, many times. Replaceable ZCI's beat building a new sled once you've settled on a design you like ;-)

[Kent A Bathurst]

I have a couple of sleds with both fences. But - I am facing a situation [42" x 86" x 1-1/8" QSWO table top, w/breadboard ends], where I would need a big honking sled, and the only practical way for me to handle that would be a single fence at the "away from me, first through the blade" side [finessing front v. back issue].

The issues I see with that style really come down to a few points:

1] keeping the workpiece square against the fence. I intend to deal with this by screwing in a couple angled blocks to the sled base, and then tapping home wedges.
2] for the size and weight of the workpiece, I am concerned about the "slippery-ness". So - I am going to use a base of 1/2" ply, and underneath use countersinked screws to attach 4 x 6" strips of UHMW, spaced across the width of the TS extension table - one of them will be right at the blade edge.
3] The biggie: a single miter slot in play, rather than two. I intend to address this by the 2 incra miter gauge bars I bought. They will give me enough length to "overhang" the leading edge of the sled base, to help with alignment on the push. I'll have to monkey a bit to get them aligned, and the adjustment screws/discs squared away, but that shouldn't be a huge deal - squaring the "away from me" fence will be the mission-critical step.

This could well be a one-time sled. I have not made the final decision to go this route - the other option would be a crossing jig and a router - I've just never been able to get that type of thing dead-nuts square, but that doesn't mean I couldn't, and doesn't mean I've discarded this option. But, I like the thought that I can use the sled to get the critical cuts - the shoulders of the breadboard tenons - right where they need to be.

Whatcha think - am I over-driving my headlights here?

And, to preempt some helpful replies - Yes, I know how to build the router jig, and.... Yes, I know what a sliding table saw is and....No, I am not going to use a circular saw.

[John TenEyck]

I built the cutoff box, as he calls it, shown by Jere Cary in his book "Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets". I made it large enough enough for just about any task I'd want, with 40 inches of capacity between the lead and push fences. Both fences are square to the blade, so you could use either one, but I've only every used the push fence and don't see a reason why I'd want to use the lead fence. Cary's design has several important safety features, IMO. It has a Plexiglas guard between the two fences above the blade. You can see the cut, but it stops debris from hitting you in the face or your hand for inadvertantly hitting the blade. The design also includes provisions to support the sled as it cantilevers off the back of the saw, as well as means to stop the forward movement of the sled so that the blade cannot cut through the back of the saw blade guard. I've used it for 20 years now and it's still as good as the day I built it.

[Dan Barber1]

John:

Picture please. I need to build myself a new sled and yours sounds interesting. Don't have the book you mention.

[Rod Sheridan]

Now that I have a sliding tablesaw, I don't use a sled, however I have a couple of observations from using the slider.

1) For large pieces of sheet goods, the crosscut fence on the slider is furthest away from the operator. You are pushing the work against the fence as the table slides along.

2) for smaller pieces such as legs, rails stiles etc, the crosscut fence is positioned closest to the operator, and you push the slider (sled) along which carries the workpiece.

So, I'd build two sleds, one for squaring sheet goods, and one for cutting smaller pieces of stock, with the fence in different positions on each sled.

regards, Rod.

[Rich Engelhardt]

and....No, I am not going to use a circular saw.

Kent ole buddy, now that you've got your IR, you won't need mine!

I guess I'll have to let my wife know where to send my Festool TS55EQ though when the "big one" hits, eh?