Shop Made Band Saw Slider with Pic

[Keith Outten]

Been working on this slider for my band saw for a few days off and on around other projects. The base and the fence are 3/4" thick PVC and I used Corian for the miter slot which had to be machined to fit the European miter slot on the saw table. The table is 36" wide by 21" deep, close to the size of my band saw table.

The PVC pieces were glued together using PVC cement. The Corian to PVC miter slide and the PVC fence to aluminum track were joined using Shoe Goo. I still need to make the fence stop which will be aluminum for the top piece and a Corian piece for the stop block. The incra scale slides left to right so it can be adjusted to fit the job at hand.

[Dave Lehnert]

Looks GREAT!
Love to have a saw like that.

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Dave,

This is my 5th and last band saw. Been working my way up to this saw for 35 years and I finally got the saw I always wanted. Its a long way from my first band saw which was a little Craftsman 3 wheel bench top model. I wore the first one out and bought a Craftsman 12" saw cutting out kitty cat shelves to help pay for my oldest daughters tuition when she was in elementary school. Been stepping up every few years to get to the new saw.
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[David Wong]

That looks great. I am unfamiliar with sheet PVC material. Any reason who you chose PVC over using corian?

[fRED mCnEILL]

What stope you from cutting the table in half or cutting into the al extrusion?

[johnny means]

Well done. I've never seen a sled used on a bandsaw. Any particular use you have in mind or is it more of a general use for you. Any plans for mitering or beveling add-ons? I

[Keith Outten]

David,

I decided to use PVC over Corian because of the weight. A Corian slider would have been more than twice as heavy. Awhile back I was able to pick up a truck load of PVC scraps from a local company, most of it is 3/4" thick but I did get some 1/4" thick material as well and I have been using it for lots of projects lately.

Fred,

When using a slider like mine you just have to be careful for the most part not to cut to deep into the fence. When I get some time I will probably install a short cable that will limit the sliders forward movement automatically.
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[Keith Outten]

Johnny,

I thought about machining an arc along the left side of the slider so I could adjust the fence at an angle. For now this fence will take care of my needs, mostly small sign work, it is a replacement for the plywood slider I used on my old Jet band saw that I sold to a friend recently.

I think I made my first band saw slider ten years ago and I found out how useful they can be. Since I bought my new band saw I have felt handicapped working without a slider. Its kind of like a slider for a table saw and used for much the same kinds of work.
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[David Wong]

Keith,

I forgot to ask what is the maximum crosscut width your sled is able to handle? Have you run into any issues having the work piece slip on the PVC while positioning it for the cut?

David

[Sal Kurban]

Very nice...
Sal.

[Keith Outten]

David,

I have a little over 12 inches of crosscut capability with my sled, larger than any I have ever had in the past. The PVC sheet has a texture on the surface which seems to grip well enough to keep lumber, plastics, etc from sliding and since I use a stop block almost all the time it helps keep things stable.

I made a large PVC block that I can use perpendicular to the fence for short rip cuts and a small Corian block for things like pen blanks. I have a couple more sign jobs to finish before I make the sliding stop that keys to the aluminum track.

The slider can be used with custom fixtures and stop blocks to setup cuts for inlay projects so multiple cuts are identical. I also plan to use it to rough cut and trim Corian sign plaques after dye-sublimating them. Sometimes it is impossible to line up artwork in a heat press, if the graphic is off a bit I can make the necessary trim cuts using the slider. When I know ahead of time that alignment is going to be a problem I cut my plaques large so I can trim to suit after sublimating is complete.
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[Keith Outten]

Thanks Sal,

I have to work up a plan to make a slider to cut picture frame miters when I get the time.
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[Keith Outten]

First picture - A closeup of the stop block I just finished. I used PVC glue to join the top piece of quarter inch PVC sheet to the lower piece of three quarter inch that is the sliding stop block. Note the champher at the base of the block, this prevents chips from getting in the blind corner.

Second Picture - I used my Corian triangle against the stop block to cut a 45 degree miter.

Third Picture - This is an almost daily job, I use my band saw and slider to cut plaques to size. Most of the time this is done after a plaque is dye-sublimated as it is sometimes difficult to place the paper sheet in perfect alignment on the plaque so it is easier to trim the plaque to size after it is removed from the heat press. On most dye-sub projects I can use heat tape to align the paper to the plaque however when Corian gets soft during the heat cycle tape will leave an impression in the plaque surface.

Forth Picture - A quick cross cut on a piece of White Oak to be used for pen blanks.

Fifth Picture - The first rip cut.
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[Keith Outten]

Successive cuts from the slabs to the 3/4" squares then using the stop block to cut the pen blanks to length.
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[David Wong]

That's neat Keith. Really shows the possibilities.