Building a cross cut sled.....

[Corey Hallagan]

I will be starting a cross cut sled for the TS this weekend amongst a couple other jigs. The plan that I am loosely follow made an interesting comment with regards to setting up the front and rear rails on the sled. It states: " in location the front rails simply line up the fence with the edge of the front edge of the base, however, the rear rail needs to be perfectly perpendicular to the blade so you must line it up properly...." and it goes on to explain using a long bladed framing square to align the rear rail.

It seems to me that if this is a cross cut sled that it would be crucial that the front rail/fence be as perfect as possible, not the rear. Actually both should be as much as you can get it but the front is what will have the stop on it along with hold downs that hold workpieces up to the front fence. Just seems to me they have this backwards. Am I right?

Thanks as always,
Corey

[Don Baer]

Cory,
You are correct. Here is an article on buildind a sled that might be helpful.

http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/...xcutting.shtml

[Michael Ballent]

The sled will only be as accurate as the square you are using to measure. What ever you are using to make sure that it is 90º it has to be very accurate. One other method to use is to take some plywood and cut it, rotate the fresh cut onto the fence, cut again, repeat until you have made 4 cuts. Measure the it for square and it will be 4 times greater than the amount the sled is off of 90º. I hope that makes sense. and yes the face of the fence has to be flat as well.

[Andrew Ault]

Corey,

One thing I like to do is to set the runner(s) into shallow dados to ensure that they are perpendicular to the fence.

-Andy

[Steve Schoene]

I think this is a matter of symantics. I'd bet the author was thinking of the rear fence has that closest to the operator. It does pass the blade last.

[Michael Ballent]

Corey,

One thing I like to do is to set the runner(s) into shallow dados to ensure that they are perpendicular to the fence.

-Andy

That is too much measuring for me I am not sure that would really buy you much... The dados are parallel, but you want the fence perpendicular to the blade. What I have done is to just place the plywood/particle board on the saw with the runners already in the slots. Then I screw them in along their length. I pull the assembly back to clear the blade, turn on the saw and advance the plywood into the blade cutting about half way into the ply. Then I get the fence perpendicular to the blade.

[Corey Hallagan]

Steve, I think you are right on that. Don, good article and thanks. In fact in the article the author refers to gluing up the front brace ( the part that goes to the back of the saw and then putting the fence on the sled, which would be what I call the front.

Thanks all,
Corey

[Roy Wall]

I think this is a matter of symantics. I'd bet the author was thinking of the rear fence has that closest to the operator. It does pass the blade last.

I agree!

Both Jim Tolphin and Kelly Mehler say the same thing..They "harp" on the exactness of the "rear fence"...or the fence you are pushing...the fence the stock is set against..

[Chris Giles]

It may seem a small point folks, but you actually want the fence on the sled to be perpendicular to the cut line of the blade, not the blade itself. Often, the trunnion is not set precisely parallel to the slots in the top. Unless you are positive of this parallel alignment, use the cut line through the sled as your reference. I find a reliable way to check square is to rip a piece of mdf to whatever the maximum capacity of your sled will be, then crosscut it on the sled, flip it over front-to-back, and take a 1/32" more off. As you push it through, observe the consistency of this cut. This will tell you how square you are.

[Corey Hallagan]

Chris, my plans do say to square the fence to the kerf as you say, not the blade as I said in the post. Makes sense.

Thanks,
Corey

[Corvin Alstot]

Corey/

FWW magazine had an article on building a sled awhile ago. I used it and have been please with the results. By the way, I square front and rear fences. Ping me if you need a magazine date.

[Jim Becker]

I believe that on a sled with both a front and rear fence, they BOTH need to be accurately indexed to the cutter. My cross-cut sled is a-la Norm and only has a front fence. I find that format most convenient for the way I work as well as being less sensitive to maximum panel width, but it is only one way of many to build one. It also only sits on one side of the blade. For a sled that straddles the blade, both fences are best so you can also do a guard over the blade path.

[Corey Hallagan]

Jim, it sounds like you are referring to the original one that Norm made and what he refers to as his panel cutter. I built that as a downsized version for my very first jig many years ago for a small 8 inch bench top. I used the heck out of that and when I sold the saw the guy wanted it too.

Corey

[Jim Becker]

Yes, it's the same as both his original and his updated version done in the "Jigs" episode. I use it for panel cutting. For sticks I use one of my miter guages (OEM with a short MDF sacrificial fence or my Incra 1000) For 45º miters I have a custom sled I made that spans the blade so I can make opposite cuts from either side for an exact 90º mating.

[Norman Hitt]

Chris, my plans do say to square the fence to the kerf as you say, not the blade as I said in the post. Makes sense.

Thanks,
Corey

Cory, there was a Really good Video, (that I "thought" was on the Taunton Site), and I used to have it bookmarked, but I guess I lost it when the old "Confuser" went down and had to be rebuilt. I looked on the Taunton/Fine WW site, but couldn't find it. Maybe someone else remembers this VIDEO CLIP, and knows where it is, (or maybe it's just no longer there OR, It was on some other site and my CRS just kicked in).

If you can find it, it is very helpful for Making, and Setting Up Cutoff or Panel Sleds and their Fences.