Hi,
I am making, or rather, I am thinking about making, some veneered pillars. Imagine pyramids, very tall (~8') with narrow bases (~6" square), not pointy at the top but say (2" square). I would like to make the pillar using a torsion-box-like setup, with 3/4" plywood sides supported by interior cross pieces. This would seem to require very long tapers. The plywood pieces would be cut square. But the veneers (~1/4" thick hardwood) would be beveled to 45 degrees so as to enclose the inner plywood neatly.
I searched the forum and it seems the most applicable suggestion is to adhere (using double stick tape say) the to-be-cut piece to a plywood straight-edge / sled at the desired angle. The plywood sled would then run against the table saw fence.
I can almost see this working, but have two concerns. One, what is the best way to keep the plywood sled flat? Do you think it would work (or be necessary) to build a narrow torsion box along the length of the fence side of the sled? Two, how repeatable will cuts be under the most optimistic sled construction scenarios? There are to be six pillars, as nearly identical as possible.
Of course, I am open to other suggestions to accomplish the ultimate goal of repeatable, long, beveled tapers.
Matt