Large Crosscut Sled

[Todd Bin]

I have seen several posts pop up about cross cut sleds and their size. I was going to wait until I have everything completed before I posted this but "everything" is a lot and it may take a while. So here goes.

I made this crosscut sled bigger than my saw top. It overhangs the edges by 2" per side and on the back by 4" or so. The "table" is made from phenolic ply and I used Dominos joint two pieces together to make it big enough. I routed groves in it for T-trac and some hold downs. The cross members are 2" maple. The fancy design was "just becasue" I wanted to. The Eyebolts on the 4 corners are so it can be "hooked up" and lifed via pully system to the ceiling and then lowered when I need it.
The runners are the incra miter track.

Here is the "inovation" I thought of that I have never seen published. Maybe it has but I had not seen it. the trouble is always aligning the "fence" to the blade. So I made a partial cut and not through the maple. I got as close to the maple as I could. I then used 1/8" ply and wedged it to one side of the blade groove and used the ply as the reference to my square. I got the fence squared, clampled the cross member down and screwed it from the bottom.

I have built a couple of other cross cut sleds. They were always too small or not exactly square etc. This one slides like a dream and cuts dead square.

I think I still want to add an interior fence with the Kreg track and stop system. But that is for another day.

Hope this helps someone.

Todd
2008 Contributor

[Rick Hubbard]

Wow Todd-

Thats some sled. How convenient it is to have to use the hoist to raise and lower it?

Also, the 1/8" plywood trick is really slick.

But what I'm REALLY curious about is the infeed table that I see folded down in front of the saw. Where did you get this?

Rick

[Chris Szczygiel]

Originally Posted by Rick Hubbard

Wow Todd-

But what I'm REALLY curious about is the infeed table that I see folded down in front of the saw. Where did you get this?

Rick

It looks like the Grizzly outfeed roller system to me.

http://grizzly.com/products/Outfeed-...stem-37-/G1317

[Todd Bin]

Originally Posted by Rick Hubbard

Wow Todd-

But what I'm REALLY curious about is the infeed table that I see folded down in front of the saw. Where did you get this?

Rick

Rick, here is the link to my post about the outfeed rollers. The origianl post never gained much traction, but I posted it for reference. It is an HTC outfeed roller system. Really nice. Works like a champ. I think it was around $330.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=77616

I don't have the pully system fully installed yet. When I get that done I will post about it.

thanks.

[Paul Simmel]

So you don't have any runners in the miter slots?

[Glen Blanchard]

Originally Posted by Paul Simmel

So you don't have any runners in the miter slots?

I bet Todd used Incra's runners. That is the reason for the holes in the top of the sled.

[Paul Simmel]

Originally Posted by Glen Blanchard

I bet Todd used Incra's runners. That is the reason for the holes in the top of the sled.

Are they something special? The outfeed rollers would be in the way, I'd think as I see it. I checked the link of the install, and he has the rollers set to the TS table height. Maybe for the sled application he has lowered the rollers just for the runners.

Just wondering because I have considered a very large sled myself and thus far support is the main issue (both infeed and out, and actually, some to the left as well.) Anyway, I use a large assembly table as outfeed, and do not want to cut slots into its top. For me, I have to come up with a different solution so that the runners don't interfere with whatever support system I come up with.

I can't imagine a sled that size not being supported a the very least, on the outfeed side. And if the sled is riding along the Incra fence, I don't see the point of a sled then.

[Glen Blanchard]

Originally Posted by Paul Simmel

Are they something special?

Well, I would not call them "special", but they are kinda nice. Some of the holes in the top of the sled are to secure the runner to the sled while the other holes allow an allen wrench to adjust the slop out of the runner.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Question about the phenolic plywood- Did you have any trouble with it chipping? I have considered using it for a similar project, and worried that it might chip when cut.

Doc

[Bob Wingard]

I did pretty much the same thing to align the fence on my sleds .. .. only instead of the strip of 1/8" ply, I used a couple of large 1/8" thick metal washers. Just happened to be what I had on hand at the moment, but the idea's the same .. you just need a couple of reference points to align with.

Nice job, BTW.

[Todd Bin]

I'll try and answer some of the questions.

I did use two runners (one for each miter slot). They are the full length of the sled. I used the incra ones. They are kinda pricey but pretty nice. They are made of aluminum so no worries about expansion and contraction plus they won't wear out (very fast).

No issue with the phenolic chipping. You may notice in the picture the line where the two pieces are joined. When I dominoed them together the seam did not line up exactly flush. It was my first use of the domino. So I used a cabinet scraper and some sand paper to flush the seam. No big deal, it just doesn't look nice.

The HTC roller has a thumb screw on each side with a "cam" that moves the hight of the rollers down 1/4" or so. That way when you use the miter gauge it will clear the roller. It is a 2 second operation to reset the cam to the "up" position. You might be able to see the cam in the link I posted about the HTC.

Thanks for the complement about the sled being nice but I hardly think it deserves it. The unsightly line where the joint is and if you look you can see where I was a little careless with the router on the far t-track and got some chip out. I tried taking too big a cut at first. Oh well. That is what I get for being in a hurry.

Thanks.

Todd

[Paul Simmel]

Hey Tod, thanks for the explanations. How are you supported on the infeed side?

[Jules Dominguez]

Originally Posted by Paul Simmel

Are they something special? The outfeed rollers would be in the way, I'd think as I see it. I checked the link of the install, and he has the rollers set to the TS table height. Maybe for the sled application he has lowered the rollers just for the runners.

Just wondering because I have considered a very large sled myself and thus far support is the main issue (both infeed and out, and actually, some to the left as well.) Anyway, I use a large assembly table as outfeed, and do not want to cut slots into its top. For me, I have to come up with a different solution so that the runners don't interfere with whatever support system I come up with.

I can't imagine a sled that size not being supported a the very least, on the outfeed side. And if the sled is riding along the Incra fence, I don't see the point of a sled then.

You can make "loose" guide strips for a sled, to fit into a tablesaw's miter slots and project about 1/4 inch above table top. Then cut grooves into the bottom of your sled so that it can sit flush on top of the saw table, and also ride flush on top of infeed and outfeed rollers (or tables).

These pictures are of a sled I made for ripping a straight edge on rough lumber. The second groove in the bottom of the sled is superfluous. I originally made the sled to fit the left miter slot of a Rockwell contractor saw, and then modified the sled to fit the right miter slot on my Sawstop. (The blade-to-miter-slot distance is different on the Sawstop.)

( I see my photos didn't make it, but you should get the idea. I'll try posting them in a new thread.)

[Brian D Anderson]

Cool! I also squared my fence using the same method. I actually got the idea from Niki on another forum ( http://www.woodworking.org/InfoExcha...ic.php?t=16608 )

Here's mine . . .





-Brian

[Todd Bin]

Originally Posted by Paul Simmel

Hey Tod, thanks for the explanations. How are you supported on the infeed side?

With my belly. In reality there is not much infeed support necessary. Only if you were to pull the sled back far enough that the center of gravity was over the front edge. I can pull it back far enough to put a 24" panel in front of the blade and the sled is still supported by the saw top.