CrossCut Sled Advice

[figucp0]

Hi everyone. I decided it was time for my first real thread (Aside from the my Intro Thread). I am making my first Jig this weekend. I am going to make a cross-cut sled for my table saw. I have some slider rails coming in and have a piece of laminated MDF for the actual sled. I still do not know what I am going to use for the front and back fence. I have spent a fair amount of tools, and materials lately so I don't think this is going to be an over the top mother of all CC-Sleds but wanted to hear any helpful suggestions or design tips that anybody would care to share.

Thanks in advance,
Cristobal

"I once caught a fish this big" :icon_cheers

 

[ptt49er]

Make it as big as you can, the one I have ends up being too small 60% of the time I need to use it.

For the rails...use something solid and stable for the front fence b/c that's the one that matters. For the back you can use a 2x4 from the borgs.

But whatever you decide to do, POST SOME PICS MAN!!

 

[Splint Eastwood]

If you have any more of the laminated MDF you that for back fence. or regular mdf and coat with min 3 coats of poly.

 

[Rob]

I made one once, rarely used it, was in the way most of the time. I just use my Osborne EB-3 Miter Gauge. What is the advantage of a cross cut sled?

 

[DaveO]

I made my sled using Incra Miter-sliders for the rails, 3/8 Baltic Birch Ply for the base, laminated 4/4 Walnut for the front fence, and a lamination of 4/4 soft Maple for the back fence. It has a 20" wide capacity.
If I would do it all over again I would use longer miter rails (mine are 18") to allow a greater capacity, and leave off the back fence. The back fence does very little other than limit your capacity.

As far as your question is concerned, your main fence can be anything that is flat and stable. Several layers of ¾" MDF would be just fine. Or you could use a good stable hardwood. I would agree with Matt's comments about sealing everything well with a finish. I like shellac, it's easy to apply, dries fast and has great moisture exchange abatement.
A good cross-cut sled is one of the greatest tools you can make for your shop.

Dave

 

[flatheadfisher]

I have some 8/4 maple cutoffs you can have to make a front and back out of for your sled. I also have some long pieces of hard maple you can have to make the runners out of. I live in W/S too.

Here are some things I learned the hard way:

Be sure to drill out the holes for the runners so the screw won't make the runners bulge out and cause them to stick.

Make the sled as deep as you can without making it hard to use on your saw.

Make the front fence removable so you can use it for wide panels if you need to (or build two sleds).

Be sure the fence is square! :BangHead: :BangHead: :BangHead: :BangHead:

 

[Joe Scharle]

Here are some visuals that may help in your planning. I prefer having a large and small sled.

Add some stop rods.

And a large sled for big panels.

 

[gator]

Make it as big as you can, the one I have ends up being too small 60% of the time I need to use it.

For the rails...use something solid and stable for the front fence b/c that's the one that matters. For the back you can use a 2x4 from the borgs.

DaveO Quote
If I would do it all over again I would use longer miter rails (mine are 18") to allow a greater capacity, and leave off the back fence. The back fence does very little other than limit your capacity.
Quote

Maybe I do it all wrong. I use my back fence 99.99% of the time. Or maybe its "what is front and what is back?". To me the front fence goes past the blade first and the back fence goes past the blade last. You know, the front leads and the back follows.

I do agree though, as big as manageable (front to back and side to side).

George

 

[Splint Eastwood]

Here are some visuals that may help in your planning. I prefer having a large and small sled.

Joe, I really like this sled, especially with the Miter attachment, A combo sled really. Brilliant! Its two, two sleds in one! refreshing just like the mints

 

[Rob]

I do use this sled a lot http://content.penturners.org/articles/2004/tspensled.pdf

Just haven't found the need for a larger one yet.

 

[McRabbet]

I have two crosscut sleds. Both are made on 1/2" Baltic Birch Plywood bases and have a pair shop-made 3/8" x 3/4" White Oak runners. My large one (36" wide by 33" front-to-back) straddles the blade, with a runner in each miter slot. I used 1" Hard Maple for the front and rear fences and it can handle 30" panels.

My small one is 30" wide by 24" F-to-B and also has two runners. But the right side runner is placed in the miter slot to the left of the blade and the other runner slides along the left end of the cast iron top of the saw (mine are nicely ground parallel to the miter slots). The right edge of the sled is cut by the saw blade, so that becomes the reference edge. A straight piece of 3/4" by 2" White Oak is screwed to the front edge to form a fence; I've installed a toggle clamp as a hold down for stock and I clamp a stop block on with a small Quick Grip clamp. There is no backside fence as it is not needed.

 

[Sully]

My main sled is 30" wide with a front to back capacity of 23". The base and the fences (front and back) are all shop grade plywood.





A few things to keep in mind. Part of the advantage of the sled is that it provides zero clearance support for work. In this respect I have a plywood base but I keep a piece of hardboard on top of the base. When the hardboard gets beat up, I replace it. It's held down with double sided duct tape and a couple of wire brads. I also incorporated a replaceable MDF insert about 4" wide in the middle of the base.

The front fence (closest to the operator) also provides zero clearance support. My front fence consists of a fixed portion (2 layers of ply) and a movable portion made up of MDF. The MDF is actually two pieces. When the kerf in the MDF gets ragged, I removed the MDF, cut a clean edge and remount it on the fence.



It's also a simple matter to rout a t-slot in the MDF so that you have built-in attachment points for various jigs.



I think the most useful aspect of this approach comes when fine tuning the fence in relation to the blade. I set the front fence like most people do (cut the kerf and then use a square to align the fence). However, the MDF face can be shimmed to eliminate any slight error with respect to blade alignment. It is so much easier (and less stressful) than trying to get it dead perfect the first time IMHO. In a few of my pictures you can see my shims (index cards) inserted between the MDF and the plywood.

J

PS: Oh yeah, don't forget to include a blade guard to protect your fingers when the blade exits from the fence.

PS2: To keep your rails nice and slick just him them every now and then with some wax paper.

 

[figucp0]

Wow! I am just checking back on the thread and am amazed at all the replies. Lots of good info here and thanks to all those who included pictures. I do much better with photographs when trying to visualize what people are talking about. If I use Poly or Shellac to seal the sled should I still try and apply laminate edging to the rough edges? Is there any place in town that sells laminate edging? The rails I ordered at 18". I hope I don't regret not getting longer ones. This may be a stupid question but what exactly would the advantage of longer rails be? I figure since the tails are stuck in the Slots anyway why does this matter so much?

 

[BobcatBob]

2 things I can add: 1. put a stop on the bottom of the sled so you limit the forward travel of the sled. 2. goes along with 1 and that is to glue a block of wood that will enclose the blade as it exits the fence. This will keep you from having your fingers/hand in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bob

 

[Joe Scharle]

After you make your crosscut sled, consider making this. It's the handiest 'miter gage' I've ever used. This pic shows setting the angle of the fence in the RH miter slot, then I'll move it over to the LH miter slot for the cuts.

 

[sapwood]

. . . .
2. goes along with 1 and that is to glue a block of wood that will enclose the blade as it exits the fence. This will keep you from having your fingers/hand in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bob

+1 :icon_thum

Roger

 

[DaveO]

The rails I ordered at 18". I hope I don't regret not getting longer ones. This may be a stupid question but what exactly would the advantage of longer rails be? I figure since the tails are stuck in the Slots anyway why does this matter so much?

I know what I want to say about this but it's hard to explain. I have 18" runners on my 24" deep sled. I had to decide where to have the excess sled depth. If you put it in the front there won't be a lot of rail engaged in the miter slot when the sled is drawn back at the begining of the cut. If you put the excess to the back then there will be less engaged at the end of the cut. If you use an outfeed table you will also have to cut your miter slot extensions much farther.
I decided to place my guides towards the rear of the sled, and I find that with a full width panel I don't get full engagement of the guides in the slots.
I guess ideally you would have miter guides/runners equal to the depth of your sled.

Here's a pic of my set-up -

Dave

 

[Sully]

My rails are the full depth of my sled about 30" so that they completely cover the top of the saw. I think that having rails less than the depth of the sled could lead to inaccuracies. Full depth rails provides good alignment of the sled throughout the cut as DaveO described. Ideally you would actually want rails longer than the depth of the sled, but you risk breaking and/or bending them.

I used hardwood rails and replace them every now and then.

J