My new updated crosscut sled (pics)
#51
PM, yes......

Email, no......


**Edit** Just checked and my email address had not been updated yet on this site. It's now correct so if you were trying to send an Email, you can now resend.

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#52
I really like seeing your iterations of sleds. I am surprised that you haven't incorporated a method to keep from cutting through your stop block.

One idea I saw at some point which I incorporated into my very simple (compared to yours) sled is:

1) Attach a long skinny stop block to the outfeed side of your table (to the left of the blade), on the far edge. this will sit below the level of the table, but stick out slightly past the end of your wing. I had an unused rail mounting hole in my cast iron wing that made this a no-drill proposition.

2) Inset a short dowel into the bottom of your sled, where it extends past your left wing, such that your sled will stop before where your blade is maximally buried into the stop block (blade all the way up), but never go through.

This wouldn't affect your ability to use any functions of your sled, but help keep your fingers safe, and never have to figure out when you really need to stop, before your blade exits your stop block. This only works on sleds that extend past the end of the left wing, but it's elegant, simple, and very retrofittable. <-- is that really a word?

Beautiful job, and it's neat to see the thought that goes into improving an already elegant jig.

Best,
Christopher
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#53
christopher_01 said:


I really like seeing your iterations of sleds. I am surprized that you haven't incorporated a method to keep from cutting through your stop block.

One idea I saw at some point which I incorporated into my very simple (compared to yours) sled is:

1) Attach a long skinny stop block to the outfeed side of your table (to the left of the blade), on the far edge. this will sit below the level of the table, but stick out slightly past the end of your wing.

2) Inset a dowel into the bottom of your sled, where it extends past your left wing, such that your sled will stop before where your blade is maximally buried into the stop block (blade all the way up), but never go through.

This wouldn't affect your ability to use any functions of your sled, but help keep your fingers safe, and never have to figure out when you really need to stop, before your blade exits your stop block. This only works on sleds that extend past the end of the left wing, but it's elegant, simple, and very retrofittable. <-- is that really a word?

Beautiful job, and it's neat to see the thought that goes into improving an already elegant jig.

Best,
Christopher




I saw a similar method in The Table Saw Book by Kelly Mehler. He attached stop-blocks to the table and the sled to prevent cutting through.

Mark - I love your sled and would order one but money is tight (no job, Christmas, etc.) so here's hoping I can make my own in the near future that at least works. Either that or get a job so I can get one of yours
Carl




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#54
A thread worth keeping around for another year.

Some day I may want to make one of these
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#55
Nice bumpage
Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya

GW
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#56
Thanks for the bump. I just did a copy and paste into a word doc so that I will not loose this one.
Lee

So much to make. So little time....
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#57
Calling Cian! I know there is a crosscut sled in the Nuclear Powered Index , but a little redundancy couldn't hurt. May be problematic, though, now that the pics are gone...
Mistakes were made
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#58
Gotcha. I'll ask Mark.
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#59
MMarzluf said:


I've been toying with some new ideas for my sled ever since I made the last one. Getting together with TwoBye last week to build his gave me the mental push I needed to go ahead and make a new updated version.

Here's the new one and I'll explain the upgrades but the basics first: Sled base is 3/4" Baltic Birch Ply. All other wood is some Paduak I had out in the tent. Tracks are all from Incra.

Ok, here's an over all shot. Pretty much the same layout as the old one.





Now....... some of the improvements I decided to make with this one.

First...... I've almost completely cut through the safety block on my old one. All the little cuts into the block every day gradually make it through. For this sled, I made the safety block moveable. When I start to cut through it I'll slide it over for a fresh spot. When I don't have any fresh spots left, I can simply install a new one.





The zero clearance inserts are still here, but I've added a moveable section of the fence to allow for a constant ZCI at the rear of the cut as well. In this pic, I have the 1/2" insert in and the fence section is locked into place to match the cutting path.




I don't cross cut a ton of large pannels so the distance from fence to fence hasn't changed on this version, but I was always finding myself needing to move the stop block further to the left than I had fence to move it. I also didn't want a super long sled, so I added a telescoping section to the fence. Normally I have 22" to the left of the blade - but with the fence section extended I now have up to 36" to the left. There's a hex bolt tucked down through the upper scale that locks the lower one in place..






I added a secondary hold down t-track as well. Now one on each side of the blade. The track on the left is closer to the blade than on my old sled because the hold down wasn't reaching some pieces.





Lastly, I added a miter fence. I may not use it much becuse I alredy have a good Incra, but figured the ability to keep things on the sled might be worth while. There's a threaded insert that one end of the fence attaches to.



The other end of the fence is guided by a T-slot. The T-bolt for the knob can be removed at an opening near the rear fence.



With the shorter front fence I have almost 90* of swing for the miter fence. If I end up using it a bunch, I'll add a stop block to it.






So there it is........ my latest sled. I really enjoy making jigs for the shop and my sleds have become a sort of "flag ship" for me..

Thanks for taking a look. Now it's time to start planing for the next one.


IL.Quad City area.
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#60
Three words: Ho Lee Cow!!

I'll take two - pls bill my PayPal account.

Seriously, your craftsmanship is absolutely fantastic! The Stradivarius of crosscut sleds!!
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