Crosscut Sled Plans / Ideas

[Rickm]

I have been using a simple crosscut sled that consists of a single 24" Incra miter bar, a 1/2 ply sled bottom and a hardwood rail/fence. It is perfect for cutting 12" wide x 36" or less length shelf parts but can't handle something wider like a base cabinet side. I do have a circular saw jig for cutting the 34.5" cabinet side dimension but really want to use the TS if possible (better blades, better cut quality, actual dust collection, perhaps less variability with use of stop block system).

So I'd like to build a much more serious crosscut sled that is wider front to back - ideally sized to accomodate that 24" wide cabinet side. Therefore, I'm thinking that I'll need to go with the type of sled that includes a front rail to hold it all together, a thick rear rail, a spot for the blade to "burry" in and 2 long miter runners - like 30".

There is an endless wealth of plans available out there - not all of them result in a sled of this size. My intention with this thread is to obtain advice on the following critical elements based on my previously mentioned intentions:
-ideal materials to use (especially for the bsae)
-things to consider
-tricks for squaring it all up during construction (or making the fence adjustable in the future)
-real world experience

If anyone has any thoughts, insights, tips, pictures, or even tried and true plans - I would certainly appreciate a response! I want this fixture to save me some time and garantee accuracy. Ya'll are free to tell me that this is a bad idea and I should save pennies for a track circular saw!

[wfahey]

Rick. Tom has a panel cutting sled on the NWW website. Is this what you are looking for? http://www.newwoodworker.com/nww047pln.html

[Rickm]

wfahey -

Thanks for the prompt reply! That link is actually the sled I'm currently using! I used an Incra miter bar on mine b/c I didn't have the capability to mill a runner at the time I made it. When I use this particular design for longer pieces... too much of the workpiece hangs off to the left of the saw - it isn't as stable and safe as I'd like. Therefore, I'm looking to make one that uses 2 runners and can be essentially the size of my Jet Pro Shop saw's top and have a cutting capability of 24" front to back.

Like I said earlier, I have seen some plans with a front rail to hold the sled together over the kerf... and even a clear blade guard that held the front and back rails solid. I'm just wonderin' if anyone else has tried to make one of these this big... and what the results where / lessons learned / best practice etc...

-Rm

[thintz]

Try the one at the link below. It is a regular cutoff sled and while it is smaller than you may want right now, it is simple to size it up to whatever size you need. i know people who have made this slde large enough that it needs roller stands front and back!

http://www.newwoodworker.com/tssledpln.html

[EricJ]

I kinda like this plan and write up.
http://home.pacbell.net/paulcomi//Sp...s_cut_sled.htm

[muddy]

I just made one using this as a guide Super Sled
I added a replaceable zero tolerance insert on my sled.

I had someone from another forum ask about how I added the zero tolerance insert. So here is a copy of the post I posted.

I used a 1/2" MDF board as my base for the crosscut sled. This would work better for a 5/8" or thicker base.

I took the base before I added any fences to it and cut a 1/4" deep dado in it where I hoped the saw blade was going to end up. I made the dado extra wide for just in case I ever decide to do a dado cut with the crosscut sled ( doubt I will ever use it like that). I stopped the dado cut before I came out the front by about half the thickness of the fence. This I figured would give me a little bit of safety in case the insert decided to shoot out and under the fence (not really needed, I actually did this by mistake. I was going to just go 1/2" past where the fence sits)

I then took my front fence ((back?) the one you hold) and did the same dado cut on that with the same depth and the same width.

I then cut 1/4" hardboard to fit the slot on the base and on the fence. I made them tight enough to be a pain to get out but not so tight I would need a screwdriver to pry it out. I made extras at this point.

I then assembled the crosscut sled, ran the blade through it and got the fence nice and square with the saw blade.

I then installed the inserts and used a small drill bit to drill through insert/base combo where I was going to install threaded inserts. I was going to use these HERE but I couldn't find them in the size I wanted (I looked for a total of 2 hours and went to 2 stores, thats a lot of looking) So I got these HERE. I got the 10-32 size ones. I used the small drill hole to locate where to drill a counterbore on the bottom of the base so the t-nut was not rubbing against my table saw top. I then drilled the hole to take the shank of the t-nut. I the drilled and counterbored the insert for the screw (which I used a phillips flathead machine screw) For my 1/2" base I had to do some filling on the t-nuts to get them to sit flush. I installed my insert and screwed it down making sure it was flush with the rest of the crosscut sled base.

I then drilled and counterbored the insert that's is in the fence. I just used wood screws here seeing how its going in to solid wood.

Make sure that when you layout your screw locations that they will be out of the way of the saw blade.

I did have a problem with the insert on the fence not sitting flush. It was sitting shallow so I just grabbed a playing card and slid it behind the insert and screwed it down and presto, its flush now.

I hope that the Z.C. insert will help down the line. My old crosscut sled kerf was wider when I finally retired it compare to when it was new.

[Rickm]

Wow! Thanks for all of the advice. I know that various plans call for various materials to be used as the "base" of a sled. Does anyone have any love for particular types of materials?

I'm guessing that MDF doesn't hold the runner screws well. Plywood could warp depending on the design. Any specific real world advice.

BTW - muddy - I love the ZCI feature. I'll have to look into that!

[muddy]

I not only screw the runners in multiple places but I also glue it. You could always cut a dado for the runners to fit in to.
Plus thy do make screws for MDF.

[EricJ]

For runners I used glue, shot some short brads into the MDf through the runners and then put a screw that went through the MDF into the front and back fences.