# Table Saw Sled Idea...



## thomaskennedy (16 Sep 2004)

Hi all!

Was playing about with SketchUp and came up with this:







As you can (hopefully) see there is a lip at the back to support a toggle clamp such as this:






which will hold the workpiece down, as i find it hard when sometimes handling big sheets on my 10" TS  !

Just a little tip, yes ME, TIP  :shock: :lol: 

Ta

Tom  

ps.'tis not made yet, hence the plan :roll:

*Edit*-Incase you didn't realise it is viewed from the rear right i.e. you will push towards the top right of the picture, (now wasn't THAT clear) :roll:


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## Signal (16 Sep 2004)

Tom,

the main problem with having the pushy bit at the back is it limits the size of material you can hold on the sled.

ie, if it over hangs the front of the sled then you have to pull the sled way back, you guide piece will then not be in the mitre guide.

If you have it at the front, ie nearer the blade the you can handle material which will over hand the back of the sled.

Also, having the protion of the fence low enough to slip under the gaurd is also usefull, means you dont have to remove it.

I was going to add a little ramp to the front of mine so it would help the gaurd rise up over that section of the fence.

Also if you sled has mitre slots both sides its worth while using them
Much easier to keep things running straight if using 2 guides, and a lot easier to handle as you not perched out over the edge of the TS

Cheers

Signal

edited to get rid of the pants ascii diagram :lol:


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## Anonymous (16 Sep 2004)

Hi Tom

Looks nice.  

I would say that my only thought is that the toggle clamps you show might not hold large sheets very well due to their small size and contact area.


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## Midnight (16 Sep 2004)

Tony...

I've been using a large panel cutting jig damn near exactly like Tom's design for years now; it's been my experience that even a single toggle manages fine. The secret seems to be keeping the overhanging part of the jig supported. Roller stands are essential... although they can be a PITA at times...

Signal...

Sometimes, having the back-stop serve to limit how much capacity the jig has can be a good thing; removes the temptation t bite off more than the saw can safely chew..

Tom..

Lesson at my expense... if you can, extend the key that rides in the mitre slot by between 150-250mm either side of the board. The longer key will help keep the jig square to the blade throughout the stroke of the cut.
On a safety note... *Never* drag the jig backwards while the blade's spinning...


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## Signal (16 Sep 2004)

Midnight, yup totally agree with you about the limitation, but even with the front stop your still not going to be pushing and 8'x4' through. Well I hope not any way  Using the front stop will only gain you a few more inches, if that, but every inch counts 


I only use mine on the tyzac table saw now and then only for smallish lengths. Because the guard is so wonky on the Tyzac I now have a front and back stop, across these over the blade I have fixed a lenght of plexi to act as a rudimentary guard. Not brilliant but better than nowt


I tryed fitting longer runners to mine but kept snapping the pippers off  

Signal


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## Noel (16 Sep 2004)

Hi Tom,

Being pedantic, perhaps, but this is a panel cutting jig as Mike and Signal have mentioned, generally used for cutting a panel square. Personally I don't find a toggle clamp necessary but that's a personal preference. An extra runner would be of benefit but not in the other mitre slot as this would turn it into a table saw sled (Americanese...) and the kerf would divide the base board. The extra runner should go to the left (from the front of the saw) and run along the edge of the table to provide additional stability and rigidity.
With regard to size of panel being cut and table overhang I find a another panel cutting jig, built in reverse, so to speak, with the stop board nearest the blade will hold larger panels. Please note that this particular design is not for everybody. There is a safety issue due to the panel being held against the stop board with the force of the blade counteracting against the panel. The panel jig (as perhaps all TS jigs) needs to be built with great accuracy with the stop board exactly perpendicular to the blades and the mitre slot and properly tuned and maintained TS.
JMHO.

Rgds

Noel


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## Noel (16 Sep 2004)

Signal, think I should have read your first post a bit more closely. 
Think I repeated a few things.

Rgds

Noel


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## Midnight (17 Sep 2004)

> I tryed fitting longer runners to mine but kept snapping the pippers off



ummmm... that's why my current (third) key/runner is made from glass reinforced plastic... it guides every bit as well as the first two, but it's a bit more tolerent of the inevetable dents n dings.. Yon flash pipper with the new Xcalibur shouldn't have a prob like that though... his mitre slots are about half the width of my whole damn saw.... 

At a push, I can just about manage a 36" deep panel on the jig; max length is always restricted because of the lack of shop size (recycled broom cupboard); I don't like to go past 48" left of the blade. All that weight with minimal support has a habbit of turning things the wrong side of spooky...

Reminds me... I gotta get a cross cutting jig built before I start the next project....


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## Dewy (17 Sep 2004)

Signal":hc7sc41h said:


> I tryed fitting longer runners to mine but kept snapping the pippers off
> 
> Signal


Same here signal.
I extended the mitre guide in front of and behind the panel jig but regularly manages to snap one or the other.
I wanted to use an aluminium guide but in these metric days I have been unable to find 5/8" aly bar. 
The closest I could find was 15mm.
It's strange because they still make small table saws with a 5/8" mitre slot so must have the aluminium extruded for them.


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## Philly (17 Sep 2004)

Hi All
Funnily enough, I have built a crosscut sled for my new toy (Thanks Mike! :lol: ) Haven't built a panel cutting one though-thanks for the ideas Guys!.
Incidently, there are a wide selection of these kind of jigs in the Taunton book (yes you guessed it!) "Jigs", a Fine Woodworking book.
regards
Philly


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## Anonymous (17 Sep 2004)

Midnight":27ydahcy said:


> Tony...
> 
> I've been using a large panel cutting jig damn near exactly like Tom's design for years now; it's been my experience that even a single toggle manages fine. The secret seems to be keeping the overhanging part of the jig supported. Roller stands are essential... although they can be a PITA at times.....



Fair enough, I withdraw my thought :wink: :lol:


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## Anonymous (17 Sep 2004)

Tom

Please could you post your pictures a little smaller, eg 640*480 or at most 800*600 as they are a pain when any larger than this and we have to scroll across the screen to read 'em on a 15" tft :x


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## Rattie (17 Sep 2004)

Signal":ghjc6z0e said:


> the main problem with having the pushy bit at the back is it limits the size of material you can hold on the sled.
> 
> ie, if it over hangs the front of the sled then you have to pull the sled way back, you guide piece will then not be in the mitre guide.
> 
> If you have it at the front, ie nearer the blade the you can handle material which will over hand the back of the sled.



Hi Signal,

You've puzzled me a bit with this. Surely what you say only holds true for a table saw which has its blade nearer the front than the back. Otherwise, with your second case, with the sliding fence nearer the blade, the sled can fall off the table before the cut is finished.

The only real solution is to have a sled long enough to take the whole sheet, in which case it won't matter which side the fence is on, as long as the workpiece is attached to the sled, and the sled runs in the mitre slot.

Or am I missing your point?

Martyn


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## Signal (17 Sep 2004)

Rattie,

missing the point a bit I think, I would never think of putting a whole sheet on a little saw such as thomas has, to scary by half :? 

For me Its more an issue of having the bed of the sled supported, as tony said you can use stands but they are a PITA, I seem to spend more time picking the blooming things up than anything.

With the fence at the front you can index the guide in the mitre slot immediatley and the bed is supported straight away. With the back fence you will need the longer guides sticking out of the front of the sled which as I said earlier I always broke off when I tried this  With the back fence and longer guides you still have a ways to go before the bed is supported at the lead of the cut.

With the front fence type you have a bit short of the distance between the back edge of the table and the blade which will still be supported.

Midnights soloution of GRP runners is a good soloution to over come this, however I would still not be happy myself to use the seld unless a fair bit of it was supported by the table saw. Just my cowardice of the possibility of losing me fingers I suppose :wink: 

Im not explainig this very well at all, I know what I mean but I just cant kick the old brain into gear today.

Ill have another go at it later.

Signal

Having a lousy day so far and it aint getting any better


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## thomaskennedy (17 Sep 2004)

Sorry everyone :?  

I changed th size of the picture to a little smaller!  

Thanks for all the advice, 

What about if the lip was at the front of the sled? :? Maybe that would allow a little bigger sheet :shock: 

Ta

Tom


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## Rattie (17 Sep 2004)

ah, I think I see where the front fence wins now. As long as you don't expect the sheet to clear the trailing edge of the blade, then you probably have more space between the cutting edge and a front fence (at the end of the cut) than you will between the cutting edge and a back fence (at the start of the cut).

My concern was that although having the fence (lip as Thomas calls it) at the front would allow you to start the cut with the jig engaged in the slot, it would leave the stability of the slot sooner towards the end of the cut.

I guess there's not substitute for a jig that is as long as the width of the sheets you want to cut. Or possibly better still, the Festool guide rail circular saw.

have fun, its the weekend!

Martyn


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## frank (17 Sep 2004)

dewy you can get 5/8 x1/4 alu bar i have just got 5 mtrs for £12 look in yellow pages for fabricators ,funny thing is the guy said its still measured in old money . i changed the runners on my 2 panel jigs my cross cutting jig with 2 runners (i dont use the guard with this jig and dont all start shouting at me) plus i sorted out the sliding mitre no more wobble ,my saw is a clarke 10 " table saw. ps i still have about 2 mtrs over


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## Midnight (17 Sep 2004)

Although theoretically, a leading edge fence allows a greater panel capacity, I canna help thinking that even with quite a few clamps locking the panel down, there's always going to be potential for the panel moving slightly on the jig as the jig moves past the blade; the fence is doing nothing to prevent the rotation forces imparted into the panel. I tested this with my first jig... hence the 2nd jig having the fence on the trailing edge. Granted I lost some capacity, but I gained accuracy which is what the jig is supposed to be about.....right..???


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## thomaskennedy (18 Sep 2004)

Good point Mike, it's a little pointless making a wobbly and unaccurate jig :shock: :roll: 

I am planning to do a trial of this jig tommorow so keep your eyes peeled 

Ta

Tom


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## Signal (19 Sep 2004)

Yup absolutely accuracy is what its all about but I can Honestly say the front fence has never been an issue with regards to that.


Signal

To many Chateaus this weknd, sorry iff the above is gibberish l: O)


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