Crosscut Sled - my way

[Niki]

Good day

I would like to share with you my method.

First, check the alignment of the blade to the miter slots.

The idea is very simple, I make part of the sled, cut the kerf and refer to it as a reference point (or line) to position the "Back Fence" square to the kerf by "locking" everything together.

I discovered that the plastic drawing triangles are very, very accurate, and I use them to locate the fence (actually, as you will see, I'm using the shop-made triangles that were "copied" from the plastic one).

By cutting the Runners 1 mm narrower than the miter slot width, it's very easy and fast to cut the runners and, I think, will eliminate any binding due to expansion with humidity changes.

My table saw is different and has only one miter slot, so I made some kind of "fiction" miter slots for the guys with the "normal" table saw...(I think everybody except me)

It took me around 1½ hours to make it (including 148 pics), so I assume that it should take you 2~2½ hours, considering that you have to prepare the parts (I used scraps from around the garage).

Regards
niki

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[Mike.C]

Once again thank you Niki, another masterpiece.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Fecn]

Thanks Niki - I do like your posts. I still have to get around to making myself a crosscut sled... but when I do, it'll look rather a lot like yours

Cheers.

 

[tombo]

niki,

I used to have an EB saw like yours, one of the things i did not like about it is the miter slot arrangment.
To change the blade you remove a section of the table top which contains the miter slot.
Just thinking that if you are depending on this slot for squareness it could all be knocked out of whack when you change the blade.
Also that saw does not have a slot on the right side of the blade, could the sled suffer any twist with respect to the miter slot and blade when pushing through a cut?
I did ponder making a sled for my saw before i sold it and thought it would be better to reference from both sides of the table and ignore the miterslot all together

Tom

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks Niki, not in need of your jig at the moment (I'm a triton user) but one day maybe you jig will be needed.

By the way, those clamps with the black bars and problem plastic buttons, I am having trouble again with mine( I have the bolt instead of plastic lug) they seem to slacken off after clamping up tight after a short while on the job.
Do yours?

 

[Niki]

Thank you

Tom
I'm sorry but on my model (PK-255) the miter slot is not on the plate that I remove for blade change but, one plate to the left so the miter slot does not "move" and it is the reference line when I align the blade.

I'm using a sled that is sliding on 3 points, 2 rails, one on each side of the saw table and the miter slot and it's very stable.

My EB, is equipped with the Sliding Table so actually, does not need any miter slot (it looks to me that was the intention of EB) and they made one for reference to align the blade and for the guys that did not buy the Sliding Table.

Devonwoody
I did not experience any sliding after changing the hinge to bolt.
Try to grind the narrow sides of the black bar with #40, it helped me to get rid of the "sliding back" (I hope that I understood correctly what you mean).

Regards
niki

 

[lemonjeff]

By the way, those clamps with the black bars and problem plastic buttons, I am having trouble again with mine( I have the bolt instead of plastic lug) they seem to slacken off after clamping up tight after a short while on the job.
Do yours?

I used Niki's tip on my Lidl/Aldi clamps. As Niki's says rub some very coarse grit, I used a 40grit sanding disc across the round edges of the bar. This forms shallow grooves and allows the mechanism to grip better.

Jeff.

 

[DomValente]

That's neat Niki, trouble is what if someone doesn't have a belly.

Dom

 

[Niki]

That's neat Niki, trouble is what if someone doesn't have a belly.

...He has two options;
To call his neighbor with his "Beer Belly" or,
Start drinking beer...it will take 6 months and you can make the sled...

Thanks
niki

 

[brianhabby]

Thanks for that Niki,

I recently made a crosscut sled similar to yours and struggled to get the back fence nice and square. I got it as close as I could but I think it is still out a little bit. It hasn't proved to be a problem so far but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Using your method of clamping two set squares to the plywood in the blade kerf is excellent and a method I shall be using to fix my sled,

regards

Brian

 

[Niki]

Thank you Brian

I'm just sorry that I posted it too late for you...

Regards
niki

 

[MrA]

I discovered that the mitre slot track from Axminster fits in the mitre slot of a table saw with standard 19mm mitre slots, I need to stop typing mitre slots. I am about to make a cross cut sled for my new, 2nd hand, used, refurbished, only one lady owner table saw and was going to used the mitre slot bars but they're shorter than the mitre slot track. Maybe a photo will make it clear, the photos show the mitre tracks acting as mitre bars in the mitre slots of the table.

 

[Reggie]

Perhaps you need to explain exactly what it is you want to do with the orange bars? If you want to make a sled and use those as mitre slide bars then it doesn't particularly matter if the bars don't cover the whole track. If you look at niki's bars they only cover about 2/3rds the length of his table, you would probably get away with cutting one of those in 1/2 and saving the other one to use on a fence somewhere.

The important thing is making sure that it's all square and there is no side to side slop (which is what the spacers are for).

 

[MrA]

The orange bars are a lazy mans method of making the runners and they're cheaper than actual mitre bars . You're right they need to be cut to length which is relatively easy. I suppose the point I was trying to make in a convoluted way was that they fit in the slots perfectly not even a gnats knacker amount of play.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

that's handy...no need to shim them dead flush with the blade side of the slot then....that's what Niki's cardboard strip achieved.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

by the way...is one of the moderators recycling these classics from Niki?

 

[devonwoody]

Niki was an old friend of this forum and others, and this section starts with a Niki sticky.

 

[MrA]

You're a poet and didn't know it!

 

[Mike.C]

by the way...is one of the moderators recycling these classics from Niki?

Bob Chas has/is taking care of all of Niki's jigs, and as DW states there is a sticky of these at the top of this forum.

Cheers

Mike