Table Saw Sled

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BKelley

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Jan 31, 2010
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Some time back I purchased a DeWalt Contractors table saw and have just gotten around to making a sled for it. I bought the fence track, stop and tapes from Lee Valley at the Atlanta Woodworking Show. The work piece stop has an micro adjustment in it to allow for different kerf blades. In trying it out, it seems to be up to snuff. I have an angle block that goes inside the sled. The sled will be used primarily to cut sections for segmented pens. Any comments?

Ben

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leehljp

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Are you planning on upgrading your blade to a Thin Kerf 60 - 80 tooth? That makes fro some great cuts on pen blanks and segments.
 

SteveG

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It is amazing that a relatively simple-to-make jig such as this offers a major leap forward for the TS. It is one of those: "Why did it take me so long to do this!" items. Yours looks to be nicely made, and ready for "work". :) :)
 

jttheclockman

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Looks great and I am sure you will get lots of use from it. Many other jigs can be added to make it even more versatile. If i could make one slight suggestion Now this is probably because of the splitter behind the blade but your kerf on that back fence is too high. If it needs to be that high you should add some reinforcement or remake the back fence higher. I say this because those platforms will probably warp on you unless those miter slots are keyed and it will help keep them down. With a more solid back fence the warping is minimal if at all. Just an observation. The front rail has reinforcement with the rack.
 
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randyrls

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Looks good! It looks like the base is 3/4" ply. If so, get some 1/4 x 20 threaded inserts and space them over the base to mount clamps and jigs. If 1/2" ply, use T-nuts

Agree that the back plate needs to be higher or reinforced.
 

gtriever

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Paducah, Kentucky
Good looking sled. Love the idea of the micro adjuster. I agree with more reinforcement on the fence, and wonder if you could use a piece of aluminum angle across the top for stiffening.

If I could offer one additional thought, it would be that this sled looks like overkill for just doing pen blanks. I ended up making two "mini sleds" for blank cutting ; one is a standard 90* crosscut, and the other is a dedicated 45* sled. Both are 18 inches wide, 9 inch depth on the 90 and 6 inch depth on the 45. 2-1/2 inch fences on both.

Once again, nice work on the sled!
 

Fish30114

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I like your sled, it looks good to me and am not experienced enough to understand why you need to reinforce that one fence--would like others to explain that need. I am needing someone to build me a table saw sled for segmenting, if anyone know of someone who would make me one, I'd appreciate a lead on that.

Good going on yours!!
 

leehljp

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I like your sled, it looks good to me and am not experienced enough to understand why you need to reinforce that one fence--would like others to explain that need. I am needing someone to build me a table saw sled for segmenting, if anyone know of someone who would make me one, I'd appreciate a lead on that.

Good going on yours!!

Weak fences bring about movement in the two sides if not re-inforced, especially when hold down clamps are applied. When making segments, a movement from tight clamps can cause 1/100th to 1/64th or even 1/32 movement between the two sides. Segment cuts are measured in .01 to .007 or 8 or better.

For making segments or other cuts, you do not want movement from the two sides.
 

GaryMGg

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Forgive me if you have an outfeed setup and it's not shown:

Sleds are supposed to be tools which aid in accuracy and safety.
The first picture makes me think safety: by the time you're at the end of the cut, the sled is hanging in space.
It's an accident waiting to happen.
Build an outfeed table with slots aligning to the TS slots and stops to keep it from moving too far.
I would also have a blade cover at the front of the sled: even something as simple as a 2" X 4" offcut glued at the back of the kerf where the blade might otherwise come through.

This link goes to one of the finest homemade sleds I've seen:

http://woodworkstuff.net/CCSMark.html

It's not the fancy wood which impresses; it's the inclusion of useful concepts and safety features.
 
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jttheclockman

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Forgive me if you have an outfeed setup and it's not shown:

Sleds are supposed to be tools which aid in accuracy and safety.
The first picture makes me think safety: by the time you're at the end of the cut, the sled is hanging in space.
It's an accident waiting to happen.
Build an outfeed table with slots aligning to the TS slots and stops to keep it from moving too far.
I would also have a blade cover at the front of the sled: even something as simple as a 2" X 4" offcut glued at the back of the kerf where the blade might otherwise come through.

This link goes to one of the finest homemade sleds I've seen:

I know...   I know...   another sled.   (pics) by Mark Marzluf

It's not the fancy wood which impresses; it's the inclusion of useful concepts and safety features.


Not really. By the time the cut is done it is just about even with the back of the saw table. If he goes further the blade is coming out the back of the sled. Usually sleds like that are for small projects and that blade does not come out the front fence. I would have made the front fence thicker and made the back fence taller. I also would have extended the miter slot rails longer so that when you pull the sled almost all the way back the rails are still fully engaged in the miter slots. For doing small segmented cuts it looks fine.

Someone asked about why the back fence needs to be taller. The reason is for stability. That fence ties the back of the pieces of plywood together to keep them from spreading and keeping from warping upward. The higher that kerf goes through that fence the weaker the fence becomes. On the front fence there is a metal track to help with that but if it did not have that then that fence too would need to be higher or just do not raise the blade so high. I do not see a need to have the blade as high as it is unless cutting thick woods.
 
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