Built my cross cut sled

[Lee Schierer]

You may recall last week I asked about making a cutoff sled and how to get it square.

Out of necessity I built my crosscut slide last night. I have a top for a solid cherry dresser that is 44 inches long and 20 inches wide that needed squared up and cut to length. I purchased a 2' x 4' x 1/2" "hobby panel" (birch) at the blue borg. I wanted an aluminum or steel 3/8 x 3/4 bar for the guide, but they didn't have anything close, so I used a maple runner that was about 3' long and fit the slot perfectly. I placed the runner in the cross cut slot on the TS, raised up with four pennies under the double sided tape patches. Then I slid my TS fence over so the fence was about 1/16" from the left edge of the slot in my ZCI. I knew the fence was nearly perfectly parallel to the slot. Using the fence as a guide, I placed the sheet of plywood on the table and against the fence, pressing down to make the tape stick the runner to the back.

Then I carefully lifted the assembly from the table and drilled a hole in one edge to attach the end of the guide bar to the table with a wood screw. Then using my digital caliper, I measured the distance from the edge of the plywood to the edge of the runner and adjusted the other end so the readings were the same. I screwed the other end and the middle in place with two more screws.

I attached a 2 x 2 x 48" oak piece to the back edge of my sled, mounting the end closest to the blade flush with the back edge of the plywood with a single wood screw. I used my carpenters square and the edge of the ply wood to get the oak aligned 90 degrees to the runner as close as I could. I clamped the free end and middle with a couple of c-clamps and did a five cut test with a piece of 1/4" plywood. After cutting off the final strip about 1/2" wide and 10" long, I measured the width of the cut off. The difference from one end to the other was .0015" so I quickly drilled holes and permanently mounted the oak back rail to the plywood figuring I couldn't get any closer to perfect than that.

I cut the top and checked the cut with my square it was as perfect as I could measure with my square. As you can see in the photo it isn't fancy, but it is very functional and I'm one happy camper now.

[Von Bickley]

Lee,

Pictures....... We need pictures.

A cross-cut sled is on my "To Do List".

[frank shic]

i hate squaring a crosscutting sled...

[Charles Krieger]

I agree that squaring a crosscut sled is a pain. I ended up using a couple of playing cards to square mine and the cards are still there!

My sled has a double fence on the rear. The outside fence doesn't have to be super accurate. The inner fence is bolts/screws to the outer fence and I used some playing cards between the two (as shims) to make the final adjustment. The inner fence is replaceable when it gets worn or damaged by the saw blade and the adjustment is easier than moving a single fence. Kind of crude but still effective.

[Michael Helms]

Crosscut sleds I've built tend age badly: the bed panel warps, wood runners swell, and the backing fence never seems to stay quite square, especially after the board is partially cut through.

[glenn bradley]

Crosscut sleds I've built tend age badly: the bed panel warps, wood runners swell, and the backing fence never seems to stay quite square, especially after the board is partially cut through.

I'm still running a sled made in January of 2007. 3/4" BB ply base, straight grained oak runners, hardboard ZCI's and fir fences. I've adjusted it once the first fall after I made it.