Tablesaw Sled - A different way

[Alan Turner]

So, I was at a friend’s shop, and he was sizing a cabinet door, using his sled. I looked at it, and the fences were each set in a shallow dado, perhaps 1/4" by 1/4". I wondered how he did that and got the rear fence exactly square, and he explained the following.

Start with a square piece of sheet goods. Since the blade is exactly parallel to the fence, cut a shallow dado for a single runner for the sled, from the bottom with the fence. Then dado in the front and rear fences using the fnece, on the top, as noted above, then size and set the second runner. It has to be all square.

I thought this was pretty clever, and in theory should work. Has anyone attempted this manner of construction? It seems a lot easier than the ways I have done it before. I may give it a try in my copious free time. If someone beats me to it, let us know how it works out.

Of course it all turns on the fact that the base is precisely square, and how do you do that without a sled? Factory corners are sometimes square, so perhaps that is the answer.

[Brian Hale]

That's how i did the sled on my old Craftsman saw and it worked pretty good. When making the base, the saw will give you 2 parallel sides, then use the jointer square a 3rd side and the saw for the forth.

Brian :)

[Barry Bruner]

I have used one ever since I seen Norm make one on one of his early shows. About as simple as it can get as long as its square. BARRY BRUNER

[Rob Will]

I have seen Alan's sled (a few months ago) but I am a bit lost on how this sled design is different.
Could somebody post a pic of thier TS sled(s)

Thx

Rob

[John Stevens]

Of course it all turns on the fact that the base is precisely square, and how do you do that without a sled?

Pretty simple with a Festool circular saw and MFT. Cut the base after squaring the fence with this method:

http://home.att.net/~waterfront-woods/Articles/Double-Error-Squaring.html

I've gotten the fence so square that I can't detect the error on 19" crosscut, using Starrett feeler gauges.

There's a down-side, though: when you have a large MFT with a fence that's that square, and a circular saw that gives you a glass-smooth edge with virtually dust-free operation, it really saps your motivation to go to the trouble of making a table saw sled.

[Alan Turner]

Guys,

A sled is a sled, if accurate. How you make it only relates to the making of it, not to the utility of it. I am a sled user for years, and find the accuracy and safety and versitility helpful.

The way I described above is not the way I have ever made one, but frankly it seems a lot easier than the ways I have chosen over the years, and so I posted this as another approach to construction. I was just wondering if anyone else makes them this way; hence the post. Is this the way that Norm makes a sled? I have not seen him make one, to my recollection.

[Corey Hallagan]

Alan, the sled that Norm used and made very early on in the show is a fairly simple one. It isn't a sled as we think of sleds with a front and rear fence. He calls it a panel cutter. It has a front fence and not a rear. A long runner to fit in the miter track. Initial pass trims the right end of the sled flush with the blade. So when you want to trim a board you put a board in the panel cutter flush it up against the front fence and your cut line on the edge of the sled fence and push it thru and it cuts it right down your line. I made one for my original saw and I liked it alot. I should make a new one now that I think of it for my delta.

I didn't make my sled in the method you describe either but I have seen them in shop guides that used that construction. Makes sense.

Corey

[Eddie Darby]

Thanks for your post....I really enjoyed it and found it useful...........it got me to a tinkin'! :D :eek:

[Gary McKown]

Alan - if I understand correctly, couldn't this be done with only one square corner, and just reasonably square otherwise? Dado in the first runner using one square side, then dado in the rear fence and the front fence using the other square side. Or use the near-square side to dado the front fence, which isn't so critical. Install second runner by gluing to the sled bottom, not in a dado.