Cross cutting sled

[Scott Sallyards]

I have built a cross cutting sled for my Jet table saw just like Norm has on New Yankee workshop. The only problem is I do not get a square piece of wood. I have used my carpenters square and made everything the way Norm has. The problem is when I flip the board over after cutting to check for square I am off about 1/16th of inch. I have gone back and checked the sled again and it looks square. I have check my settings on the table saw and they look good also. Has anyone built Norm's sled and had a similar problem. Any suggestions.

Thanks

Scott

[Jeremy Taylor]

Don't hate me but I'll ask the obvious.....is your square "square"?

[John Young]

I am not familiar with Norm's sled but:

1. Make sure the edges of the board you are cutting are parallel. Measure the width at the front and at the back and see if they are the same.

2. Check the angle of the fence to the cut edge to make sure it is square. Use the 3,4,5 rule to check. Measure 12" up from the fence along the cut egde and mark. Measure over 16" from the cut edge along the fence and mark. The distance diagonal between the two marks should be 20" exactly. Or use any multiple of 3,4,5 like 15",20",25".

3. Make sure the fit of the sleds miter guide piece in the slot is close with little play.

[glenn bradley]

I am not familiar with Norm's sled but assume the fence is adjustable; maybe like . . .

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=50581

As for squaring, the five cut method will be superior to any framer's square I've ever seen (no offense LV). It is in a few threads here at the creek or here:

http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/TheFiveSidedCut/TheFiveSidedCut.html

Once squared up you will find you use your sled more and more.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

The Square may be out. Lay it against a good edge on some ply and make a pencil mark along the edge. Then flip the square and see if it lines up.
If it's out of true the thing will not line up with the mark.

[Michael Schwartz]

Make sure when you are cutting that you have one hand infront of the other, one on the sled, and one on the board. If one hand is off to another side this can cause the board to move enough to throw the cut off a 16 th or 32 of an inch.

Dont use a framing square, they are never accurate to more than a 16th of an inch. Speed Squares are not much better, although they are almost indestructible.

Invest in some quality squares that STAY IN THE SHOP and never get tossed arround on a jobsite. In addition it is wise to have a quality square to check your other squares with. A decent engineers square runs 15 or 20 bucks, and you can know for sure how square a cheap square is.

I saw norm built the sled and I don't really like his method as the best way is to make the sled, and by making multible cuts adjust the fence to be dead square. If it off very slighty you can shim the fence with masking tape as well if you need to adjust it by a 64th or so.

In addition, After you make your cut, slide the workpeice away from the blade because if it touches it on the way back, it will cause the blade to deflect enough to throw your cut out of square.