David Marks' crosscut sled??

[Brian Fulkerson]

When watching old episodes of Woodworks, David Marks uses a crosscut sled frequently that is built slightly different than the ones that I usually see. The rear fence (or stiffiner) is flat with the bottom of the sled. Specifically, it is edge glued to the back of the plywood surface. The only advantage to this that I can see is that it doesn't limit how wide of stock you can cut.

Here is a link for a picture of his sled:

http://www.djmarks.com/photo.asp?image=/photos/woodworks/crosscutsled.jpg

Are there any other advantages to his method or is he just a wierd guy to design it that way?

Brian

[Brad Noble]

The only advantage to this that I can see is that it doesn't limit how wide of stock you can cut.
Brian

Me thinks you've answered your own question. Pretty logical to me. David said at one time to use a screw with flat washer on the bottom of the very front of the runners to fit into the "T" slot so as to keep the sled down on the saw surface if you are attempting to cut a wide board. I don't know if he does or not. ;)

Brad

[Mark Blum]

Well, the front (leading edge) bracket limits the maximum cutting size just as effectively as a tall fence, assuming you don't want to cut through that bracket. I don't really see much of a benefit.

[Mark Carlson]

Brian,

I dont understand how david's design doesnt limit the width of the stock your cut. If your stock is wider than the sled you will cut the back fence in half and ruin the sled. Am I missing something.

The only advantages to this design that I can see is that his fence makes the fence a little lighter and easier to store away. And maybe easier to photograph whats going on from the outfeed side.

~mark

[Jim Becker]

Oh, but if you pull that thing too far....I agree with Mark on that.

[Thom Sturgill]

Yes it does limit the width of the piece you can cut - to twice the width of the sled! Start the cut in the middle and flip the piece.

[Greg Muller]

Nice Thom,
Thinking outside the box, and now cutting outside the box...Of course, your front edge and back edge have to be perfectly parallel or you won't get the cut straight (or you can't butt it up against the rear fence).

It may be an idea I have to experiment with.

Greg

[Danny Thompson]

Doesn't limit the width of the piece, just limits the length of the cut. I bet it was a photography decision or just a decision to do something different. Take those fins on the end of the fence, for example.

[Ellie Thomas]

I've used his sled when I had a class session with him. He simply indicated that it was designed to keep your hands away from the blade. As we know, he is artistic, so maybe that is why it looks so different!

Hope this helps,
Ellie

[Brian Penning]

This one looks so much longer. Does he have more than one?

http://img.diynetwork.com/DIY/2004/12/01/wwk613_1fg_e.jpg

[James Carmichael]

Yes it does limit the width of the piece you can cut - to twice the width of the sled! Start the cut in the middle and flip the piece.

I don't think that's possible, unless you want to risk a plunge-cut.

[Russ Filtz]

Unless you use a pull cut to start, which doesn't seem too safe with the blade spinning upwards!

[Robert Strebler]

This one looks so much longer. Does he have more than one?

http://img.diynetwork.com/DIY/2004/12/01/wwk613_1fg_e.jpg

In his jigs episode, he mentioned that you would probably make different sized sleds for different cutting projects and IIRC, it showed three or four different sleds in his shop.

[Mike Monroe]

Anyone know what does Marks use for his sled bases? The base looks thicker than 1/4 masonite.

-Mike

[Matthew Voss]

1/2" ply:

"Another fixture that I find indispensable is my cross cut sled for the tablesaw. I have built many of these to aid in various tasks. They consist of a piece of good quality half inch thick plywood with two wooden runners aligned with the slots in the tablesaw..."

[Mark Blum]

I use 1/2" BB ply for my sled bases as well.

[Danny Thompson]

I find MDF is less likely to cup than play.

[Doug Shepard]

I dunno. Am I the only one that often clamps stop blocks onto a vertical rear fence? I would miss that capability.

[RickT Harding]

I dunno. Am I the only one that often clamps stop blocks onto a vertical rear fence? I would miss that capability.

I know I didn't do any sort of clamping setup on mine and I wish I had. I actually wish I had done like some and put the t-track on each side so that you can slide in a clamp to hold the panels down on the sled. A couple of times I've cut something decent sized and with one hand pushing, another trying to hold the material back against the rear fence, I'm missing a hand to hold both board down so they don't try to pop up once the cut is made.

[Doug Shepard]

I dont use it so much for that as just cutting multiple pieces to the exact same width. I take a big handscrew and clamp a block onto the fence.

[Mike Spanbauer]

Clamp to the rear (away from operator) or near (near operator) side? David almost always uses clamps on the near side, and I can't see a use to clamping on the far side, not to mention it being more dangerous.

David has many sleds (I counted 6 or 7 when I was there) and some have specific purposes. The one above, looks odd on the end as someone was using his saw years ago and cut through the "bridge" block that made the back rigid. Horizontal or vertical, it really doesn't matter, but if I recall he mentioned that for storage purposes, it's easier to store THIS sled than one with dual vertical runners.

mike