Sawstop Sliding Table vs Large Crosscut Sled

[Bob Falk]

My two cents is that a crosscut sled takes up no permanent footprint around your TS, unlike a sliding table attachment. I don't have extra space for something that only gets used sometimes. Plus, with a crosscut sled you get a ZCI built in, and it's replaceable with just a little thought. I built a a crosscut sled that can cut over 40" front to back. Yes, it's heavy, but not overly so. It's supported on the outfeed side and if I need support on the infeed side I just slide a roller stand under it. Best of all, after 30 years cuts still come off it exactly at 90 deg. Never have I had to adjust it. When I'm not using it gets stood up along side my sheet goods cart.

John

John, Interesting that you don't find a sliding table more useful. I have a Robland sliding table on my SS ICS and I use it for nearly every crosscut. Only in the rare occasion do I use a miter gauge. The Robland is kinda fussy to set up, but cuts accurately once adjusted.

[Alan Lightstone]

So, I think I'm going to build another crosscut sled, this time out of 1/2" BB plywood that I have in my shop.

But first, let me show a few pictures of my present, soon to be tossed sled, as I'm strongly considering using a few of its features. It's a Woodhaven, and they discontinued it years ago.

Woodhaven crosscut sled 2.jpg
Woodhaven crosscut sled 1.jpg
Woodhaven crosscut sled 3.jpg

I've liked the aluminum channel, as I very often use hold-downs on my work when using the sled. The stop blocks on the channel are also quite handy.

Due to my physical limitations, I'll have to make this sled out of two separate sheets of 1/2" BB plywood, each a little larger than 1/2 of the size. That does present the issue of keeping the sled flat while installing the front and back fences, and miter bars. I figure that I can temporarily install wood fences front and back while keeping flat and weighed down on my workbench, then installing the miter bar (or two). I can at that point use the 5 cut method to zero in the fence, and then here's the issue:

I can see it creating real difficulties using the aluminum fences and keeping things square. I could bolt them to the sled and the wood fence, then remove the wood fences (needed for using these threaded hold downs), or is there a better approach?

Or should I just toss the aluminum channels, and put a T-Track on the top, and find some other idea for hold downs (any suggestions...)?

[Dan Cameron]

So, I think I'm going to build another crosscut sled, this time out of 1/2" BB plywood that I have in my shop.

But first, let me show a few pictures of my present, soon to be tossed sled, as I'm strongly considering using a few of its features. It's a Woodhaven, and they discontinued it years ago.

Woodhaven crosscut sled 2.jpg
Woodhaven crosscut sled 1.jpg
Woodhaven crosscut sled 3.jpg

I've liked the aluminum channel, as I very often use hold-downs on my work when using the sled. The stop blocks on the channel are also quite handy.

Due to my physical limitations, I'll have to make this sled out of two separate sheets of 1/2" BB plywood, each a little larger than 1/2 of the size. That does present the issue of keeping the sled flat while installing the front and back fences, and miter bars. I figure that I can temporarily install wood fences front and back while keeping flat and weighed down on my workbench, then installing the miter bar (or two). I can at that point use the 5 cut method to zero in the fence, and then here's the issue:

I can see it creating real difficulties using the aluminum fences and keeping things square. I could bolt them to the sled and the wood fence, then remove the wood fences (needed for using these threaded hold downs), or is there a better approach?

Or should I just toss the aluminum channels, and put a T-Track on the top, and find some other idea for hold downs (any suggestions...)?

Here's a thought. How about making a wooden fence with a t-track in top, the height of this fence plus t-track exactly the same as the height as the aluminum fence, and permanently fastened to the sled. The aluminum fence is attached to the wooden fence using shims as yoou do the five cut dance. Now you can use your hold downs without removing the wood fence.

[Alan Lightstone]

Here's a thought. How about making a wooden fence with a t-track in top, the height of this fence plus t-track exactly the same as the height as the aluminum fence, and permanently fastened to the sled. The aluminum fence is attached to the wooden fence using shims as yoou do the five cut dance. Now you can use your hold downs without removing the wood fence.

That would not work with these particular holddowns. I would need to re-design them, or at least the back small aluminum portion.

And with the two halves of the aluminum fence independent of each other wouldnt a shim just make them not parallel to each other. Wouldn’t it make more sense to attach the aluminum track to the wood track and then move the wood track around its pivot point using feeler gauges with the William Ng method?

I really don’t know if it’s worth it at all to use these aluminum tracks, but I really don’t want to lose the ability to use the hold downs.

[John TenEyck]

For crosscuts less than 14" I use my RAS. The sled gets used for wider ones. In both case no setup, checking, etc is required; cuts come out at 90 deg first time, every time. I would love to have a true slider, but don't have the room for one.
John

[Alan Lightstone]

I think I've settled on a conventional crosscut sled with wood fences. I just can't see how I could easily dial in the split aluminum channels to be dead on accurate. Seems much easier with a solid piece of wood. I'll either put on an Incra T-track Plus or Kreg top track and modify the hold down toggle clamps to work. I don't think I've ever used the slots in the bottom of my present crosscut sled for hold-downs, so I think I'll skip on those (though I use them every time on a much smaller sled I use for small pieces). Hmmm...

I've liked some of the videos I saw with a replaceable zero-clearance insert, though there is no way I'm going to make the sled even heavier by using two sheets of 1/2" plywood for the bottom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njsD5W6fcI0&t=2574s

I think I'll repeat my present sled setup by using the Incra Miter SE slots, as those really do prevent the sled from tipping over when pulled to the front. The trick is to only put them on the far end of the miter bars, not the near end.

I'll also have to beef up something again to be able to hang the sled from the overhead hoist. This time not doing the dumb thing with simple wood screw eyes. The machine screw/insert nut approach will be much safer.

So, I've got a project on my hands. Not a particularly difficult one, but accuracy is important.

[Dan Cameron]

That would not work with these particular holddowns. I would need to re-design them, or at least the back small aluminum portion.

And with the two halves of the aluminum fence independent of each other wouldnt a shim just make them not parallel to each other. Wouldn’t it make more sense to attach the aluminum track to the wood track and then move the wood track around its pivot point using feeler gauges with the William Ng method?

I really don’t know if it’s worth it at all to use these aluminum tracks, but I really don’t want to lose the ability to use the hold downs.

What I'm suggesting is that your hold downs can be attached with two of the four mounting screws in the top slot of the aluminum fence and the other two screws into the slot of the t-track. The t-track just needs to be mounted at the right distance (and parallel to) from the aluminum fence.

[Warren Lake]

didnt have hold downs on a sled, the stops and holding the wood to the stops worked fine. Stop blocks were just a block of wood held on with a clamp. The one i used had 8/4 Maple front and back. likely some other lighter wood could have been used that would have still been strong enough at 2" thick but lighter. 2" thick back when 8/4 was really 8/4.

[Bryan Hall]

I looked into the SS large and small sliders when. I started considering a real slider. I was a little surprised that the SS customer service flat out told me that their sliders aren't that accurate. The small is better than the large, but both struggle a bit with repeatable accuracy. The sled more reliable.

[Holmes Anderson]

What are the advantages of having the sliding table closer to the blade? Seems like it would more or less eliminate the problems caused by small differences in height between the sliding and static tables and maybe make it easier to minimize variations in parallelism between the blade and travel of the sliding table?

How does the Compass ST-1500 stack up against the SawStop sliding table attachments?

[Alan Lightstone]

The next problem I'm thinking about, is how to securely mount the cross piece to hold an eye hook for hanging from the hoist that won't fall out, and potentially kill me next time. A worthy goal, I think (others may differ...)

Here's the present modified setup.
Attachment 467318
Woodhaven crosscut sled 3.jpg
The cross piece is held on with bolts to the aluminum track, and the eye hook is now held on with a threaded insert and the wood piece is epoxied and screwed on.

This won't go anywhere, but how secure would a wood cross piece screwed into a plywood fence edge be? This is what's worrying me. What's a more secure way to mount the cross piece to the fences to strengthen it from being pulled out?

[Alan Lightstone]

What I'm suggesting is that your hold downs can be attached with two of the four mounting screws in the top slot of the aluminum fence and the other two screws into the slot of the t-track. The t-track just needs to be mounted at the right distance (and parallel to) from the aluminum fence.

Oh, I see. That would work. But I think I'm abandoning the aluminum track on the remake.

[Kevin Jenness]

What are the advantages of having the sliding table closer to the blade? Seems like it would more or less eliminate the problems caused by small differences in height between the sliding and static tables and maybe make it easier to minimize variations in parallelism between the blade and travel of the sliding table?

It is easier to support and clamp narrow workpieces with the table next to the blade. I use a Fritz und Franz jig quite a bit for narrow, short and taper cuts which would be difficult otherwise, also straightlining the edge of parts either by eye or by measuring off the table edge is simpler. A disadvantage is that it is more difficult to fashion a zero clearance insert so scoring is desirable for some materials.

[John TenEyck]

There are no clamps on my sled either; for 90 deg cuts on 99% of the things I use it for they are unnecessary. For the few times I've needed to hold something at an odd angle I have just screwed or hotmelted a block or two as needed to the bed of the sled. The stop block I use is just a piece of wood clamped to the fence, same as you, Warren, but I can see the advantage of a sliding one with a tape measure scale.

What I feel IS necessary is an overhead guard, which I almost never see on a crosscut sled. I have a piece of 1/4" Lexan about 6" wide that spans from front to back directly over the blade, supported by two pieces of wood about 3/4" x 1-1/2". It keeps sawdust and "stuff" from flying up into my face and provides a visual reminder of where not to put my hands. It also reinforces the structure of the sled. Another important safety feature is a guard at the back of the sled to prevent the blade from coming through at the end of the cut, and a means to limit the forward travel of the sled.

John

[Paul F Franklin]

The next problem I'm thinking about, is how to securely mount the cross piece to hold an eye hook for hanging from the hoist that won't fall out, and potentially kill me next time. A worthy goal, I think (others may differ...)

Here's the present modified setup.
Attachment 467318
Woodhaven crosscut sled 3.jpg
The cross piece is held on with bolts to the aluminum track, and the eye hook is now held on with a threaded insert and the wood piece is epoxied and screwed on.

This won't go anywhere, but how secure would a wood cross piece screwed into a plywood fence edge be? This is what's worrying me. What's a more secure way to mount the cross piece to the fences to strengthen it from being pulled out?

IIWM, I'd think about having four hooks, one on each end of the front and back fences, and 4 straps from above for lifting. You could use lighter hooks and straps, it would be easier to keep the thing level, and you'd have redundancy if one or two of the hooks somehow let go.

[eta:] But if you want to do it your way, you could drill 1" holes through the plywood and insert pieces of hardwood dowels and then run your screws down through the edge of the plywood into the dowel pieces. Much more pull-out resistance that way.