I built a very modest sled compared to some of the amazing ones I have seen on here, but thought I would post a few details since it turned to be very functional, accurate, and was completed cost effectively. Perhaps this will help another woodworker out.
My old sled was heavy-but-accurate... but you had to slide it a specific way to get the accuracy. Plus, I hadn't equipped it with any safety measures, and if the kerf was ever buggered up I had no way to easily fix. And, again... it was heavyyyyyyyyyyy.
So, my new design was:
- 2 sheets of 1/4" thick HDF
- I glued these together, except for about a 5" zone centered on where the blade cuts.. this piece was left loose to enable replacement of zero clearance insert
- The front and back fence were cut from scrap laying around the shop. The back is a really old pine 2x4 that I truly think is done with any major shape changing (it has been flat in my scrap bin for about 5 years). The front is from a 2" piece of red oak that was odd dimensions and therefore never made it into a project until now. I put a chamfer on the business face to act as a "dust channel".
- The fences were affixed with many 2" star drive construction screws. The back fence, just flush to back edge of sled. The front fence precision adjusted using 5-cut method. Got it within .001" over 20" cut, which is pretty darn good at least according to Marc (Wood Whisperer). :-)
- One of the reasons I wanted to make this sled lighter is in order to use just a single sled runner. I used some scrap ash leftover from my recent workbench build, and got a perfect fit. Affixed with 8 countersunk screws. Afterwards, I waxed the bottom of the sled and am very happy with how easy and smooth it is to move. Solid as a rock and very controlled. No wiggle at all.
- The zero clearance insert fits snugly, and then is backed up with two screws at each end (drove from underneath and into the bottom of fence). If it gets damaged, easily replaceable.
- A blade-exit safety box was added to the back. Just simple scrap ply glued and brad nailed together, and then glued to back of fence.
- A frame of scrap poplar has a center cut around the inside that perfectly accepts 1/8" plexi. Frame glued and brad nailed for sake of speed-to-build. It is held to the top of the fence with a 8-32 thread machine screw (currently philips head, knurled knob version is coming in the mail) - easy to remove if the need arises.
Anyways, this is a pretty run-of-the-mill project for sure, but I'll be happy to use it. Cuts very accurately, comfortable and safe to use, and cost me about $25 total. I hope it's helpful for someone!
table saw sled.jpg
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