TerryMcK Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 This is nothing new to the people on here but I was recently asked to describe my current crosscut sled so here goes (it's nothing fancy BTW just a shop helper). The crosscut sled is a very simple but (I believe) essential addition to a table saw. I have made many of these over the years but this is my latest incarnation. It won't be my last. Essentially it comprises a 3/4" plywood base with two 4" x 2" stable softwood fences. I won't go into the details of how this is made as there are many tutorials on the internet. The overall dimensions of the base are 16" wide x 23-1/2" long. The saw kerf slot is at 5" in from one edge. There is only one mahogany runner on the base as most European saws with sliding tables only have one mitre slot to the left of the saw blade when viewed from the operator perspective. I don't believe that you actually need to have two runners as they are prone to binding if the mitre slots are not precisely parallel. Single mahogany quarter sawn runner on the underside You may also notice the piece of blue tape on the fence. This is just to micro adjust the fence so the cut is exactly square. This saves having to mess around with unscrewing the screws underneath and readjusting. That is just a waste of time and tape works just as well if the fence is slightly out of whack. If I had one improvement to this it would be making the cutoff side slightly deeper probably 12" instead of the stated 5" making the overall sizes of the sled 23" x 23-1/2" long. I find that cutoff pieces fall when they are cut off instead of staying on the sled. You can scale your crosscut sled up or down accordingly but I find (even at the current relatively small size) it works very well and does not take up much storage space. I'm not crosscutting very large items anyway so this size is perfect for me. You may have different requirements so can make it any size you wish. I also didn't go to the unnecessary job of shaping the fences so they are higher in the middle. The fence is already high enough so as not to fall apart when the kerf is cut and there is more fence area to clamp things like distance stops onto. I also attach sacrificial 1/4" thick ply to the fence as the kerf slot wears (they do) with some double sided tape. When that wears I take it off and attach another or just put another on the existing as currently shown. When the entire sled is worn out just make another. So there you are nothing fancy and it cuts really square thanks to that blue tape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Probably one of my favorite tools in the shop! Nicely done sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks for the detailed description - very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Very nice and tidy Terry, years of use there for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Great idea with the blue tape. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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