tmhudg Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 HI guys, I'm fairly new at this and I'm looking to make the crosscut sled from the Woodsmithshop.com http://www.woodsmithshop.com/download/403/precisioncrosscutsled.pdf The first thing it talks about is whether your saw is left or right tilting. They say if it tilts to the left, you need to make a mirror image of the sled in the plans. I can't get my head around this. The sled has an adjustable width blade slot to accomodate dado blades - and tilted miter cuts. In the plans, this adjustable section is to the left of the blade. The fixed section is attached to the miter bar running in the slot to the right of the blade. My saw tilts to the left. That is, the top of the blade leans to the left when I swing the bottom to the right. To me, it seems like that would match the way the sled is designed. If I tilt the blad to the left, I can open the slot to the left to accomodate it. But they say I have to make a mirror image of the sled if my blade tilts to the left. The only thing I can think of is if the term "tilts to the left" means the bottom of the saw not the top. Could that be? I appologize if this is really simple but I feel lile I'm missing something. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Forget tilt. Check which direction the saw blade loads from. A dado stack will increase in that direction. Put the adjustable section so that it accommodates the dado stack. This will be much easier to visualize. It also aligns better with why you need to change based on different saw designs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weithman5 Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 It looks like they show both right and left sleds throughout. . The one on the cover looks like the one I would build and the top of my saw tilts left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 I built one of those sleds for my RIGHT tilt saw. I read the instructions just the opposite of what you did! I was under the impression that the sled was designed for a LEFT tilt saw! So I built mine in the mirror image....I think? Anyway, it is a nice sled but, I've never used the feature for the dado blades or the tilt feature on the saw. No particular reason, I've just never found a need for using it. The extension wing to the right is the nicest feature as far as I'm concerned and it seldom is removed. Great for cross cutting longer boards and having a place to clamp a stop for repeated cuts. Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmhudg Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Forget tilt. Check which direction the saw blade loads from. A dado stack will increase in that direction. Put the adjustable section so that it accommodates the dado stack. This will be much easier to visualize. It also aligns better with why you need to change based on different saw designs. Ah, of course. You are right, this makes it much easier to visualize. My blads load to the right so, yeah, I have to put the extension on the right. Thanks everyone, for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I wouldn't use the tilt feature of your saw with this sled. Build a dedicated sled for 45 deg tilt and raise the blade through it each use. Otherwise, you'll lose the zero clearance capability of the sled when doing a square cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 This is a semantic nightmare that you have flagged Janello. There is a problem with only labeling saws by the direction of their tilt. Good catch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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