I want the plans but the site never lets me in. Is there an alternate way I can pay? I have most money transaction vehicles to pay you, but ETSY is just not working right.
I have seen 100+ videos on making a crosscut sled and yet I found this one entertaining and informative. It was almost life changing. OK, that is overstating a bit but this was very well done with great justification on every decision you made and I am impressed. Keep up the great work.
I like the humour you inject in your videos. Makes them so entertaining! I also like how you show mistakes that always happen while woodworking - lessons are learned from recovering from them. Thanks!
I have several sleds, but the one I use the most is marginally larger than the one you have here; kept the forward fence in order to help with longevity - manoeuvering it and manhandling it when it's not on the saw risks damage if it's only held together by the back fence. I broke my first sled this way. Anyhoo, RE the T-Tracks, I use mine all the time when I am cutting weird shapes; I put one on the top of my fence as well as the face of the fence, and I use them a lot. I then made my own hold-downs laminating scrap pieces of exotic woods (Purpleheart, Ipe, and Bloodwood) which are super strong, but also look fancy, and making my own knobs out of other scraps. Finally, my mitre slot slide was also home-made - and I only put ONE on the sled. On previous sleds, the very slight shrinkage or expansion of the sled itself was what was causing it to stick. It turns out, you only really need one anyway. Choosing naturally slippery woods (Bloodwood is probably my favourite because it feels so smooth even without wax) will make an excellent mitre slide - I found aluminum to be just a little "scratchy" in the slot.
Good video Scott, I'm torn between one jig that does everything (using add-ons) and multiple jigs that each do one thing really well. In a small shop, storage space is a challenge. It is great to have a small, lightweight sled that meets most of our needs, we are likely to use it. It can be a real PITA to to get out and set up a big heavy complex rig for just a few cuts. Each woodworker has unique requirements, but when woodworkers like yourself show the thought process behind your decisions, it makes it easier for us to design a solution that suits our needs. Great pace, good length of video, nice touch of humour: not over done. For something that is highly relevant to what I am working on, I can easily sit through an hour or more, albeit I may have to break it into a few sessions. Otherwise, I find 12 to 15 minutes optimal. That's all IMO. Other peoples' MMV. Best wishes from a remote part of the Land Down Under. What I would give for a bit scrap cherry, walnut or Baltic birch ply!
Thanks for the kind words as always Barry! Even though I have a tiny shop, I do have a crawl space that I can store the lesser used jigs, and retrieve them only when I need them.
When I did my first crosscut sled, it was a big heavy monster that I rarely used. Eventually I cannibalized it to make a smaller crosscut sled that was indeed way easier to use, and use more.
Thank you, this was really clear and helpful. Some of the other videos I watched had so much irrelevant detail, i was getting really confused. You explained *exactly* what you were doing and *exactly* why you were doing it. You offered alternatives, but never too much. Seriously, thank you so much.
8:32 Here's a way to ensure a perfect 90° fence without any drama: 1. Clamp the fence to the base as close to 90° as possible. 2. Drill holes through the base into the fence on the right and left side. Drive screws in both holes. 3. Unclamp the fence and remove the left screw completely. 4. Rotate the fence out of the way temporarily and enlarge the left hole in the base so the fence can be adjusted forward and back a few mm. 5. Reinstall the left screw and tighten the fence at what appears to be 90° and make a test cut. If it's not a perfect 90°, loosen the left screw a few turns and rotate the fence forward or back as necessary and retighten. Test again. 6. When it's square, drill a second hole on the left side to make it impossible for the fence to go out of alignment.
While your steps are simpler, I'm having trouble picturing what is fence what is base, because, if so, you are telling me to DRILL HOLES IN MY CAST IRON table?? Since that makes NO sense, I must ASSume you mean different with the terminologies than I do. Too bad a pictoral couldn't be added with labels!
Scott, I built this sled from the plans. It turned out great but there were a couple of issues. The Veritas T track with space for a measuring tape is exactly 1.5" wide. The thickness 2 layers of Canadian birch 3/4" plywood for the fence is about 1/8" less than 1.5 inches. If the T track is installed flush with the front face (face towards the saw blade) of the fence then the T track hangs over the back face of the fence. A 1/8" thick plywood shim is required between the safety guard for the blade passing through the fence and the fence. Cutting a dado in the safety guard does not work because the safety guard would interfere with the stop block. ( I cannot afford Baltic birch. It is almost $200 / sheet on Vancouver Island.) The Veritas large stop block has a quality issue. The 2 lugs that project down into the T track slot either side of the bolt are less than 3/8" wide so the stop block rocks back and forth about 1/32" on the vertical axis. When I shimmed the width of the lugs with a couple of layers of paper the stop block was prevented from moving. Did you have similar experiences? I am going to try to find something more durable than paper for the shim. I will keep you posted. In order to be able to read the tape measure off the side of the flip part of the stop block I installed the T track with the slot on the back face and the tape measure closest to the saw blade. This means that the stop block on the aluminum angle has to built L shaped like the stop block for the larger panel sled (which I am building next). I used CA glue to attach a 1" long piece of angle to the end of the longer angle so this short piece would overlap on the tape measure and I could read the tape measure easier.
I made a shim out of a piece of the side wall from an aluminum pop can and used CA glue to hold the shim in place. This worked well. Send me a private message if you want to see a couple of photos of the aluminum shim.
Maybe I can help you regarding those heavy things: I think I saw one in a museum once. They're called halteres, and they were used in ancient Olympic games as a performance-enhancer for jumping competitions, essentially a portable reaction mass. (Not to be confused with the halteres that house flies use to sense pitch, yaw, and roll.) Hope this helps!
Thanks for covering premade miter tracks! Every video I see on sled jigs uses wooden tracks but knowing me it’d be the thing that keeps me from finishing a sled to use in the first place
That's great! There are several different kinds out there, but I've found that these are the best value and work just as well. I like the fact that you can access the adjustments from the top, so you don't have to remove the whole sled to guess and check. The Kreg style have them on the side and are a pain to adjust imo.
I've had issues with these adjustable aluminum tracks. After tightening the set screws to widen the track to a perfect fit, the fact is, your track is only perfectly sized at those specific points on the track. Not along the whole length of the runner. This causes problems if one of those locations travels past the bed of the table saw top, whether before or late in the cut. The entire sled will move a little bit. I stick with the plywood, as I have had the wood movement problem with hardwood runners as well. Garage workshops have their issues for sure.
I built the Nick Ferry sled. I do love it. I’m not thrilled with the miter bars I used. They end up needing adjusting more often that I’d like. I’ve also widened the kerf by using different blades. It’s heavy and awkward. But I still love it. It would be nice to have a smaller one like this.
I like your videos Scott. You have just the right amount of upbeat personality and subtle humor. I especially like your trademark "BYE" at the end. It would be nice if you made videos a little more often though.
I usually don't use my miter Guage because it's garbage, but when I did, prior to building my miter sled, I never had the work piece slide around. I simply held the work piece.
I agree that a full front fence is completely unnecessary. BUT some type of front fence does add a ton of structural rigidity to the sled _when the sled is NOT on the table_ . This is important because when you pick up the fence with one hand the two halves of the base, which are only connected together with the rear fence, will try to rotate (droop) about the cut line. To keep the two halves from drooping a counteracting torque has to be generated in the rear fence. Torque is force times distance. The distance between the two forces is often referred to as structural depth. So the smaller the distance (in this case the distance between the two sides of the rear fence) the larger the forces. Conversely the greater the distance, the smaller the forces required to generate the same torque. You did make the rear fence thicker and added the block on the back, which does add structural depth which reduces the forces in the rear fence. But adding a front fence makes the entire depth of the sled the structural depth. But there is no reason to make the front fence as wide as the rear fence since its only purpose is to add structural depth. So something on the order of your quick fix little temporary front fence is really all that is needed to make the sled very rigid. Of course you would probably want to make it a little prettier. But it really would need to be much wider than what you had. Or you could just be very careful and always pick up the sled with two hands, one on each side of the cut line so that both halves of the base are supported until you get the sled on the tablesaw and the runners in the miter slots can resist any forces trying to cause the two halves of the base from rotating (which is another reason you don't want any slop in the runners since it is forces on the sides of the runners against the miter slots that provide the necessary torque to hold the base in exact alignment. And since the distance between the slots is very large, those side-to-side forces are quite small. Plus some people like to put a piece of plexiglass above the blade between the tops of the front and rear fence to stop any chips that might be thrown upwards by the blade, as might happen if you are shaving off a very thin sliver, and the sliver rotates into the back of the blade when it is cut free and bits of it are flung upwards. Safety glass will keep you from losing an eye if that happened, but they won't keep your face from being hit by wood shrapnel. A short front fence would also allow such a shield to be added.
I agree. I’ve got a front fence on my large sled just to ensure stability of the 2 halves. I do use hold downs to hold the stock form and stops for accurate multiple cuts. Yes, it’s weighty but so is much of the timber I use. I use a Osborne mitre gauge which is very good indeed but I guess 50% of my cuts are 90 degree. I can see a use for a small sled for those instances where I’m cutting wide thin stock as I can’t easily clamp those to the mitre gauge.
Haha! York Dumbbells (anniversary edition I believe, with the gold vinyl coating)! Christmas when you were 14? It is so refreshing having a Canadian perspective on this serious business of amateur woodworking.
I've actually noticed in recent years that whenever I come across a new woodworking channel here on UA-cam there's a 90% chance they're canadian. I am not good enough with accents to tell right away, but inevitably they'll whip out the Robertson screws.
Hi Scott, I enjoyed your recent workbench build and have since been checking out several of your videos. I just wanted to express my appreciation for your down to earth, " affordable" approach to wood working. Not just DIY but rather a realistic approach to the hobby woodworker. Glad to see a fellow Canuck enjoying the wonderful hobby of wood working and one that supports Canadian. ie LV!
Subscribed just because you didn't use the five cut method. One tip from me. When I am attaching the fence. I just screw a piece of scrap to the sled, and fence. Then adjust by putting something between this piece of wood, or the sled. Then put in the final screws. Yea, it makes a couple of holes. But I'm not making a piece of furniture, I'm making a jig. Jigs have holes.
Now that I have a sled to crosscut small pieces on my table saw, all I need is some sort of jig to allow me to rip long boards on my mitre saw. Then my shop will be complete. Of course I could just use my track saw, but right now I have it mounted sideways on my router table so I can use it as a biscuit joiner.
Hi Scott, why remove that forward fence piece? Yes, it limits the front-to-back width of the piece you want to cut … but you probably wouldn’t want to cut a board or panel that extends beyond the front edge of the sled, anyway. Personally, I think it should stay on the sled and help keep things together. I have a bigger sled (heavier, too) for the big panels. I like the idea of making a lighter weight smaller sled for safely cutting the “less big” items.
I would! Also, for larger items, you could support the overhanging material with strips of the same thickness as your sled. No limits to the size of your panel, but lighterweight. The modularity also helps it be able to store it easier in small shops.
Good video, great on details, nice nod to William Ng 5cut. Adjusted my old light weight sled using his method. Building a Dubby sled today, had to stop and watch your post
Baltic Birch plywood will not last a long time here on Maui. The BB that you get here always comes with bonus termites pre-installed which will then invade any room in which it is stored.
A sled with all the bells and whistles has a lot of bells and whistles that to get rung or whistled. This is a great design, definitely will take some inspiration from it for my next sled build.
Great video, Scott. I'm planning to build a bigger workshop, where I'll have space for a tablesaw (now using bandsaw). I'll definitely come back to this video and your plans by then.
0:38 La base de plywood es en realidad de 32 por 12. Scott está restando 1 pulgada y media de la barrera... por eso dice que es de 32 por 10 y media pulgadas. Atención ahí gente! Saludos desde Costa Rica
Great Scott video 🤔🤣. Seriously though great video. I have been meaning to make a smaller sled. I also have a big clunky one that I thought would work well for all my cuts but it really is a pain to use. Keep up the good work and I love the humor in your videos.
You do beautiful work and is very informative. I’d advise you to get a riving knife or a splitter. Saw a video by a man who had been doing wood work for 30 years. His hand got dragged over the blade on a kick back. He lost the tips of three fingers.
figured a year ago out, that i need not such a big crosscut sled. And did remove the Front end and much of the sliding table. Result is: i found it's always to big yet😀😁
Scott, I know there are 1,000 tutorials about this... but I'd love your take on "Beginner's guide to using a router". I want to route some holes in a board for trash cans to make a DIY trash can pull out drawer, that would be a great project for you to do so I can copy it and take credit. 😀
Hello Scott Walsh Great videos Couple thing you might consider , maybe even film. For the runners, try using 3/8 thick lexan or plexiglass. It cut like hard wood but humidity does not effect them.Yes it takes some time to get the perfect size ,but than make a supply for further jigs . Very cheap. For the table sleds would suggest a way to reduce the friction between the table saw surface and the under side of sled. Is layout a grid and using a 2 inch foster bit drill down into surface 1/16 of an inch deep reducing the surface area contact.When I did mine I made the spacing between the outside-edges of holes were 1/2 away from each other. This made a huge difference . So on you new sled version, if you looking for even less weight I got rid of the material that is attached to the main sled and the saw blade protector.(only have the main left side of sled) Than I cut a 12 inch wide by a little bit longer than table saw piece of plywood the same thickness as the main sled.Glued a miter runner on with a little material to cut off making a zero clearance gap. This board does not move ,remains stationary. so a two piece sled but acts or does what a joined piece would do
No question that a lot of folks overdo jigs, generally. Never had time for it. Mine aren’t typically pretty and they sure as heck aren’t furniture quality, but they do the job
Hey would be interested in a review of your pantorouter build, chiefly was it worth it in the end? I saw it was sitting in the closet and not out in the shop tour. Thanks in advance!
Well done. But I’m a poor novice woodworker. Step 1 to making your $60 sled is to make sure you have a $3,000 perfectly tuned 54” cast iron table saw and upgraded fence (also tuned perfectly). Happy for you! Just not reality for me.
5:17 If using solid hardwood, be sure and orient the wood so the layers lay horizontal. When wood expands, the layers get thicker, and not so much wider.
for the fence make 1 piece wider by the width of the plywood base - 1/32.first you attach fence to edge of plywood base assured that fence is parallel to base also screw from bottom for strength.
Every time I've tried to add T-track or dovetail slot to a sled, it ends up causing a bend in the material (plywood and MDF). In future, I think that, if I absolutely need a T-track, I'll make it by laminating thinner boards. Otherwise, I'll do without.
Interesting build. I can see a place for smaller sleds, especially on smaller job site saws, that have minimal table surface in front of the blade for infeed, such as my DW745. At about 10:33 in the video, something appears in the foreground. It resembles a blade guard, attached to 2 inch clear acrylic dust pipe, which ascends upward out of frame. Please tell us about this: Is it a blade guard? If so, then what kind? Where did it come from? How is it supported and positioned? My ancient table saw came with no blade guard, no fence, no miter gauge and no dust collection - actually, no accessories and a non-functional power switch. All problems have been resolved except the blade guard, AND it would be nice to have above table dust collection. Please advise. Thank-you
Nice video and nice and well designed simple (and I mean that in a good way) sled. Ever wonder why it is customary to cross cut on the left side of the blade and not the right? Even though right is better? One day I’ll put a video on my channel talking about that. It’s a good discussion!
@@ps.2 something like that. Historically, table saw surfaces were small and the fence was mounted in a complicated fashion on rails/tracks on the right side - front and back. Not simple to remove and even if you did, there was not much more table to the right side of the blade. So the norm was established to rip right and cross cut left. Modern table saws have fences that are easy to remove or slide out of the way. And they have like 50 plus inches of table to the right. So if cross cutting in a modern configured table saw, it makes sense to cross cut on the right where you have much more support for the board.
Love the simplicity of your sled! One question... have you come up with any solution for using a dado stack with a sled? Seems challenging to retain the zero clearance. I've seen a couple designs using inserts, but they're a little complicated to build.
I would honestly just make a whole separate sled for your dado stack, and make it so that you're cutting on the arbor flange side so you'll always have zero clearance on at least one side. I just use my miter gauge with the dado stack
Lately I been seeing guys say don't build these cause they will move, come out of 90 deg. An such...prolly won't see this but have you experienced this yet after a year I see...
You made some good points, I tend to not use the t-track either that I put in my sled, but after getting a Harvey Miter gauge, I find I don't even use the old sled I made. That said, I bought those rails you recommend and I'm going to use them to make some sort of jig, I just haven't figured out what!
My current crosscut sled is 30" x 48". I used to do full kitchens and needed to cut large panels but not anymore. Now I want to just be able to cut shelves, so my big sled is going to get broke down.
You do a great - and entertaining - job. Excellent video and tips - will be purchasing your plans.I'm looking to make a table for my miter saw. Ideas? Thanks.
Get Your SMALL AND MIGHTY CROSSCUT SLED PLANS here: www.etsy.com/listing/1155790208
I want the plans but the site never lets me in. Is there an alternate way I can pay? I have most money transaction vehicles to pay you, but ETSY is just not working right.
Crosscut sled size is directly correlated to the woodworker’s ego. Naturally, I have a massive crosscut sled.
haha ya Suman you would
Lol
My sledge is small. I think it is barely adequate and not really up to the task. I am ashamed.
Lol
Agreed, mine is bigger than the table saw.
I have seen 100+ videos on making a crosscut sled and yet I found this one entertaining and informative. It was almost life changing. OK, that is overstating a bit but this was very well done with great justification on every decision you made and I am impressed. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the kind words RT!
I like the humour you inject in your videos. Makes them so entertaining! I also like how you show mistakes that always happen while woodworking - lessons are learned from recovering from them. Thanks!
I have several sleds, but the one I use the most is marginally larger than the one you have here; kept the forward fence in order to help with longevity - manoeuvering it and manhandling it when it's not on the saw risks damage if it's only held together by the back fence. I broke my first sled this way. Anyhoo, RE the T-Tracks, I use mine all the time when I am cutting weird shapes; I put one on the top of my fence as well as the face of the fence, and I use them a lot. I then made my own hold-downs laminating scrap pieces of exotic woods (Purpleheart, Ipe, and Bloodwood) which are super strong, but also look fancy, and making my own knobs out of other scraps. Finally, my mitre slot slide was also home-made - and I only put ONE on the sled. On previous sleds, the very slight shrinkage or expansion of the sled itself was what was causing it to stick. It turns out, you only really need one anyway. Choosing naturally slippery woods (Bloodwood is probably my favourite because it feels so smooth even without wax) will make an excellent mitre slide - I found aluminum to be just a little "scratchy" in the slot.
Good video Scott, I'm torn between one jig that does everything (using add-ons) and multiple jigs that each do one thing really well. In a small shop, storage space is a challenge. It is great to have a small, lightweight sled that meets most of our needs, we are likely to use it. It can be a real PITA to to get out and set up a big heavy complex rig for just a few cuts. Each woodworker has unique requirements, but when woodworkers like yourself show the thought process behind your decisions, it makes it easier for us to design a solution that suits our needs. Great pace, good length of video, nice touch of humour: not over done. For something that is highly relevant to what I am working on, I can easily sit through an hour or more, albeit I may have to break it into a few sessions. Otherwise, I find 12 to 15 minutes optimal. That's all IMO. Other peoples' MMV. Best wishes from a remote part of the Land Down Under. What I would give for a bit scrap cherry, walnut or Baltic birch ply!
Thanks for the kind words as always Barry! Even though I have a tiny shop, I do have a crawl space that I can store the lesser used jigs, and retrieve them only when I need them.
When I did my first crosscut sled, it was a big heavy monster that I rarely used. Eventually I cannibalized it to make a smaller crosscut sled that was indeed way easier to use, and use more.
Thank you, this was really clear and helpful. Some of the other videos I watched had so much irrelevant detail, i was getting really confused. You explained *exactly* what you were doing and *exactly* why you were doing it. You offered alternatives, but never too much. Seriously, thank you so much.
8:32 Here's a way to ensure a perfect 90° fence without any drama:
1. Clamp the fence to the base as close to 90° as possible.
2. Drill holes through the base into the fence on the right and left side. Drive screws in both holes.
3. Unclamp the fence and remove the left screw completely.
4. Rotate the fence out of the way temporarily and enlarge the left hole in the base so the fence can be adjusted forward and back a few mm.
5. Reinstall the left screw and tighten the fence at what appears to be 90° and make a test cut. If it's not a perfect 90°, loosen the left screw a few turns and rotate the fence forward or back as necessary and retighten. Test again.
6. When it's square, drill a second hole on the left side to make it impossible for the fence to go out of alignment.
Great method and fewer steps.
While your steps are simpler, I'm having trouble picturing what is fence what is base, because, if so, you are telling me to DRILL HOLES IN MY CAST IRON table?? Since that makes NO sense, I must ASSume you mean different with the terminologies than I do. Too bad a pictoral couldn't be added with labels!
@@Techreux Drill the holes up through the bottom of the base of the sled into the bottom of the fence.
Scott, I built this sled from the plans. It turned out great but there were a couple of issues.
The Veritas T track with space for a measuring tape is exactly 1.5" wide. The thickness 2 layers of Canadian birch 3/4" plywood for the fence is about 1/8" less than 1.5 inches. If the T track is installed flush with the front face (face towards the saw blade) of the fence then the T track hangs over the back face of the fence. A 1/8" thick plywood shim is required between the safety guard for the blade passing through the fence and the fence. Cutting a dado in the safety guard does not work because the safety guard would interfere with the stop block. ( I cannot afford Baltic birch. It is almost $200 / sheet on Vancouver Island.)
The Veritas large stop block has a quality issue. The 2 lugs that project down into the T track slot either side of the bolt are less than 3/8" wide so the stop block rocks back and forth about 1/32" on the vertical axis. When I shimmed the width of the lugs with a couple of layers of paper the stop block was prevented from moving. Did you have similar experiences? I am going to try to find something more durable than paper for the shim. I will keep you posted.
In order to be able to read the tape measure off the side of the flip part of the stop block I installed the T track with the slot on the back face and the tape measure closest to the saw blade. This means that the stop block on the aluminum angle has to built L shaped like the stop block for the larger panel sled (which I am building next). I used CA glue to attach a 1" long piece of angle to the end of the longer angle so this short piece would overlap on the tape measure and I could read the tape measure easier.
I made a shim out of a piece of the side wall from an aluminum pop can and used CA glue to hold the shim in place. This worked well. Send me a private message if you want to see a couple of photos of the aluminum shim.
Good to know those heavy things have another use, I use them as decorations in the corner of my room. Great vid Scott!
Haha thanks Luis!
Maybe I can help you regarding those heavy things: I think I saw one in a museum once. They're called halteres, and they were used in ancient Olympic games as a performance-enhancer for jumping competitions, essentially a portable reaction mass. (Not to be confused with the halteres that house flies use to sense pitch, yaw, and roll.)
Hope this helps!
thanks for the idea on the stop block extension. I have a smaller table saw and struggle with this exact need all the time!
Thanks for covering premade miter tracks! Every video I see on sled jigs uses wooden tracks but knowing me it’d be the thing that keeps me from finishing a sled to use in the first place
That's great! There are several different kinds out there, but I've found that these are the best value and work just as well. I like the fact that you can access the adjustments from the top, so you don't have to remove the whole sled to guess and check. The Kreg style have them on the side and are a pain to adjust imo.
I've had issues with these adjustable aluminum tracks. After tightening the set screws to widen the track to a perfect fit, the fact is, your track is only perfectly sized at those specific points on the track. Not along the whole length of the runner. This causes problems if one of those locations travels past the bed of the table saw top, whether before or late in the cut. The entire sled will move a little bit. I stick with the plywood, as I have had the wood movement problem with hardwood runners as well. Garage workshops have their issues for sure.
I built the Nick Ferry sled. I do love it. I’m not thrilled with the miter bars I used. They end up needing adjusting more often that I’d like. I’ve also widened the kerf by using different blades. It’s heavy and awkward. But I still love it. It would be nice to have a smaller one like this.
I like your videos Scott. You have just the right amount of upbeat personality and subtle humor. I especially like your trademark "BYE" at the end. It would be nice if you made videos a little more often though.
I usually don't use my miter Guage because it's garbage, but when I did, prior to building my miter sled, I never had the work piece slide around. I simply held the work piece.
Great design. Great video. I love that you added your corrected mistakes. It's just part of the process.
I can tell you are an up and comer. Tell you Photog she’s doing a great job with the video, audio and lighting.
This is clean design and build. I appreciate your decoupled and minimal approach ie sans t track.
I agree that a full front fence is completely unnecessary. BUT some type of front fence does add a ton of structural rigidity to the sled _when the sled is NOT on the table_ . This is important because when you pick up the fence with one hand the two halves of the base, which are only connected together with the rear fence, will try to rotate (droop) about the cut line. To keep the two halves from drooping a counteracting torque has to be generated in the rear fence. Torque is force times distance. The distance between the two forces is often referred to as structural depth. So the smaller the distance (in this case the distance between the two sides of the rear fence) the larger the forces. Conversely the greater the distance, the smaller the forces required to generate the same torque.
You did make the rear fence thicker and added the block on the back, which does add structural depth which reduces the forces in the rear fence. But adding a front fence makes the entire depth of the sled the structural depth. But there is no reason to make the front fence as wide as the rear fence since its only purpose is to add structural depth. So something on the order of your quick fix little temporary front fence is really all that is needed to make the sled very rigid. Of course you would probably want to make it a little prettier. But it really would need to be much wider than what you had.
Or you could just be very careful and always pick up the sled with two hands, one on each side of the cut line so that both halves of the base are supported until you get the sled on the tablesaw and the runners in the miter slots can resist any forces trying to cause the two halves of the base from rotating (which is another reason you don't want any slop in the runners since it is forces on the sides of the runners against the miter slots that provide the necessary torque to hold the base in exact alignment. And since the distance between the slots is very large, those side-to-side forces are quite small.
Plus some people like to put a piece of plexiglass above the blade between the tops of the front and rear fence to stop any chips that might be thrown upwards by the blade, as might happen if you are shaving off a very thin sliver, and the sliver rotates into the back of the blade when it is cut free and bits of it are flung upwards. Safety glass will keep you from losing an eye if that happened, but they won't keep your face from being hit by wood shrapnel. A short front fence would also allow such a shield to be added.
I agree. I’ve got a front fence on my large sled just to ensure stability of the 2 halves. I do use hold downs to hold the stock form and stops for accurate multiple cuts. Yes, it’s weighty but so is much of the timber I use.
I use a Osborne mitre gauge which is very good indeed but I guess 50% of my cuts are 90 degree. I can see a use for a small sled for those instances where I’m cutting wide thin stock as I can’t easily clamp those to the mitre gauge.
I'm sold.
Haha! York Dumbbells (anniversary edition I believe, with the gold vinyl coating)! Christmas when you were 14? It is so refreshing having a Canadian perspective on this serious business of amateur woodworking.
I've actually noticed in recent years that whenever I come across a new woodworking channel here on UA-cam there's a 90% chance they're canadian. I am not good enough with accents to tell right away, but inevitably they'll whip out the Robertson screws.
Hi Scott, I enjoyed your recent workbench build and have since been checking out several of your videos. I just wanted to express my appreciation for your down to earth, " affordable" approach to wood working. Not just DIY but rather a realistic approach to the hobby woodworker. Glad to see a fellow Canuck enjoying the wonderful hobby of wood working and one that supports Canadian. ie LV!
Subscribed just because you didn't use the five cut method. One tip from me. When I am attaching the fence. I just screw a piece of scrap to the sled, and fence. Then adjust by putting something between this piece of wood, or the sled. Then put in the final screws. Yea, it makes a couple of holes. But I'm not making a piece of furniture, I'm making a jig. Jigs have holes.
Now that I have a sled to crosscut small pieces on my table saw, all I need is some sort of jig to allow me to rip long boards on my mitre saw. Then my shop will be complete. Of course I could just use my track saw, but right now I have it mounted sideways on my router table so I can use it as a biscuit joiner.
Great video, I like a lot of little details like the CA glue and access holes for the nylon adjustment.
Perfect video and excellent content. I was fascinated and glued to your whole presentation. Your speed and delivery was right on. Thank you so much.
Hi Scott, why remove that forward fence piece? Yes, it limits the front-to-back width of the piece you want to cut … but you probably wouldn’t want to cut a board or panel that extends beyond the front edge of the sled, anyway. Personally, I think it should stay on the sled and help keep things together. I have a bigger sled (heavier, too) for the big panels. I like the idea of making a lighter weight smaller sled for safely cutting the “less big” items.
I would!
Also, for larger items, you could support the overhanging material with strips of the same thickness as your sled. No limits to the size of your panel, but lighterweight. The modularity also helps it be able to store it easier in small shops.
Good video, great on details, nice nod to William Ng 5cut. Adjusted my old light weight sled using his method. Building a Dubby sled today, had to stop and watch your post
👍 The stop extension idea was worth the watch
Thank You 👍
Hey @scottwalshwoodworking! Another great video. Just wondering, do you still feel this is the best cross-cut sled two years later?
I like the simplicity. This sled looks like it would shine with cutting pieces for small and delicate things made of hardwood.
Great vid scott liked and subscribed, time to watch more past projects now
Changing seasons got me 😂👌. Very nice sled.
Baltic Birch plywood will not last a long time here on Maui. The BB that you get here always comes with bonus termites pre-installed which will then invade any room in which it is stored.
How valuable is the smaller portion of the base on the fence side of the sled? What do I lose by not having it?
Very helpful and EXCELLENT production on the vid. Fast paced and you never missed a beat in communicating the details of what you were doing and why.
A sled with all the bells and whistles has a lot of bells and whistles that to get rung or whistled. This is a great design, definitely will take some inspiration from it for my next sled build.
Thanks Jake! Everything you need, and nothing you don't!
This appeared in my recommendations (not a subscriber) after watching this portion of the Q&A last night… well played 🧙♂️
I LOVE these sleds. I just need to find me some runners that are an upsidedown T-Shape. Thanks Craftsman!
I like the efforts you put in your videos. 👍🏻
Great video, Scott. I'm planning to build a bigger workshop, where I'll have space for a tablesaw (now using bandsaw). I'll definitely come back to this video and your plans by then.
Thanks Pete! A new shop build sounds really exciting!
Thank you for this clear, concise and comedic tutorial!
0:38 La base de plywood es en realidad de 32 por 12. Scott está restando 1 pulgada y media de la barrera... por eso dice que es de 32 por 10 y media pulgadas. Atención ahí gente! Saludos desde Costa Rica
Great Scott video 🤔🤣. Seriously though great video. I have been meaning to make a smaller sled. I also have a big clunky one that I thought would work well for all my cuts but it really is a pain to use. Keep up the good work and I love the humor in your videos.
Great ideas. Thank You. I really appreciate your attitude to measurements in a real world. Its woodworking not NASA.
I need this in my life. I enjoyed this video so much I went to subscribe and was disappointed to realize that...I already have.
Great Scott, this was fun and informative!
lightweight solution, i like it.
the only drawback is the slightly overhang of the t-track to the front which limits the height of the workpiece.
You do beautiful work and is very informative. I’d advise you to get a riving knife or a splitter. Saw a video by a man who had been doing wood work for 30 years. His hand got dragged over the blade on a kick back. He lost the tips of three fingers.
Great, now I have to make an even bigger sled in order to cut my current sled down to size
figured a year ago out, that i need not such a big crosscut sled. And did remove the Front end and much of the sliding table.
Result is: i found it's always to big yet😀😁
Scott, I know there are 1,000 tutorials about this... but I'd love your take on "Beginner's guide to using a router". I want to route some holes in a board for trash cans to make a DIY trash can pull out drawer, that would be a great project for you to do so I can copy it and take credit. 😀
Way to go, Scott. Another fun video to watch and a good project as well. Keep up the great work.
Hello Scott Walsh
Great videos
Couple thing you might consider , maybe even film.
For the runners, try using 3/8 thick lexan or plexiglass. It cut like hard wood but humidity does not effect them.Yes it takes some time to get the perfect size ,but than make a supply for further jigs . Very cheap.
For the table sleds would suggest a way to reduce the friction between the table saw surface and the under side of sled. Is layout a grid and using a 2 inch foster bit drill down into surface 1/16 of an inch deep reducing the surface area contact.When I did mine I made the spacing between the outside-edges of holes were 1/2 away from each other. This made a huge difference .
So on you new sled version, if you looking for even less weight I got rid of the material that is attached to the main sled and the saw blade protector.(only have the main left side of sled)
Than I cut a 12 inch wide by a little bit longer than table saw piece of plywood the same thickness as the main sled.Glued a miter runner on with a little material to cut off making a zero clearance gap. This board does not move ,remains stationary. so a two piece sled but acts or does what a joined piece would do
I use the acrylic cutting boards for my miter guides
That old one was definitely a "SLED LEPPELIN" 😂❤
Ahhh...Robertson screws my fellow Canuck
I really enjoyed this video. Scott is super knowledgeable, able to explain things clearly and I liked the humor! Thanks fo a great video!
No question that a lot of folks overdo jigs, generally. Never had time for it. Mine aren’t typically pretty and they sure as heck aren’t furniture quality, but they do the job
Outstanding video! I just upgraded to the Dewalt 7485 table saw--wow, nice to have a good saw. First things first, I need a crosscut sled. New sub!
I too have seen those funny, knobby things lying around here and there. Never thought about using them for glue-ups, though. Great tip! 😎
Hey would be interested in a review of your pantorouter build, chiefly was it worth it in the end? I saw it was sitting in the closet and not out in the shop tour. Thanks in advance!
Haha I laughed so hard when you dressed up for the seasons :D
Great video, thanks
Thanks for making entertaining videos that are not condescending or trite.
Well done. But I’m a poor novice woodworker. Step 1 to making your $60 sled is to make sure you have a $3,000 perfectly tuned 54” cast iron table saw and upgraded fence (also tuned perfectly). Happy for you! Just not reality for me.
my saw cost a whopping $350 CAD. Keep telling yourself you can't, and you never will.
Hey Scott, l've been looking for a plan to make a thinner sled and yours is spot on. Great video and great sled. Thanks, Steve
All kinds of great tips crammed into this video! Thank you for the video Scott!
Like the telescope idea!
5:17 If using solid hardwood, be sure and orient the wood so the layers lay horizontal. When wood expands, the layers get thicker, and not so much wider.
WAIT A MINUTE? We're talking about size and ego's, and now weather related to those issues? Whaaaa? LOL
for the fence make 1 piece wider by the width of the plywood base - 1/32.first you attach fence to edge of plywood base assured that fence is parallel to base also screw from bottom for strength.
Every time I've tried to add T-track or dovetail slot to a sled, it ends up causing a bend in the material (plywood and MDF).
In future, I think that, if I absolutely need a T-track, I'll make it by laminating thinner boards. Otherwise, I'll do without.
I decided on making a cross cut sled this weekend a week ago, get out of my head!
Sister Sled just earned you another sub! 🤣
I too made a giant sled that I don’t like using. Mathis’s video talked me into making something smaller.
That Kreg stop deflects between 1/16 and 1/32 of an inch.
Mitre gauge plus plank. Boom.
Your sled is much wider on the left side. Are you left or right handed? Can you plz explain why you prefer it like this?
how have I not found your channel before now?! THANK YOU
I love the conduit routed over the doorway. Not sure why. It's just quaint to me.
I call it the "industrial suburban basement" vibe
Next you are going to tell us you are building the Brothers Jibb.
like, the BeeGee's?
@@ScottWalshWoodworking Yes! Well-known from such classics as “How deep is your Kerf” “Sawing a Log” “You Shim Again” and of course “Jig Talking”.
@@disklamer But that wood be the BeeJays. No explanation necessary.🤭
Scott, I bought your plans from Etsy, but the link to the miter bar doesn't work right for me.
Could you just tell me which brand you used? Thanks.
Interesting build. I can see a place for smaller sleds, especially on smaller job site saws, that have minimal table surface in front of the blade for infeed, such as my DW745.
At about 10:33 in the video, something appears in the foreground. It resembles a blade guard, attached to 2 inch clear acrylic dust pipe, which ascends upward out of frame.
Please tell us about this: Is it a blade guard? If so, then what kind? Where did it come from? How is it supported and positioned?
My ancient table saw came with no blade guard, no fence, no miter gauge and no dust collection - actually, no accessories and a non-functional power switch. All problems have been resolved except the blade guard, AND it would be nice to have above table dust collection. Please advise.
Thank-you
Disregard. Found the build video. Thanks!
Nice video and nice and well designed simple (and I mean that in a good way) sled. Ever wonder why it is customary to cross cut on the left side of the blade and not the right? Even though right is better? One day I’ll put a video on my channel talking about that. It’s a good discussion!
great point!
I presume it's so you don't have to bother to remove the fence in most cases.
@@ps.2 something like that. Historically, table saw surfaces were small and the fence was mounted in a complicated fashion on rails/tracks on the right side - front and back. Not simple to remove and even if you did, there was not much more table to the right side of the blade. So the norm was established to rip right and cross cut left. Modern table saws have fences that are easy to remove or slide out of the way. And they have like 50 plus inches of table to the right. So if cross cutting in a modern configured table saw, it makes sense to cross cut on the right where you have much more support for the board.
Wife mocking the plans earned a sub!
Love the simplicity of your sled! One question... have you come up with any solution for using a dado stack with a sled? Seems challenging to retain the zero clearance. I've seen a couple designs using inserts, but they're a little complicated to build.
I would honestly just make a whole separate sled for your dado stack, and make it so that you're cutting on the arbor flange side so you'll always have zero clearance on at least one side. I just use my miter gauge with the dado stack
Good suggestion Scott, I'm also leaning towards making a separate sled.
Great now I have crosscut sled envy as well.
Lately I been seeing guys say don't build these cause they will move, come out of 90 deg. An such...prolly won't see this but have you experienced this yet after a year I see...
You made some good points, I tend to not use the t-track either that I put in my sled, but after getting a Harvey Miter gauge, I find I don't even use the old sled I made. That said, I bought those rails you recommend and I'm going to use them to make some sort of jig, I just haven't figured out what!
I justbought one and everything works perfect
My current crosscut sled is 30" x 48". I used to do full kitchens and needed to cut large panels but not anymore. Now I want to just be able to cut shelves, so my big sled is going to get broke down.
Excellent work as usual Scott. Always a good watch 🤙
This felt like getting a lesson in physics when you've barely made it through rudimentary science. Hurts my head
You do a great - and entertaining - job. Excellent video and tips - will be purchasing your plans.I'm looking to make a table for my miter saw. Ideas? Thanks.
I ended up building a larger crosscut sled and it's 30lbs and hard to store. I may just tear the thing apart and build this!
Dude! Great video. Can’t wait to see the miter sled video!
Any ideas about the sled warping, live on the first block away from the beach with basements….so moisture is inevitable.
Okay I should make this, the Table saw scares the BeeJesus out of me. I am feeling ripped off! I keep leaning in waiting for your Newfy accent
Hahaha I unfortunately never had much of an accent, although many in my family do. I guess it was the crowd I hung around with when I was young.
Thumbs up for the music pun. I was there man.
While cutting aluminum on the table saw, disconnect the vacuum hose. Some aluminum chips are hot enough to ignite sawdust
Great video. Great job getting it square!