I’m picturing a giant Rolodex of sleds 
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…or maybe the door storage from Monsters Inc
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Why not just do away with all those sleds and make this one?
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Yaaas! I like the idea of having one or two max well designed, adjustable sleds.
I just took the Woodshop safety with Josh last night, and he mentioned that there was an effort taking place to replace the old beat up sleds with new ones. This seems to be the only thread I can find regarding that effort. Perhaps there’s an underground movement?
I’ve recently built a couple for my home shop, and I’d be happy to make one for Asmbly. Since I’m brand new here I don’t really know the right way to approach said task. I’m going to start making one regardless, as a table saw without one is only 1/2 capable for me. If and where it stays at the shop is up for discussion.
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Thanks @jiggliemon! I think the discussions have largely been in person amongst the Stewards Team. @cfstaley and @CLeininger would be good people to sync up with this (middle and right respectively in the last photo on this thread, which is the other place sleds were briefly mentioned recently). Thank you for helping with this!
We just replaced the center cast iron top and thoroughly cleaned and lubricated the saw. None of the existing sleds are calibrated to the new top and so they either need to be calibrated or, more likely, replaced, and so your timing is perfect. While it would be nice to have an extremely fancy sled like the one designed by Stumpy Nubs, a very simple cross cut sled that is dialed in is better than nothing (and in some ways better). Feel free to hit me up if you want to brainstorm design ideas. I can also meet on Saturday after my turning class ends at noon.
ps- I recommend the Matchfit miter bars. It’s easier to adjust the miter bars from the top vs moving the fence.
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Here’s the sleds I made for my saw.
It’s a large sled that’s pretty basic, and a small sled with t-track and is a little more “versatile.” I use the smaller one 90% of the time, and have the larger one for panels, really (I’m building a kitchen and needed to fit wider sheet goods).
I’m with you in not wanting to create an erector-sled. The only features I’m personally after is a replaceable waste insert on the bed and fence to keep some semblance of a zero clearance (as well as angle/miter cuts). And a few tracks for hold down clamps and stop blocks.
Being that it’s a saw stop the fence should be MDF + micro jig or T-Slot.
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I have a Matchfit / Microjig sled that I tuned up today for the new table. Wow, what a difference. It was the microjig tracks that told me two years ago that the miter slots in the table were off. Today - perfection. My stock jammed on an poorly adjusted insert. Shut the saw down, reset, and reran the piece. You can see the difference in the cut, but only as a burnish. Not as an additional edge. You don’t have to think about holding the sled this way or that. It just works.
That said, the outfeed table needs a nudge to the right…
I like the idea of replaceable inserts. T track is versatile, but Matchfit has no follow on costs once you get the router bit. However, the clamps are all twist handles. They don’t yet have any quick release options.
We have some Match fit that came with the drill press, and I will be building the MFT table using Matchfit and 18mm dog holes. So standardizing on Matchfit would be helpful. Less aluminum around the Sawstop is also less stressful.
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Those sleds look well made. I say go for it!
If you use t track, make sure there is an ample gap in the middle to avoid any chance of hitting it with the blade and setting off the brake.
I made a sled with removable 1/4" mdf inserts along the blade and fence. They were tapered on the sides so they could slide in and stay in place without the need for screws.
How do you like the katz moses stop block?
I have an unopened pair of MatchFit miter bars that I’ll contribute to the cause.
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I drew up some adjustable zero clearance inserts for the new table saw sled.
Could I get someone to cut several of them on a laser machine?
Additionally, I don’t know how to attach a file to this discord. Perhaps it’s not permitted.
What material do you want them cut out of? Is it on hand?
1/4” MDF.
If it’s not available, I have some I can bring by pretty soon.
If by zero clearance inserts, you mean the rails for the miter slots in the table, that’s what the match fit rails do. They are adjustable for zero clearance.
I would recommend the CNC on this one.
The char on the side of MDF after laser cutting is conductive. We’ve tripped the Sawstop on it once before. That case was someone failing to get a laser cut after multiple passes and had a big thick char line which probably reached from the blade to the table or where they held it.
If it’s actually a zero clearance insert, the only cut line would be on the outside perimeter. That should be OK. If it wasn’t and the center was lasered where the blade comes up, it should still be ok because the char doesn’t make a path to the table or where you hand could be, but I can’t say for sure how sensitive it might be.
I got the bulk of the sled done. It’s 36" wide by 18" max bed capacity. It has adjustable spoil boards on the fence, as well as (soon-to-be) adjustable spoil boards/zero-clearance inserts on the bed. The idea is you can close the inserts – fence, and bed – against the blade kerf when you’re dialing it in. And once the kerf clearance becomes a little too sloppy you can simply close the boards together and trim off the nasty bits for a fresh zero-clearance kerf cut.
I put T-Track along the fence and the bed. There are clamps attached to the bed as well. They can be removed with a #2 Phillips in the event that you need all 18" of bed. I “locked” them in hoping to prevent them from walking away when you need them (a la the chuck key problem).
I marked on the front of the sled where you should zero the blade for a good center cut.
TODO:
- I need the zero-clearance inserts cut out before I can install them. This will include installing nutserts into the bed (I believe #10-32). I wanted to wait for the cut pieces to do this; since if I made one at home it’s likely to be a little off compared to what will get cut. And I want the nutserts to match the spoil boards/zero-clearance inserts that can be easily reproducible.
- file to cut: Sled Zero Clearance.ai - Google Drive
- The rails need to be installed and squared up. The rear fence is only screwed in, so if you need to move it to adjust it that shouldn’t be a problem. Maybe let me know prior to doing this though.
- The whole sled needs to be finished. Sanded down, Shellac on the MDF parts, and maybe oil/wax on the rest?
- A stop block would be nice. We can add a home-grown block by using the microjig groove, but it would make more sense to me to just get one off the shelf. The Katz-Moses would be great (maybe he’d donate one?), but I also have that little flippy rockler one that I test fitted on here and it fits fine. There’s just a little bit of deflection which isn’t super desirable. Either way I’m in too deep to throw any more money at this thing, so it’s on someone else
*A Thumb guard would also be nice. I may add one in later unless someone else calls dibs (someone else, please call dibs…)
The char on the side of MDF after laser cutting is conductive.
That shouldn’t be a problem here. We can sand off the char if there are any concerns. Perhaps the only real benefit to using the CNC Router would be to pre-cut the counter sink for the screws. That would save me a pass on a router table.
Doh! I was definitely off on the wrong track for zero clearance. Should have known better…
It’s at the shop ready for you to install the rails whenever you’re available to do so. If you’d rather I do it just leave the rails on the sled.
I’ll leave them on the sled on Tuesday. I’m getting ready to head out of the country, and won’t have time to install them. The Zero Play slides need a couple of nickels for when you adjust them. The only drawback to them is that they are about a foot long. Some sleds have longer miter bars. You’ll also need a 1/2 Forstner bit for the counter bore on the top side. Through hole is 1/4.