Build this Revolutionary Cross Cut Sled, for Newbies!

hey I'm Dan Thomas and welcome to my channel for the newbie woodworker or anyone really I'm going to show you how to build this revolutionary new crosscut sled in detail so even if you've never built anything like it before you'll be able to build this I call it revolutionary because unlike traditional crosscut sleds this one works without having to remove your blade guard and I want to start a revolution among woodworkers we're using blade guards becomes more common I figure the less often you have to switch out the blade guard the more likely you are to keep using it and I think that'd be a big step towards reducing the number of table saw injuries I'd call that revolutionary I know some of you will say I've never used a blade guard and I've never had an accident my response to that is honestly I really don't care I mean I'm glad you haven't had an accident that doesn't change the fact that people are more likely to get hurt if they don't use a blade guard but if you don't agree with me feel free to stop watching now go for the rest of you in a previous video I showed how to build a half sled version so be sure to check it out if you're interested one more thing then we'll get started I ran into a buttload of problems while making this video it was frustrating but in the end it turned out to be a good thing because now I can help you not make the same mistakes anyway don't be surprised at parts of the sled don't always look the same from one shot to another ok let's get started cut the sled bass first so you're sure of the dimensions this is half-inch Baltic birch plywood but any relatively flat plywood will do and you can use three-quarter inch if you prefer I'm using half inch mostly because it's lighter and I have some my sled will be 21 inches square but the dimensions are pretty much arbitrary so make your sled any dimension you want make the fence out of two pieces of 3/4 inch plywood make sure the plywood doesn't have a lot of voids in it since we'll be attaching it to the base using screws I want my fence to end up being about three inches tall but I like cutting everything oversized to make the glue up easier so I start by cutting at six and a half inch piece then I cut the workpiece a little longer than the width of my sled base if you don't have a crosscut sled yet you can use a miter saw or chop saw if you have one or you can attach a piece of scrap wood to a miter gauge and cut it like this if none of those are an option you can cut it by hand or with a circular saw since you'll be cutting the side of the fence doesn't have to be perfectly straight as I said before this piece of six and a half inches tall I set my RIP fence to half of that three and a quarter inches and split the workpiece this gives me two pieces that are taller than the final three inches and one of them is taller than the other by about the width of the blade more on this in a moment obviously you want your fence to be as straight as possible the plywood I'm using is slightly bowed so I'll place the two pieces opposite each other so the gap is in the middle since the pieces aren't straight I need to clamp them to a flat surface while the glue dries I'm using a pair of angle irons for that I put a clamp on each end to hold them together and to help them stand up so I'm adding the glue and I always end up adding too much better than not enough I guess then I start to clamp the pieces together since I cut both pieces taller than necessary I don't have to have the sides perfectly flush I'll just trim them after the glue dries but I still focus on keeping one side pretty close to flush remember I mentioned earlier that I made one side taller than the other this is where that comes into play I focus on keeping the squeeze-out away from this edge so after the glue dries I'll have a nice flat edge to run against my rip fence but for now I set it aside to let the glue dry for a couple of hours if you have a table saw with a tabbed miter slot like some craftsman and Rio B saws have see my video on how to make runners for them I'm cutting my runners from plywood but you might want to watch my full video on how to make runners it talks about different kinds of materials and goes into more detail on the entire process I usually use hardwood plywood like Baltic birch but this time I tried pine plywood but when the rains hit and the humidity went up the runners expanded too much so I'm back to hardwood plywood I started making my runners an inch or two shorter than my base so if I stand this sled up against something the runners don't hit the floor I set my fence a little wider than my miter slot and start to cut my blanks I make sure the first one is wider than the miter slot then cut the rest I like to cut a lot of runners at one time because I'm sure to need them at some point in the future by the way this is half-inch Baltic birch plywood I prefer to use 3/4 inch then split it in half what I want to use up this half inch piece I'm not very good at moving my fence small amounts so I made this micro adjuster gauge so I can be sure I don't move the fence too much at one time so I tapped the fence over a little and cut the end then I tried in the slot and if it doesn't fit I tap the fence over some more and try it again and again just try not to cut it too thin but if you do turn the runner around and use the other end eventually I get it about right so I cut the entire piece and after a few tries it's about right so I cut the remaining pieces this plywood is too tall for my miter slot so I'm going to trim it down from 1/2 inch to 3/8 of an inch I just got this spiral feather board from Hedgehog and I already love it I'm gonna use this push stick which is just about due to be replaced I can't use my thin strip push block because the feather board gets in the way this kind of cut is messy no matter what kind of dust collection you have [Music] because my base is square I can have the surface grain go in any direction so I decide to have it run this direction which will be along the curve I think I like this side better so it'll be the top and there's an imperfection here that I'd rather have behind the fence I did the next steps a little out of order but I'll show it in the order you should do it draw arrows on the end closest to you pointing to the top now you'll always know this is the back of the sled and this is the top on the top draw two lines where the fence will go it starts at four inches from the back and since my fence is about an inch and a half thick the front line is at five and a half inches turn it over and draw the four-inch and five and a half inch lines but also add one in the middle to show about where to put the screws we're gonna move on to attaching the runners but we might add a couple more lines in a moment there's a couple of ways to attach the runners you can use glue or screws glue is probably easier but when I have two runners like this I prefer to attach them with screws because that's easy to adjust them later on if needed so I'll show you how to do that in a moment but first glue position your rip fence so your sled space is roughly centered over the blade put some nuts washers or spare change in the miter slots so the tops of the runners end up above the tabletop add glue to the runners don't use too much you don't want to squeeze out and you only need a little bit of glue to hold it on put your base up against the RIP fence and lay it down on the runners keeping the base against the fence weights on the base and wait an hour so before you take it off when the glues had time to dry remove the slit and clean up any squeeze out I like to stand the bottom to get it nice and smooth then try it out and make sure it slides okay mine is way too tight I need to sand the sides of my runners a little so I used this sanding stick I made a while back it's basically a long handle with a replaceable block of wood that has some thick sandpaper glued on it the sandpaper is flush against the edge so I can sand the sides of the runners right down to the sled base make sure you don't stand them too much you don't want to sled to be loose into minor tracks but I like to soften the edges a little to make it easier to get them in the minor tracks I try it out again and this time it slides great we can also add some Johnston's paste wax when we're done if we wanted to but not yet in order to attach the runners with screws we'll use the tap and drill bit set to make threaded holes in the runners will drill counterbored holes in the base for machine screws and washers the holes are oversized so there's plenty of wiggle room we'll make sure the screws don't stick out of the runners or else you'll scratch your table saw top if you drag the sled around and we'll make sure the heads are below the base source stock lies flat on the sled so here's what you need I'm using quarter inch machine screws a half inch long if your base is 3/4 inch instead of half inch you'll probably want longer screws washers like I said before a tap and drill bit set you can get it for less than $10 at a local hardware store a small diameter drill bit a 3/8 inch drill bit or some equivalent and a 3/4 inch Forstner bit start out by positioning your rip fence so the base is roughly centered over the blade mark where the edges of the miter slots are you don't need to be perfect just close I'm sorry this is out of focus turn the bass over and on the bottom draw lines that match the marks you just made the runners will go between these lines like I just said we don't have to be dead solid perfect since we'll be using oversized holes I decided to sand the bottoms of the runners to get apply that wasn't so dark so I could see my pencil marks better mark the right and left runner with arrows pointing to the front I'm going to use three screws for each runner so I make a mark two inches from either end and one in the center of the runner use a backing board and clamp down a runner so it's between the lines then use a small diameter bit to drill through the runner and all the way through the base and obviously do it for both runners now use the drill bit that came with the tap and drill bit set and drill out the holes in the runners you don't have to use a drill press if you don't have one but try and get the holes it's vertical as you can use the tap and thread the holes don't do it too quickly I use a slow setting on my drill we need to drill counterbored holes deep enough so the heads of the screws are below the surface but not too deep we don't want to drill all the way through the base I'm using a 3/4 inch Forstner bit for this lineup the point on the Forstner bit with the holes we drilled earlier don't press down hard at first or the base may spin and smack you in whatever body part is at that level I've done this enough times that I know how far to drill with my Forester bit but err on the side of making them too shallow you can always drill them out more if they're not deep enough it was at this moment that he knew he dug you see the counterbored holes are supposed to go in the top of the base and I forgot to flip it over technically I could get away with this but for this video I want it to be correct so I cut a new base and this time I make sure to flip it over so I'm drilling in the top of the base now take your 3/8 inch bit or whatever size you're using and drill out the rest of the holes then use your Forstner bit to clean out the debris don't actually press down and drill just clean up anything that sticks up inside the counterbore make sure all the screws will be below the surface of the base if not fix it now the runners go on the bottom obviously this is my right runner and I've got the arrow pointing to the front of the sled set it over the holes and turn the base over then line up the screw holes and add the screws and washers get the other runner pointed in the right direction then flip it over put it under the sled and add the screws and washers if you forget to flip it over chances are that some of the holes won't line up double-check that the screws are below the surface of the base if not drill them out a little more with the Forstner bit also double-check that they don't stick out below the bottom of the runners or you'll scratch your table saw [Music] now take it over to the table saw put it in the miter slots and loosen all the screws once the screws are loose and some people say my screws are already loose if it doesn't slide smoothly you'll probably need to sand the edges of one or both runners a little this part is optional but I like to slide my fence over next to my base to square it up I also try and position it so that if I need to I can adjust the runners to both the right and the left then tighten the screws for one runner and make sure it still slides okay if it doesn't mess around with it until it does then start tightening the screws for the other runner double checking to make sure the sled doesn't start binding if it does loosen the screw and try it again hopefully by now the glue on the fence has had enough time to dry so unclamp the fence I check to make sure it came out straight and it did like I said earlier we should have one side that's nice and flat with no squeeze out but if it has squeeze out clean it off put that side against your rip fence and trim the other side to get it square and remove any squeeze out then put that side against the fence and trim the other side and finally trim the ends to get them even in clean if you ended up with your fence being wider than your base cut it down to size now again you can also use the miter saw or chop saw or a miter gauge or cut it by hand since it's the ends of the fence it doesn't have to be perfect before we attach the fence we need to cut the kerf so we have something to align the fence to we've already drawn lines where the fence will go and we'll cut the kerf down to the front line I noticed the sled was binding a little so I'm adjusting the runner screws from now on if you need to adjust the screws only adjust one side you don't want to miss the line the sled so as long as you keep one side the same you should be fine like I said in the previous build video use some good quality screws lights facts or grk or torques will be driving them in and we're removing them several times and these screws are great for that I never noticed this on the bottom of the package before since I never do anything right the first time I wonder if this means I'm not allowed to use these screws anyway we're gonna attach the fence with one screw on the end first so we can pivot the fence to align it since I'm right-handed if the fence pivots on this side it'll be easier for me to align so pick whichever side works best for you flip over the base and punch a mark on the middle line about an inch or so in figure out what's the best site to use is the front of your fence I don't want to use this side because of this crap I got on it I could just stand it off but it's not a good idea to stand the front of your fence because it probably won't be perfectly flat anymore don't ask how I know I kind of used this fence before you can see where I patched the old screw holes it already has a partial kerf and I don't want to try to light up the curse so I'll make this the top instead we're going to cut this part out later anyway draw some arrows so you remember which way it goes get some pieces of scrap wood or something you can prop up in the front of the base with I'm actually using parts of the fence from a previous build attempt position your fence upside down with the front facing away from you and put it under the base line it up between the lines you don't have to be perfect here just close then clap it down its back screws so you don't need to drill pilot holes but for this application we do these screws are two inches long and this countersink bit isn't long enough this one is long enough but it's too big so I'll need to use a regular bit to drill the pilot hole I'm using a caliper to figure out what diameter bit to use I measure in between the threads and it's seven sixty fourths of an inch no I scratch from you metric guys yes I'm dealing with sixty fourths of an inch if you don't have a caliper you can take a bit and hold the shank in front of the screw to see if the threads stick out far enough this is the 1/8 inch bit and it's a little too large for soft pine plywood so like I said I'm using a 760 Force inch bit since the bid is about the right length I put in the drill so I can just drill down until it hits the jaws so I drill the pilot hole then use the countersink bit to drill the countersink make sure it's deep enough so the screw head is below the surface and there you go it pivots just like we want I mentioned in a previous video that you can align the fence to the blade but it turns out that's not as accurate as it sounds it's too complicated to go into here so either take my word for it or don't if enough people leave a comment asking for an explanation I'll write a blog article so check my website before you leave a comment so in this video we'll align the fence to the curve using a straight edge of some kind and a square so let's get started I just put out a video about an easy way to cut thin strips on your table saw and that's what I'm doing here cutting thin strips until I get one with the goldilocks fit in my curve if you don't want to do that you can take a ruler like this one for my combination square and add painters tape to it until you get a tight fit make sure the tape doesn't have wrinkles this one took nine strips of tape put this straight edge in the kerf leave some room at the bottom for defense to move around then use the square that you know actually is square to pivot the fence until it's square to the straight edge if you're used the tape drooler method check against the side without the tape I'm using my precision square here but that ends up being a mistake as you'll see in a moment it turns out you need to use something longer once you think the fence is square clamp it down if you line up your clamp down the length of the fence it's less likely to pull the fence off line when you tighten it down double-check that it's still square then flip it over and drill and drive a screw double check that it's still square it looked right with the precision square but I wanted some footage using the framing square when the framing square showed it wasn't aligned properly probably ignored it I tell you it was a mistake to ignore it except I'm glad I did because I ended up showing that the smaller square is less accurate here once you get the screw in cut a scrap piece and check it for square sure enough mine wasn't square but now I had a good idea why so I took out the screw and realigned the fence using the framing square I drilled a new hole marked the old hole so I wouldn't use it by mistake later on and added the screw still look square so I got that going for me and make another cut and it's perfect so lesson learned use a longer square for this kind of aligning if you can't seem to get it perfectly square remember that this is woodworking and unless it's off by a lot it probably won't matter measure how much room the blade guard needs to one side of the blade I can probably get by with a little over an inch but I'll call it an inch and a quarter to make sure I don't cut it too narrow which is a mistake I made on one of the prototypes Lud's make sure you've got the kerf at least partway into the fence because we're going to use it for measuring we want at least three screws on each side of the curve so pick out where they should go but remember that we'll be cutting out a notch for the blade guard the screws need to be far enough in from the kerf so they don't stick out into the notch so mark where the sides of the notch will go then take that into account issue mark or did drove the holes drill the countersunk holes making sure they're deep enough so the heads of the screws will be below the surface drive the screws and sand off the splinters if needed again make sure the screws are deep enough now unscrew all the screws to remove the fence use the curve to measure and Mark where the notch will go on each side we're going to leave 3/4 of an inch at the bottom of the fence so draw lines were to cut the notch extend them across the top and draw matching lines on the other side I'm just double-checking that since this is the top this is where the blade guard goes and this is where the back of the stock gets supported could I marked everything okay so now we need to cut this out and eventually this will get cut all the way through so we'll take advantage of that by cutting it in half ourselves you could cut it all using a handsaw or even a jigsaw with a long fly wood cutting blade but I'm going to show you how to do it on the table saw using a miter gauge attach a piece of wood to your miter gauge like I mentioned near the start of the video lay your fence on the side and set the blade height then line up the kerf with the blade clamp the fence and cut it in half now is that one of the fence house on its top and set the blade height so it's just short of the line then position it so you'd be cutting on the correct side of the line I should mention that we're doing non through cuts here which means the blade isn't cutting all the way through the stock so make sure you don't have anything that can get in the way like my blade guard spreader would I can use my riving knife though because it's just shy of the top of my blade once you're sure you're safe make the cut and then cut the other piece of the fence the same way again make sure you're cutting it on the right side of the line [Music] now stand it on end and set the blade height for the other cut oh and make sure you're cutting the right side of the line now you know why I keep saying that and there's one piece I didn't cut it perfectly but I'll just just allow it the rest then cut the other piece my two pieces aren't the same length because I didn't get my sled perfectly centered over the blade no big deal to me but your level of OCD will determine if it matters to you or not just a reminder don't sand the front of the fence especially if it's soft wood like pine plywood I made that mistake and ended up with one side of the fence not lining up with the other the next step is to add a chamfer to the fence make sure you add it to the front of the fence on the bottom a chamfer is a roughly 45 degree cut at the bottom of the fence that helps keep sawdust from getting between the fence and the stock I'm using my belt sander but you could cut it with a chamfer router bit or make a miter cut on the table saw use a hand plane or even sand it by hand once I'm done with the chamfers I smooth out the ends and the tops then I round over all the edges and corners except the bottom of the fence or the three-quarter inch section don't forget to chisel out any extra wood in the notch if you need to don't learn how to use chisels for watching me I'm literally a hack when it comes to using chisels here's the results looking at it closely I guess I should do some final hand sanding not that it matters since it's just a sled it's time to reattach the fence I sanded off the arrows on the fence parts but I can use the chamfers to know how to position the pieces assuming I know the top from the bottom set the fence pieces under the base but inside the screw holes then start all the screws so they stick out a little on the bottom something like this start with one side of the fence and get the existing holes lined up with the screws take your time and get it right you might need to make the screw tip stick out further once you're sure it's lined up right set your drills clutch to a low setting and start driving the screws slowly feel for any resistance because if you missed a hole the screw could easily start a new hole without you noticing it once you're sure you haven't started new holes you can change your clutch and finish driving the screws then do the same for the other side all right let's see how well it works raise up your blade so the slide will fit under the blade guard and make sure the blade guard fits through the notch easily if not you may have to cut the notch bigger cut a piece of scrap wood and check for a square cut and as expected it works just like it did before if it doesn't you most likely reattach the fence without correctly lining up the existing holes with the screws or you ignored my warning and sanded the front of the fence in either case you may have to reduce some if not all of the sled but don't feel bad you're not alone the last thing you do is add the rear support piece maybe you might not need it I need it to keep my blade guard sides from dropping down behind the fence originally I was also thinking it would add support to the back of the sled since you'll be taking the sled off and putting it back on many many times I was concerned it might start to split here but now I think that as long as you don't let the kerf go too far past the fence it probably won't be a problem so it's up to you if you want to add it or not but since I do need it here's how to do it measure the back of the sled - a little over four inches and since you want a little room between the support piece and the fence I'll call it 4 inches exact use your new sled to cut a piece of 3/4 inch plywood to the length you just measured make the width around 4 inches also then glue it on don't put it directly against the fence we don't want to push the fence out of alignment and as usual I put way too much glue on one of these days I learn when you clamp it be careful how you clamp it don't clamp it to a workbench or anything like that or you'll warp it like I did just clamp the two pieces of plywood together and then let it dry for a couple of hours I did a little bit of fine sanding on the bottom then applied some Johnson space flax I used to hate using wax because the smell would stick around for weeks but I've learned it's actually the rag that smells so now I keep the rag in the can much better and there it is when you take this lid off your table saw do it like this tilt it backwards then lift if you just pull it straight out you'll have a tendency to turn it while the runners are still in the slot and you can break the ends or possibly even knock them out of alignment so like I said just tilt and lift hope this video helps you build this sled and to start using your blade guard more regularly you have any questions leave them in the comments below don't forget to check out their product and video links in the description below or on my website if you buy from my product links it doesn't cost you any extra and it helps my channel a little so thanks you can also help by clicking the thumbs up it actually helps a lot if you like what I do here consider subscribing and don't forget to ring that bell to get notified when I release new videos thanks you

Channel: The Newbie Woodworker

Views: 858,981

Rating: 4.8327732 out of 5

Keywords: build, revolutionary, diy, sled, cross cut sled, crosscut sled, table saw, blade guard, squaring a fence, runners, making runners, safety, garage workshop, woodworking, newbie, newbie woodworker, the newbie woodworker

Id: cQINXsn2QBk

Length: 30min 52sec (1852 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 07 2020