New Cross-Cut Sleds - Dado-Style!
The 10-year-old cheap table saw died this week, so it was time to upgrade. All of my old sleds don’t fit the new sled, and it is high time to improve them anyway. I struggled with how to align the runners and fences to ensure square cuts, then it dawned on me. I could use my dado stack to cut a shallow recess to help register the fences and runners in the correct position.
I purchased a 4′ x 8′ sheet of double-sided melamine. I liked the idea of a flat, smooth, low-friction surface.
After wrestling it into my basement, I cut two 2′ sections that were 2′ x 4′ for my first two sleds. Then I cut four 5″ pieces that were also 4′ long; these would be my front and back braces/fences. The piece in the very far back of the second picture is what I have left over for a third fence, which is coming soon.
Next came fussing with the dado stack to get the perfect width of cut. I used scrap pieces to test it out. I finally got it shimmed the correct width.
First up was the cut the two dados for the front and back braces/fences. I only wanted a shallow cut, just enough for correct alignment. By using the dado stack and fence on my table saw, these two grooves are guaranteed to be square to the blade!
Next, I turned the board over and 90 degrees so that I could cut the runners, which I made out of some scrap hard maple I dug out of my cutoffs bin.
I only did the one runner with the dado method. I just didn’t want to risk creating wiggle room. For the second runner, I placed the runner in the track, elevated by some pennies to ensure it didn’t hit the bottom, then screwed the runner to the sled from the top.
In the end, I had two cross-cut sleds (one regular, one miter) that had zero wiggle and were perfectly square to the blade!
Old vs New
