re: WoodworkingWeb Theme: Crosscut Sled

A great topic, and I’ve recently built one – quite rudimentary by the standards already set here, but effective.

Two reasons for doing this – the rocker I’m building uses the TS for cuts not otherwise achievable, and I don’t have sufficient space for a dedicated miter saw station (inclusive of infeed/outfeed areas). Now that I have the sled, it’s hands-down more useful than the miter saw setup that I had (with one or two notable exceptions, such as precise long-length cutoffs).

Having said this, I’m not at all happy with the squaring process – getting the cross-cut fence 90 degrees to the blade. I’ve tried three different approaches – 5-cut, paired & offsetting carpenter triangles, and an 18" Bosch angle-finder. While each of these yields an accurate result, it’s the affixing the fence to the sled, and keeping everything square during the process that eludes me – I’ve tried Marc Spagnuolo’s clamping sequence, and a few others.
The benefits of the cross-cut sled are many; and I’ll focus quality time on a second one – incorporating many of the fine ideas and designs from here – once I finish my Test-Rocker.
MJCD