# Sled for TS for trying segmented pens.



## Chuck B (Sep 9, 2006)

I have a question I've never made a sled before I would like to try getting rid of a lot of small scraps like 1/4"-1/2" I also have some full blanks I would love to try making some segmented pens. Does anyone have a pic of their TS sled so I can get a idea on how to go about this and/or any good info to help me.

Thanks

Chuck


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## ctEaglesc (Sep 9, 2006)

Your question is precisely why I do not do tutorials.
I could tell you how to make a sled but I can tell you may not have the experience to do what you are attempting to try.


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## Chuck B (Sep 9, 2006)

Maybe not eagle. But I'm very cognizant of safety rules & willing to try new things. I'm not going to stoop to your level eagle just igore my post how's that.


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## wood-of-1kind (Sep 9, 2006)

Easy does it Chuck. I'm certain that Eagle is not 'dissin' your skill level. Let's not get into a heated discussion, we're here to help one another.

-Peter-[]


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## kenwc (Sep 9, 2006)

I'd also like to see any pics of sanding sleds and fence jigs with stops that other people use on their miter saw.  The sanding sled is not that difficult but I can't get my brain around the cuting jig just yet.


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## tnilmerl (Sep 9, 2006)

your first stop should be the article library.  Several people have some ecellenct articles of various sleds and jigs with photos.  here is an article with photos of a ts sled:

http://content.penturners.org/articles/2004/tspensled.pdf

there are bandsaw sleds, drill press tables and other highly informative articles.  may not be 'exactly' what you want, but it is a start.....


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## kenwc (Sep 9, 2006)

That would be great...thanks...

I actually bought a 12" Shop Fox disc sander today with at least one of it's intended uses being segmented turnings.  There is a woodworking store near me going out of business and they have all their stock at 20% off and power tools 15% off.  I couldn't leave empty handed now could I????


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## chigdon (Sep 9, 2006)

Eagle, it seems like we are going down the same old road again.  Haven't I read many responses in the past from you saying "I am not going to tell you how to do it, figure it out yourself and get your own experience"?  

It sounds to me like Chuck was not looking for a tutorial from you or anyone else but looking for a PICTURE of other peoples set ups so he could LEARN ON HIS OWN.  This learning would probably come with a lot of mistakes and frustration but he would eventually learn how to do it better or decide it was more than he wanted to deal with.  Am I wrong here?


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## SteveRoberts (Sep 9, 2006)

My sled is full-width of the TS. I have pre-measured slots for cutting the three main kits I do most often. I have the base out of 3/4" particle board, the ends made of 8/4 hard maple and the slots built up on top of the surface with 3/4 plywood screwed into place for duplicatablity.

I use the sled for bi-secting the blanks and then for trimming the drilled blanks to final dimension after DP. No pic.


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## DCBluesman (Sep 9, 2006)

Chris and Chuck - I believe you've misread the intent here.  Chuck asked for a picture in order to gain insight.  I tend to agree with Eagle that a picture without knowing what you are doing is likely to add a significant element of risk.  I have done some fairly elaborate glue ups using only a bandsaw and sand paper.  That's because I do not have the requisite skills with a table saw and no one locally to make sure I'm doing it right.  We've have a number of highly experienced turners and suppliers share their misfortunes when working with power equipment that they have intimate knowledge of.  I believe that Eagle is just recommending that more than a picture is needed.  Try reading the post with no preconceived notion of who the poster is.  Somehow I think the same sentiment would meet with better reception if it had come from those who collaborated on our segmented pen articles.


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## Mudder (Sep 9, 2006)

> _Originally posted by DCBluesman_
> <br />Somehow I think the same sentiment would meet with better reception if it had come from those who collaborated on our segmented pen articles.



I would suspect that you are correct.


Perhaps a search if the forum would point you in the right direction.

Here are a couple threads to read.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15241

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=9526


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## loglugger (Sep 10, 2006)

Chuck,I think the part that is making everyone a little jumpy is the Â¼â€ and Â½â€ scraps. When I read in the same sentence with a table saw it gave me a bad felling. I canâ€™t post pictures but if you do this make one with a hold down that keeps your hands well away from the hurt part and we will all breath a little easier.
Bob


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## vick (Sep 10, 2006)

http://www.penturners.org/content/SegPenBlanks.pdf

If you look on my part of this article I believe it is page 13 in has a picture of my sled.


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## Chuck B (Sep 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by wood-of-1kind_
> <br />Easy does it Chuck. I'm certain that Eagle is not 'dissin' your skill level. Let's not get into a heated discussion, we're here to help one another.
> 
> -Peter-[]



Peter,
Your right. Eagle I'm sorry for my smart a$$ answer I apologze.


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## Chuck B (Sep 10, 2006)

DC Blue,
I can more then understand how something can be taken out of context.

Loglugger,
 I can understand how you shudder when I posted 1/4"-1/2" on the table saw. no safety factor. I did not explain my self correctly. I should ave said For my real small peices I was going to hand sand them to flat & level. The sled I was oing to cut peices off full blanks & other long type stock to get enouh for a segmented pen.

Everybody,
Thank you for thinking of my safety. Using a TS with very small peices, no safety factor.

Again I apologize for taken eagles statement out of context.


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## ctEaglesc (Sep 10, 2006)

(Edit in I have since noted that a reply was made by recon in the elaspsed time since I started typing this reply.I type slow and since it is already posted I am leaving it untouched))







> _Originally posted by recon_
> <br />Maybe not eagle. But I'm very cognizant of safety rules & willing to try new things. I'm not going to stoop to your level eagle just igore my post how's that.



Whoa back up a minute.
I am not sure what you mean by "Stooping to my level" would you elaborate?
I meant no disrespect to you in my reply.
When I first read your post I could have totally ignored it but chose not to.I knew someone would answer it.
When I read your reply  to my post I could have just edited my post  or do as you wished and totally ignored it, but you posted your question on a public forum so I will answer it also.
I have absolutely no idea as to what your skill level is nor your abilities as a woodworker. I do know that making a sled for a tablesaw is usually one of the first things someone makes for their saw because of its' vesatility.Accuracy is of the utmost importance otherwise it is totaly useless.
Perhaps I read more into your post than was necessary,but a question on how to make a sled is normally asked on "flatwork" forums.People who wish to gain proficiency with woodworking tools would likely be members of those types of forums along with a penturing forum.
I have often said that panturning doesn't require any woodworking skills  though many have gotten into penturning after doing flatwork.
Safety was my concern when I answered your post.
A sled is a basic tool used with a tablesaw and is usually one of if not the first things one makes when they get a saw.I made my sled in such a way that I have pretty much no need for the stock fence to rip my penturning stock and rip wood on  it as much as I cross cut or miter.(The ripping capacity of my sled is over 24" and as thin as .018, three thicknesses of masking tape)
Vick does have a picture of a sled in the article he refrenced but it is on page 11 not thirteen(there is no page 13 in the article).
A sled for a tablesaw can be as elaborate or as simple as you want to make it but it needs to be accurate as to the placement of the rear fence being ABSOLUTELY square to the blade and that is something you are not going to be able to do by using a framing square to align it to the blade(unless you just "luck out")

One of the blanks in the article says to make a mitered rip on a blank yielding for pieces triangular shaped that will fit back together resulting in a square blank when glued back togeter. Would you have enough experience to know that this is a trap cut and to do it safely and accurately that the blade needs to be turned to a 45* angle and a sacrifical fence is and the blade needs to be buried in the fence?(That is the type of information I was referring to.It takes experience to know that) Granted you get experience by doing and God forbid by making mistakes.One would hope that the mistakes don't cause personal injury.
There was a recent post where one of our members almost lost a finger in doing something as simple as cutting a rough blank.I could tell by his post he had a lot of woodworking experience but even he admitted he broke a couple af"rules". He was lucky that his injury was not more severe than it was, and he was experienced.
Perhaps a better answer to your original post would have been to reister with a woodworking site.Woodnet is a good one because of its varied forums.They have one for Woodworking, Power tools, Turning and others.
I would no more ask how to build a sled for a tablesaw on a penturning forum than I would ask questions on turning a pen in a "flatwork" forum. I would however ask how to make certain cuts on a woodworking forum because the principles of these cuts and techniqes can be transferred to the way I make blanks.
There are a lot of fine flatworkers on this site.One of the basic principles in making segmented blanks is the precision of the cuts and making them safely,These are skills you acquire  as you gain confidence working with your tools.
"By the waters of Babylon" by Edna St.Vincent Millay is a good book.Though it is not a book about woodworking it has everything to do with my original answer.


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## wood-of-1kind (Sep 10, 2006)

As promised, these are the sleds/jig that I use to make segmented cuts SAFELY. The one jig (wood w/ toggle clamp) is used exclusively with the mitre saw. The black plastic jig is intended to be used for the band saw and rides along the saw's fence.
-Peter-



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## kenwc (Sep 10, 2006)

Thanks for posting the pics.  I can't quite see how the bandsaw sled would orient on the table. Does the left side mate with something that rides in the miter slot?  Just curious.

I won't add to the diatribe in the posts above but I for one will not cut pen blanks segmented or not if my fingers are involved.   If I can't clamp something to my Miter Saw and cut it with BOTH hands free I won't cut it.  On my bandsaw the same applies to a point.  And, I don't have a table saw yet.

I do this for two 4 reasons.  The first three reasons are the 3 fingers my brother lost long ago when a Circular Saw jumped on him.  The other reason is that I sit in a wheelchair which would obvioulsy affect the ability to turn away...move...get the heck out of the way etc...

Thank you for the pics by the way...it gave me some ideas. I just need to understand that bandsaw slide better.  Seems to be made of metal?  What did it come from?

Ken


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## Jim in Oakville (Sep 10, 2006)

It's easy to READ the wrong intentions into some ones words...I have been reading Eagle's posts for a long time and know his intentions are well founded...way back to even the Canadian Woodworking forum eh Eagle!!!!!!


let's make some pens, eh!

[]


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## Chuck B (Sep 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Jim in Oakville_
> <br />It's easy to READ the wrong intentions into some ones words...I have been reading Eagle's posts for a long time and know his intentions are well founded...way back to even the Canadian Woodworking forum eh Eagle!!!!!!
> 
> 
> ...


Yes & I am living prof  []

My comment was uncalled for & I truy apologize to Eagle especially. & the other forum members. I misconstruded his statement. I should have known better That he was only thinking of my safety.
For that I thank you very much Eagle.


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## dfurlano (Sep 10, 2006)

I rarely ever use my table saw.  As eagle states penmaking does not have a lot to do with traditional woodworking.


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## Chuck B (Sep 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by dfurlano_
> <br />I rarely ever use my table saw.  As eagle states penmaking does not have a lot to do with traditional woodworking.



Yes I have learned that & I will admit I am far from a wood worker[] That's why I like to go on this type of forum & get info that will give me what I need to do what I want.From experienced people willing to share their experience.


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## ctEaglesc (Sep 10, 2006)

> Yes & I am living prof
> 
> My comment was uncalled for & I truy apologize to Eagle especially. & the other forum members. I misconstruded his statement. I should have known better That he was only thinking of my safety.
> For that I thank you very much Eagle.



No harm, no foul
(I sent you a P.M.)


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## ctEaglesc (Sep 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by dfurlano_
> <br />I rarely ever use my table saw.  As eagle states penmaking does not have a lot to do with traditional woodworking.


This asnswer is going to get me into  hot water but I am going to reply any way.
If you buy gorgeous blanks and drill  them, tube them, turn finish and assemble that may be the case.
Making segmented, or laminated blanks using wood (not to discount any other material) employs in an even MORE exacting nature the basic principles of woodworking.Precise cuts, sharp glue lines, attention to shape and design and in the case of pen blanks the precision needs to be more exact than flatwork since the pieces we are dealing with are so small.
It is more like intarsia or marketry.


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## Chuck B (Sep 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by ctEaglesc_
> <br />
> 
> 
> ...



Eagle Itotally agree I have a friend that I met on another forum who does segmented work on a old craftsman table saw but his set up is accurate to within a 1000th of a inch. its not the new TS but more the eperience behind the man or woman using the tools.


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## wood-of-1kind (Sep 10, 2006)

> _Originally posted by kenwc_
> <br />Thanks for posting the pics.  I can't quite see how the bandsaw sled would orient on the table. Does the left side mate with something that rides in the miter slot?
> 
> need to understand that bandsaw slide better.  Seems to be made of metal?  Ken


Ken, the black jig is made out of plastic but it could very well be easily made with woodscraps. The jig rides along the wall of the fence, either to the left/right. If still unclear, I can post another pic with the bandsaw and bandsaw fence. It does not 'ride' in the slot but rather slides on the wall(fence).
-Peter-


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