# Table Saw Sled and jig



## Parson (Jun 8, 2010)

My friend Dan made this cool table saw sled and I asked him to make me one as well since I'm just a woodworking noobie.

The sled is 16 inches by 24 inches and has an Incra jig bolted into it. The Incra jig allows me to cut very thin slices of material for segmenting, and cut more than one and have them all the same width.

The part with the hinges and knob holds the material down so the saw blade doesn't kick it out.

I had my eye on the shipbuilder's mini-table saw for $500 (Byrne's amazing machines, which you should still check out because they're so freakin' COOL) but using this has aleviated the urge to buy that piece of equipment.


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## randyrls (Jun 9, 2010)

That is cool!   

I was a bit puzzled by the black knob and how it is mounted.  You want to keep any metal out of the path of the saw blade.


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## bitshird (Jun 9, 2010)

That's a nice sled, I wish I had a friend that knew something about wood working.


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## rherrell (Jun 9, 2010)

I agree with Randy about the handle. Instead of holding the piece you're cutting with your hand in the way you should have some sort of clamping device instead. That will allow you to cut "hands free".

Here's the two I use in my shop.........












This is the larger one. I use it for oddball shapes and bigger pieces.










This is the small one. It's perfect for pen blanks and I can cut any angle. 
As you can see I also made a clamp for cutting the round blanks. Celtic knots are a snap with this little guy!

They're not that hard to make. Just some scrap wood, a few knobs and a little imagination.:wink:


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## snyiper (Jun 9, 2010)

Rick I really do like that small ones layout....


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## Paul in OKC (Jun 9, 2010)

Nice stuff, both you guys. I just might get inspired to finish mine if  Ikeep looking at these long enough!


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## hilltopper46 (Jun 9, 2010)

rherrell said:


> Here's the two I use in my shop.........
> 
> <<SNIP>>
> This is the small one. It's perfect for pen blanks and I can cut any angle.
> ...



Thanks for posting these - I agree with Paul - this gave me some incentive AND ideas about how to finish one that I started over a year ago...


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## moke (Jun 9, 2010)

Hey Rick---
Those are awesome sleds!  I have bee looking at building the bottom version of the two you showed.  

I have a question that I am wrestling with and please don't take this as a critisim.  How could that be modified so that you know what angle you are cutting easier?

Is there a jig that could be put inside it?  I take it when you are cutting a 90 crosscut you just lay the blank against the t track and when you are splitting a blank you just measure from your saw blade opening, but I don't get the angles?
Thanks--
Mike   aka: Moke


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## Parson (Jun 9, 2010)

I neglected to put a waste block between the holder wood and the material for the pictures. What I do is put a waste block under the hinged block with the black knob on it and set my saw blade to just touch the bottom of the waste block. My hands are nowhere near the work, and I can keep both sides of the work in place throughout the cut.

Rick, I really like the sleds you have, but for my work I need to be able to measure the cuts with a stop of some sort.

Precision is the key with my sled setup... I need to be able to make pass after pass on a block of polyresin (basically three blanks' worth of material from a mold) and get identical thickness so the pieces will match my designs. This is where the Incra Jig comes in. Repeatable cuts.

To cut at angles, I have simply made blocks at various degrees to put in the left side.


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## VisExp (Jun 9, 2010)

I really like the idea of incorporating the Incra Jig!

For ripping thin pieces I use my own version of David Reed Smith's vacuum rip fence.  

Once I have the thin pieces and need to rip them to a different width I use this veneer cutting jg.


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## Roy_Quast (Jun 9, 2010)

Here is a sled, jig that I made a while back for a ryobi 10" saw. It has great repeteablity but can not cut angles. The hold down board keeps my fingers right where I want them, on my hand away from the blade. The hold down clamp, the one with the red handle, holds the squaring board down for repeted cuts of the same width. The bolt in the block is a stop for making the same cut from the same board or even a different one. The black knob is to hold the board to be cut down while it is being cut. That is how my hands are out of the way. It's not the best or the only one but it works for me. Hope this gives someone a new idea that they can use.
Roy


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## rherrell (Jun 10, 2010)

moke said:


> Hey Rick---
> Those are awesome sleds! I have bee looking at building the bottom version of the two you showed.
> 
> I have a question that I am wrestling with and please don't take this as a critisim. How could that be modified so that you know what angle you are cutting easier?
> ...


 
Moke, I use pieces of 1/4" masonite(hardboard) and clamp them down whenever I need to cut angles. I cut a piece about 4" square and then cut the angle on my miter saw. I just put the straight side against the t-track and clamp it down. The piece of hardwood acts as a stop and I can cut as many pieces as I like and they're all identical. If I need to make repetitive cuts, say thin strips, then I do the same thing with a 90 degree piece of hardwood.


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## moke (Jun 10, 2010)

Awesome ---thanks Rick---I will be building that.
Mike  aka: Moke


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## penicillin (Oct 25, 2021)

I acknowledge that this is an old thread, but want to add this comment:

You can buy a small parts sled if you don't feel like making one for yourself. I won this small parts sled as a giveaway at a Christmas party. It costs way too much for what you get, but it is a nice sled:
https://www.rockler.com/rockler-table-saw-small-parts-sled

Making your own small parts sled is easy. I've done that, too. If you look at the instructions for the Rockler small parts sled, you can see how it goes together and make something similar for yourself. The drop off platform is a wedge, and remember to cut the T-track short on the bottom so there is room for the T-bolt or hex screw head to get into the T-track.
http://go.rockler.com/msds/55916-smalls-parts-sled-inst.pdf


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