I've been wanting to do some boxes for awhile now, and wanted a table saw sled for repeatable cutting, well, in truth, several, for several different cuts. Looked at a lot of instructions, that left me with more questions than answers. Then found this site.
Haven't finished it yet, but already finding things those so-called plans don't bother mentioning. No prob, as I usually consider anything like this I make, the first one is usually the Mark I version, the learning version, and the serious one is the Mark II version, made with the lessons learned from the first one.
This answered what I wanted to know. So started my first table saw sled ever. I didn't have a piece of plywood available in the size I wanted (do have, but it's earmarked for something else, and couldn't spare it), but, did have a piece of the truss making plywood, about 2" thick, and 12"X14". The kid pulled it out of the trash at a job site, it was about the right size, and it was free - perfect. No hardwood or plastic for runners, no prob, slice some 1/2" plywood for runners.
OK, cut the runners. Fine, except just a hair too wide, wouldn't fit in the slot. No prob, I could sand them a bit, but decided to just turn them on edge instead. Hmm, bowed just a bit. No prob, gonna wax the slots anyway, so if any glue dripped it wouldn't stick. A couple of popsicle sticks worked just fine as wedges. Waxed the popsicle sticks, and all of a sudden they looked beautiful. Not sure what wood they are, maybe birch, but lovely. Now thinking of cutting the ends off, gluing them to a table top, and waxing. Should make a rather nice, and different, table top.
Glued the thick top, and put some weight on that, and let it set. Worked great. Just got a new carbide tip on the saw, and it cut thru that stuff like a dream. However. Had already planned on putting a section of wood, probably 2X4 on the back. Should have done that first, as it separated just a fraction when sawed.
On the front end, was gonna have a strip of 2X4, as a straight edge, for bracing, handle, etc., and then on the back of that, a shorter piece of 2X4, to act as sort of a thumb stop, so I could just grab the long piece, and the short piece would make sure that even if the blade came all the way thru, my thumb would still be away from it. Well, glued on the short piece first. Hmmm. Well, no prob actually. I can but a strip of plywood on the front of that, and that will be the handle. I will cut it a bit lower than the 2X4, and that will make a better handle.
Actually, I'm thinking I will keep this one, once it is done, for awhile at least, because it will do just what I want, without doing a Mark II version. But, because the plans I read didn't mention some stuff, it will wind up a bit more klutzy. Apparently those people make perfect plans, and expect people to actually follow them. Either that, or they don't tell about their screwups. But, that's OK, because the other ones I'll be needing will receive the benefit of what I'm learning from this one. I'll be putting this in my Work in Progress page, with a link to it. Maybe with pictures later.
JOAT If Pro means 'For' and Con means 'Against', you can safely say the opposite of 'Pro' is 'Con'. Can we then assume that the opposite of 'Progress' is 'Congress'? - Unknown
Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT Web Page Update 9 Sep 2003. Some tunes I like.