Two things I made to make my shop life easier

[FrankEV]

I make my own frames for the portrait type panels I cut.  Have been using a presice hand miter saw to cut my frames, but decided to see if I could not make a presice miter sled to make the task easier.  I found a video on YouTube and decided it looked like its would work so I decided to build it.  In principle it works but I had to make a few modifications to make it "more" usable.  My bigest problem was attaching the runners to the sled so it had no play in alignment and getting it a true 45 degrees to the blade.  After a lot of trial and error I was able to get them mounted true and now I get precice 45 degree cuts.  What I like about this sled is that you don;t have to calculate the  cut lengths adjusting for the rabet. 

Here is a couple of pics of my sled.  Take note of how my sliding block clamp needed an extra piece of wood glued to the top of the square to make it hold better.  I did not like his version.  His sled was also too big for my small shop table saw, so I trimmed it down which resulted in me having to add the one piece back as you cab see in the pic.

 

 

And, since most of my work is a cut flat panel affixed to a backer I was having difficulty applying even pressure accross the panel using my various clamps.  I tried to use heavy boards on top and bottom to spread the pressure.  However, the need to move the work around to apply the clamps often resulted in the panels sliding and not remaining square with each other.   I decided I needed a clamping fixture that woul eliminate the problems I was having.  Using some good grade 3/4" thk plywood, some poplar 1" square dowels and some 1/4-20 bolts, flat washers and wing nuts, this is what I came up with.  The cross dowels are epoxyed to the plywood and the bolts and washers are epoxyed in place.  Only the wing nuts are loose.  The whole thing is quite heavy but makes clamping the flat panels, without fear of them sliding out of place, very easy.

 

 

Hope this might help someone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Roberta Moreton]

Very nice tutorial! Thank you. 

[savethebeer]

Hi Frank. I love the photos and the way you've tried to explain it all. As one who has used a mitre saw only a few times for cutting sheets down to size but my blade tears the back side of my ply. The youtube video blade has huge teeth whereas the saw in your photo has very similar teeth to mine.

Couple of questions; 

To Frank;

Top 2 photos; - Do you have anything attached to your jig that fits in those grooves to keep it all straight as you saw?

Bottom 3 photos;- I can see how you're clamping that sheet between the  two 3/4in sheets of ply but how are you accessing that sheet when its held between the two outer sheets. Are you working from underneath?

To everybody; My saw does not tear 'real' wood or lumbar but it is not great cutting BBP. What is the best blade for BBP?

 

thanks

Bob 

 

 

[FrankEV]

14 hours ago, savethebeer said:

To Frank;

Top 2 photos; - Do you have anything attached to your jig that fits in those grooves to keep it all straight as you saw?

Bottom 3 photos;- I can see how you're clamping that sheet between the  two 3/4in sheets of ply but how are you accessing that sheet when its held between the two outer sheets. Are you working from underneath?

Sled:  I used aluminum T-track runners attached to the bottom of the sled in both tracks of the table saw.  (The left on is visible in the second photo) You can get them on-line.   Hardwood runners would also work as shown in the video. The aluminum T-tracks were the hardest to get perfectly aligned parelel to the blade with no "slop".  

I use a thin 80 carbide tooth blade intended for fine cutting.  I'm not using the saw for more general construction cutting.  Most of the saw use is in making my panels and frames, so I find this blade to work the best for me.  Hardly ever cut any wood thicker than 3/4".

Clamp:  Not quite sure what you are asking.  To clamp a panel my procedure is:

1. After removing the top of the clamp I lay the backer on the lower portion of the clamp,
2. I apply a nice thin uniform coatimg of Titebond Glue to the cut panel with a roller,
3. I lay the cut panel on top of the backer, making sure it is all lined up,  
4. Being very careful, I slide the top of the clamp down the bolts to lay on top of the layered panel.  The bolts prevent any side to side movement.
5. The weight of the top helps hold the panel in place preventing any sliding of the panels while I spin the wing nuts on, to apply a uniform pressure across the panel. 
6. I will leave the clamp in place for at least an hour, but usually two or more hours, before removing the clamp.

Hope this answers you questions.

[savethebeer]

Thanks Frank. I misread what you wrote about sticking the backer to the piece, I was reading it as a continuation of your first section to do with sawing.

My table saw is small and does not have those guide grooves but I will look at a finer blade.

 

Bob 

[OzarkSawdust]

I'm building a frame jig similar to yours. Got the base cut and the pieces ordered have all come in. Hope to get back to it in the next week. Also building a cross cut sled. It will be a little larger that the one I gave to the guy that bought my Kobalt saw. I'm using nylon runners this time, the wood ones on the last sled were always changing size. If I remember I'll put up a picture when I get it finished. 

[FrankEV]

I  built a panel cutting sled, but I find just using my tape measure and the table saw rip fence,I can cut my panels more accurately than with the sled.

A cross cut sled is great for accurate/square cross cuts for doing big wood projects.  For doing frames and the occasional need for some boards trimmed to length, my precision aftermarket T-slot tee with a wide board attached works just fine.