jugglerguy wrote:

I'm planning to build a desk for my son. I built him a log bed a few
years ago and I'd like to make a desk to match. I'm not a very
skilled woodworker, so I need some advice. I'd like to add vertical
logs to the corners of the desk, but I'm not sure how to make a notch
the length of the log so it fits onto the corner of the desk. I
imagine I'll have to make some sort of a jig that will run in the
miter gauge slot of my table saw. I'll run the log through, rotate it
90 degrees and run it through again. My question is, how do I attach
the log to this sled that runs in the miter gauge slot? If I use
screws, I'll run the risk of hitting them with my blade. Have any of
you done this? Thanks for your help.


Since you are cutting at least two of these, you idea of a jig/sled is a
good one.

Were it me, I would make a sled to go over the "RIP FENCE" rather than the
miter slot. This would give greater stability and put all your cutoffs on
the side away from the rip fence. You could find center on each end of the
log, mark the amount of depth you wanted for your dado/rabbit AND with a
bit of plane geometry mark 90 degrees to your first cut (all on the end of
the log). Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the cut.

The sled would simply be a "shoe" of 3/4" stock to ride the rip fence, a
piece of plywood as wide as your log for the log to ride on (any excess
width will be removed with your first pass) and two brackets of 3/4" stock
mounted to the blade side of the shoe to hold the log in place using a
couple of screws on each end, out of the path of the blade naturally, to
hold the log in place.

Deb