On 8/19/2010 1:19 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:
On Aug 19, 9:37 am, "J. wrote:
I was making a new sled for the table saw that addressed some
deficiencies I'd found in the old one.

I took some time and built a very accurate smaller sled, maybe 24"
wide by 15" deep to use for cross cutting stick type work. Used 1/2"
mdf for the base, light, flat, waxed it and it is speedy. I made dual
runners from oak, it was tight and square. Nicely smoothed everywhere
a hand touches it. Nice blade protection out the back. Nice sliding
stop block with quick clamp. A dream to use.

Then the weather changed and it jammed in the miter slots. Lots of
sanding, testing and looking for shiney spots on the runners and more
sanding. Back in beautiful shape. Then the weather changed. Sloppy to
the point it is no longer zero clearance.

Time to rebuild and buy adjustable runners.

I need to put together a howto on making adjustable runners. That's one
thing the sled I have has on it. The new one's going to have the same
only UHMW.

The basic idea is simple--make the runner on the same principle as the
locking ones for featherboards in
http://lumberjocks.com/Gord/blog/2080, but use the countersunk screw
to adjust instead of to lock.

Along the length put 3 or 4 or however many you need of the slots and
countersunk screws. In between put some counterbored holes. Put
counterbored holes on the _top_ of the sled deep enough to hold a blind
nut a little below the surface (or if you want to get fancy and the sled
is thick enough use threaded inserts). Once it's all together, put in
your flathead screws with a little blue Loctite (the repositionable
kind) and tighten them to adjust the fit. If things loosen up tighten
them down a little more, if things tighten up then loosen them a little.

I'll try to get a picture or two up to show the principle.



Live and learn.