On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 23:37:56 GMT, igor wrote:

I could build a sled so I could gang cut maybe 7 strips at a time. But, I
think that the sled could only ride in one slot since it would seem safer
to have the stop for the multiple strips stay in front of/before the blade
as the strips get pushed into the blade -- so they do not get jammed and
start flying. IOW, push all of the strips up to the stop and the strips
are no longer in contact with the stop as the cut-offs are made. So, I
could not use a sled that slids in both miter slots. I am wondering if
using only one miter slot will be stable enough for 4' stock/

Dumb question, but is your stock really 4' or are you cutting 8
footers in half to make them manageable at the start? If so you can
always cut in thirds instead, or just cut your 4 footers in half if
need be. The tradeoff in "waste" may be worth it. I say "waste"
because it's not necessarily waste, it's just at the point where it's
too short to cut anymore off it safely. You can always stop cutting
sooner when you have a length left that you can use somewhere else.


Any clever jig ideas?

I thought of this just now and may not have thought it all the way
through, but how bout this. Have your sled only come up to the blade.
Make a dedicated zero clearance insert for this. On the opposite side
of the blade as the sled glue an angled piece of wood to the insert,
with the angle sloping down away from the blade. For 3/8ths or so
next to the blade it can be flat and of the same height as the base
of the sled, ease the front edge so it doesn't catch the stock. Up
until the cut is complete it supports the piece being cut off. Once
the cut is complete since less than half of it is being supported it
falls and slides away from the blade, and it cannot get sucked back
towards it. I'm thinking of a 3/4" base for the sled, which normally
would be overkill but gives more height for the angled piece to do its
job.


-Leuf