I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt

Hello Patt,
I'm confused about your description; By "little edge over the top of
them" does it look like an inverted "T"? If so, just machine the
runner to be the width and depth of the straight portion of the slot
and attach this to your sled base. No need to engage the "T" portion.
If however there is something unique about your Craftsman TS then I'm
not knowlegeable about this feature. My 20 year old Craftsman did not
have t-slots.

Marc

Patt wrote:
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt

Hi Patt:
I have the same configuration on my Skil table saw. The Skil has two (2)
sets of these on the miter slots. I have been considering doing just what
Marc suggested. I have looked at several sources for the same slide that the
miter uses, to no avail? Look fwd to the solution also!

Bill

"Patt" wrote in message
news:CC%Rg.35853$5R2.8845@pd7urf3no...
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How
would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt

"Patt" wrote:

I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a
sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How
would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?

Will a 3/4"w x 3/8"dp piece of wood or metal fit in the miter slot?

(If the saw is metric, slot may vary a small amount).

If so, sled construction is very straight forward.

Lew

On 25 Sep 2006 18:53:17 -0700, "marc rosen" wrote:

Hello Patt,
I'm confused about your description; By "little edge over the top of
them" does it look like an inverted "T"? If so, just machine the
runner to be the width and depth of the straight portion of the slot
and attach this to your sled base. No need to engage the "T" portion.
If however there is something unique about your Craftsman TS then I'm
not knowlegeable about this feature. My 20 year old Craftsman did not
have t-slots.

What I think he means is rather than a true t-slot, it's mostly open
but there are tabs that stick out in a couple places. You would need
to make a T shaped runner. Or get rid of the tabs.


-Leuf

"Patt" wrote in message
news:CC%Rg.35853$5R2.8845@pd7urf3no...
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How
would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt


Won't Incra Miter Sliders run in this track?

Tim

"Patt" wrote in message
news:CC%Rg.35853$5R2.8845@pd7urf3no...
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How
would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt

I made my own and what a PITA it was. The mitre slot didn't seem to
consistent in size for the length of it. If it fit in the first edges that
it encountered, it didn't fit the second edges that it came to.
My advice is to throw that table saw or give it to a "friend" and buy a
quality one.

Patt wrote:
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt

Hi Patt,

I stole this info off of Woodbutcher.net... Excellent info on there
about Craftsman saws... The existing tracks should be .750" wide
(rigid's are this also) which are different than just about every
other saw on the market apparently.

If they're not consistant for the entire length that might be a problem
that requires a bit of effort to correct.

How old is your saw?

Patt wrote:
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?


* Read the whole thing before you try it. I'll assuming anyone who uses
this procedure has the skill and experience to not hurt themselves, and
those who don't won't use this procedure!

The dimensions, materials, etc... in the following procedure are not all
that important. I've had best results with 3/4" plywood for the sled
floor, whatever 8/4" hardwood is handy for the front fence, and birch,
ash, maple, or the oaks, for runners. The front fence can be almost
anything, including 2x or pallet wood.

If a miter gage works nicely in the slots, either the narrower or the
wider section of the slot has to have parallel sides. Determine which
of the two your miter gage slides against, that's the edges we'll reference.

Depending on the reference, we'll simply mill some hardwood runners to
slide smoothly between the narrow dimension, slightly thinner than the
thickness as the depth of the slot. Otherwise, you'd mill them to fit
the wide section of the slot, removing material from the top side to
clear the overhang. The material can be easily removed using a barely
raised blade and your rip fence, a router table, jointer (rabbeting
shelf), or hand plane. The goal is to rabbet the edges to create an
inverted "t" section that only touches the wide parts.

Be advised that the BOTTOM of the slots may not be cleanly finished,
dragging the test strips and preventing smooth sliding. This is of no
consequence, and we'll deal with it later.

Before continuing, apply a heavy coat of silicone-free paste wax,
Boeshield, or Top Coat, to the table saw top and the inside of the miter
slots. Lower the blade below the table.

Once you have made strips the proper width and about 1/16" thinner than
the depth of the slot, place some consistently 1/8" or so thick material
(plastic, wood, laminate, whatever...) in the slots as shims. Lay the
runners into the slots, on the shims. Apply yellow glue to the top of
the runners. Place the "floor" of your sled on the runners and weight
it down. Go do something else for a few hours.

After the glue sets, drill and countersink for some wood screws, or
drive brads through the floor into the runners to reinforce the floor /
runner joint. Lift the sled off the table and remove the shims. Your
runners will no longer touch the bottom of the slots, eliminating the
issues associated with rough slot bottoms.

Raise the saw blade about 1 1/2". Start the saw and slide the sled onto
the table so that the blade starts to cut the floor. When the blade is
approximately 1/2 way across the floor, STOP. While firmly holding the
sled, shut off the saw and lower the blade below the table.

Using the blade kerf as a reference, and an ACCURATE square (drafting
triangles are cheap and accurate enough), carefully attach the front
fence (closest to the operator), made from a thick hardwood plank,
jointed on at least one edge and face to 90 degrees. An easy way to do
this is to install ONE screw at each end, about 2" in from the end, from
underneath the floor at this time. Glue and screw (from underneath) a
rear fence (the side AWAY from the operator). No precision is required
here, as this fence is never used to reference anything.

Raise the blade about an inch and slide the sled forward so that the cut
goes into the front fence. Check the 90 degree-ness to the kerf. If
it's still perfect, insert screws from the bottom, down the length of
the fence. Leave screwless space on both sides of the kerf for possible
dado use. If the kerf isn't 90 degrees to the fence, clamp the fence to
the floor at one end, remove that screw, and carefully tap the fence
into alignment. Reinstall the screw in a NEW hole.

Mark EVERYWHERE the blade may pop through the front fence (nearest the
operator) with paint, marker, tape, etc... Don't ever push the sled
with body parts in that area. Wax the runners and bottom of the sled.

Optional: Add a plastic strip over the blade kerf.

Need pictures? One source:
http://www.amazon.com/Tage-Frid-Teaches-Woodworking-woodworking/dp/1561580686

Enjoy and admire your new workhorse tool. Make as many different sizes
as will enhance your work! G If it dosen't work as expected, take a
few moments to figure out why, and fix it.

This process almost takes longer to type than to do, so I hope lots of
folks try it!

I have the skil (a real piece of crap).

The slot is totally non-standard in size and I believe the crapsman is
the same. The placement of the tabs means that you can only get a good
cut on something a couple inches across. With the tabs (the person that
thought of them should be locked up somewhere) if you push past one of
the tabs your miter tends to move by an 16th of an inch making square
cuts impossible. I've found no source for a decent miter or adapter
that would fit into the slot. However, even if one was found the design
of the tabs would make it just an inacurate.

I used my dremel to cut out the tabs so I could make a sled using
plywood runners.

One of these days I'm going to take a 12 pound sledge to the saw and
replace it with a decent worksite saw. The reason for distroying it is
I believe that this saw is not a safe tool and I would not want to be
responsible for someone getting injured.

Lew Hodgett wrote:
"Patt" wrote:

I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a
sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How
would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?

Will a 3/4"w x 3/8"dp piece of wood or metal fit in the miter slot?

(If the saw is metric, slot may vary a small amount).

If so, sled construction is very straight forward.

Lew

Patt wrote:
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt

I know the little tabs you're talking about. If I got stuck with a saw
like that, first thing I'd do is grind those sumbitches off. Luckily,
the benchtop saw I have is a Delta Shopmaster, and it doesn't have the
tabs.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b5...cut_double.jpg

But instead of putting the runners in the miter slots, I've thought
about an extra-wide sled where the runners would hug the sides of the
table. As long as the table is square, this eliminates all the fuss and
problems of fitting runners in those non-standard miter slots. I've
made a sled like that for a miniature saw.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b5...e/DCFN0079.jpg

Note that on the right runner, there's a piece of hardboard that hooks
under the table and holds the sled on even when it's overbalanced off
the back or front.

This is basically the same principle as a technique I've used for
cutting large panels: Clamp a straight board to the underside of the
workpiece and use it to reference the side of the table as you run it
through the saw. I don't see why a sled couldn't work the same way.

Patt wrote:
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt



Can you make a sled where the runners index off the edge of the table
instead of the miter slots? Hopefully the edges are close to parallel.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Nova wrote:

Can you make a sled where the runners index off the edge of the table
instead of the miter slots? Hopefully the edges are close to parallel.


I think that would work on a saw with really crappy slots.

If the edges aren't parallel, one could always attach steel or wooden
edges and shim them parallel with the blade.

As one of the other posters that has a similar problem with a Skil saw, you
cut those "lil sumbitches" off and you no longer have a usable miter gage
( too sloppy). My final solution for as long as the saw lasts is to order
another miter gage from the dealer (Sears,Skil,etc) and remove the miter
gage from the runner and use the runner to build your sled. The miter gage
is cheap ( in every respect) and the problem is resolved! Plus your
original miter gage is still usable.
Bill
"boorite" wrote in message
oups.com...

Patt wrote:
I have a craftsman table top 10 inch table saw. I want to make a sled
for
it, but the miter tracks have a little edge over the top of them. How
would
you attach the runners on the bottom of the sled so they slide in the
existing track?
Patt

I know the little tabs you're talking about. If I got stuck with a saw
like that, first thing I'd do is grind those sumbitches off. Luckily,
the benchtop saw I have is a Delta Shopmaster, and it doesn't have the
tabs.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b5...cut_double.jpg

But instead of putting the runners in the miter slots, I've thought
about an extra-wide sled where the runners would hug the sides of the
table. As long as the table is square, this eliminates all the fuss and
problems of fitting runners in those non-standard miter slots. I've
made a sled like that for a miniature saw.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b5...e/DCFN0079.jpg

Note that on the right runner, there's a piece of hardboard that hooks
under the table and holds the sled on even when it's overbalanced off
the back or front.

This is basically the same principle as a technique I've used for
cutting large panels: Clamp a straight board to the underside of the
workpiece and use it to reference the side of the table as you run it
through the saw. I don't see why a sled couldn't work the same way.

Bill Hall wrote:
As one of the other posters that has a similar problem with a Skil saw, you
cut those "lil sumbitches" off and you no longer have a usable miter gage
( too sloppy).

You mean it was ever usable in the first place?

Are you talking about the tabs in the miter slot? I don't see how
grinding those off would cause any more side play in the miter gage.