Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

I was making a new sled for the table saw that addressed some
deficiencies I'd found in the old one. One thing I wanted to to was
make it longer front to back so I could put the fence in from the part
that I pushed with that I wouldn't be leaning over the saw at the end of
the cut, and to help keep my hands away from the blade.

So I carefully measured and cut a piece of Baltic Birch for the base,
marked it up, and was all set to start drilling and routing various
slots and holes when the awful realization dawned on me--while I had
precisely measure it, I had precisely measured it THE SAME SIZE as the
one I was replacing.

Lesson learned: Think first, before you measure.

Didn't cost me anything but a little bit of plywood that I'm sure I'll
find a use for eventually, so it's a cheap lesson, but I figured it was
worth sharing.

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

On Aug 19, 9:37*am, "J. Clarke" 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.

Live and learn.

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

On Aug 19, 1:19*pm, "SonomaProducts.com" wrote:
On Aug 19, 9:37*am, "J. Clarke" 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.

HDPE. The **** is the...errr...**** for runners. Stable, easy to
work, slides like greased snot and it won't bark if you accidentally
drop the sled in your bathtub. The MDF is another matter.

R

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

"J. Clarke" wrote

Lesson learned: Think first, before you measure.

Well, thinking first would prevent a lot of disasters and mistakes.

Not always easy to do. Particularly if rushed, distracted or horny.

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

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.

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

SonomaProducts.com wrote:
....
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.

....

Nah, time to move to where it doesn't rain so much...or more
continusously, maybe for the other direction solution! :)

--

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
I was making a new sled for the table saw that addressed some deficiencies
I'd found in the old one. One thing I wanted to to was make it longer
front to back so I could put the fence in from the part that I pushed with
that I wouldn't be leaning over the saw at the end of the cut, and to help
keep my hands away from the blade.

So I carefully measured and cut a piece of Baltic Birch for the base,
marked it up, and was all set to start drilling and routing various slots
and holes when the awful realization dawned on me--while I had precisely
measure it, I had precisely measured it THE SAME SIZE as the one I was
replacing.

Lesson learned: Think first, before you measure.

Didn't cost me anything but a little bit of plywood that I'm sure I'll
find a use for eventually, so it's a cheap lesson, but I figured it was
worth sharing.

If you really want to do it right have somebody jump into the planning and
measuring in the middle of things... you'll have a lot more small pieces to
work with. ;~(

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

The runner issue is easy to fix:

http://www.woodpeck.com/incramiterslide.html#52

On 8/19/2010 1:44 PM, RicodJour wrote:

Time to rebuild and buy adjustable runners.

HDPE. The **** is the...errr...**** for runners. Stable, easy to
work, slides like greased snot and it won't bark if you accidentally
drop the sled in your bathtub. The MDF is another matter.

R

Think three times, measure twice, cut once
 

On Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:47:15 -0400, "Lee Michaels"
leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast dot net wrote:



"J. Clarke" wrote

Lesson learned: Think first, before you measure.

Well, thinking first would prevent a lot of disasters and mistakes.

Not always easy to do. Particularly if rushed, distracted or horny.

In that case, woodworking and measuring are entirely unfeasible
practices in reality, period.

--
We're all here because we're not all there.