Viewer Project
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By Steven Reckner from Copley, Ohio
Added on February 17, 2015
This sledzilla was born after I tried making Marc’s crosscut sled. I made Marc’s sled and it was amazing, but after about three days of use it was out of alignment by almost 1/16th of an inch, I was so disappointed. I was so careful when transporting the sled. I’m not sure if it got bumped or from pulling and pushing on it back and forth, but somehow it got ruined. I couldn’t afford to make a new one, not from a monetary standpoint, but a time standpoint. My customers and wife are waiting for projects and if it failed me again, I wouldn’t know how to fix it or make it any different.
So that got me thinking, what if I made a bigger, better sled with a fence that was separate from the other parts of the sled so I didn’t have to pull or push on it. I also wanted it to be adjustable and not screwed down, so if it ever got out of alignment, I could just realign it within minutes and be back to work.
I started with a 48″ x 40″x 3/4″ poplar ply (cause I had a bunch of it). I then added 2 strips to the front and 2 strips to the back that are 2-1/2 by 48. I glued and screwed those in place first. Then I attached my miter bars. After all those basic parts were attached, I attached my first of two aluminum extrusions that I use as my fence. The base is bolted down on the left side as a pivot point. The other side of the base is held down by a t-track and t-bolt and jig handle. All hardware is 1/4-20 on this project. So then I attached the face of the fence it was another piece of extrusion. I used some 3-D squares cut apart as my brackets and I drilled some oversized holes. Having the t-track on the right hand side gave me unlimited adjustability. I did the usual three rounds of squaring it up and my final numbers were .00025. I think that’s just amazing and the best part of all is that if I ever have it get out of alignment, then I can undo the track bolt and set it again without making a whole new sled. I’m in love with it and plan on converting my failed first attempt into a sled like this but designated for dadoes only. Thanks for the inspiration Marc.
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