Made a miter sled

[dirtrider73068]

Well having the new to me table able to get better cuts, saw the vid to make a miter sled so this is my attempt at it, yea its ugly, had some old 3/4 ply I had painted for something else that didn't happen so used it, already had enough screws, but it does its job will do miter for perfect 90 degree corners, will be good for small projects like boxes where I want a mitered corner. I also got a dust collection bag on the saw but need to do a video of my work area and post it here. Oh I do have a cover at the back that covers the blade, this was more or less the finished part.

[DWSudekum]

Anything to make it safer is kewl.  Thanks for sharing it with us.

DW

[dirtrider73068]

Yes it is, alot better then trying to use the miter gauge for 5 inch long strip to miter.

[dgman]

It doesn't have to look pretty, as long as it is accurate! Nice job!

[GrayBeard]

Pretty don't get the job done!

Well Done!

~~~GB~~~

[Marcellarius]

looking great, I've seen the video and think it's a very nice concept.
and the looks.... it looks fine to me,
and as long as it does the job right, who cares?

[Keefie]

It doesn't matter what it looks like, as long as it does the job and is accurate.

[frankorona]

Looks very well done, thanks for sharing

[newfie]

if it does its job and is safe to use thats what required.think i'll try and make one for myself.

[dirtrider73068]

Yes it does newfie, glad I made it, wasn't hard just took time, when I was making something would get the way and would have to stop. The cover for the blade I need to change that make it so I can remove it to rid the area of sawdust. Also another thing, my 10 blade would not reach up through 3/4 inch ply plus the 3 1/2 inch strip I had cut for the miter joints, I had to flip them and cut them, so if you have a 10 inch saw you may have to cut down to about 3 or less tall, other wise will have to flip over 45 other direction and use the miter gauge.

[Rapid Roger]

You did a good job on the miter gauge. It is larger than mine, I need to make another closer to the size of yours.
They are a must for picture frames of any size to get a good 45 degree corner but, if you are making box corners more than 2" tall, I find it much easier to tilt the blade to a 45 degree angle and cut the pieces with a standard 90 degree miter gauge.
Give my method a try to see if it works for you. I like it because I can pretty much make the grain match on three of the four corners.
To start, you need to make sure that the blade is tilted to 45 degrees as close as possible. I use a Wixey digital angle gauge but, it can be done with a few practice cuts on scrap wood also.
If I wanted to make a box 6" x 10" x 5" tall for example I would start with a board 5" wide and more than 32" long. In fact, I would probably make sure that it was at least 40" long. I then trim one end at a 45, slide it to the right 10", (use a pre set stop) FLIP IT OVER and make another cut @ 45, FLIP IT OVER and trim in the exact same spot at 45 degrees in the opposite direction (thereby creating a little three sided triangle 5" long that is scrap). Now slide the board over 6", FLIP IT OVER and make the 4th cut. (You now have a long and short side and if you match up the miters made with the 2nd and 3rd cuts you will notice that the grain comes as close to matching as anything you have ever done.) Now keep going by flipping the board over and making the 5th cut in the exact same spot as cut #4 (making another scrap triangle), slide it over to your 10" stop and make cut #6 to make the second long side.  FLIP IT OVER and cut in the exact same place as cut #6 to make another triangle scrap for cut #7. Slide the board over 6" for your final 45 degree cut on the last short side. If you take the time to mark the pieces as you cut them (example.... A-B, B-C, C-D, D-A , ) and reassemble them accordingly all the corner grain will match except corner D-A but, even that one can come out fairly close.
Anyway, I think that this is a much better way for making boxes with mitered corners even though it is long winded and maybe confusing. 
Making splines for the corners is a whole different subject that I could try to explain if you are interested. 

Rog

[dirtrider73068]

I thought about tilting the blade at a 45 but then how do I know how far to set my fence or where to set the wood on the miter gauge. I guess if I played with it enough I could get it figured out, having this sled is easier for small projects, type of stuff that we do it will work, if need be my dad has a miter saw for bigger stuff.

[Al W]

Gonna make one of those.....soon.

[BilltheDiver]

The miter sled looks good to me.  I have also made one and use it.  I have also used the method Rapid Roger uses, but I really like setting the blade on my radial arm saw at 45* (also with a wixey) and then doing the same thing.  I have outfitted the fence on my radial arm saw with a Kreg track rail and stop blocks which insure the I can duplicate the exact length of my pieces.  I also like putting keys in the mitered corners and made a jig for the router table to let me use a dovetail bit to cut dovetail keys.  The great thing about boxes is that you never exhaust the multitude of ways to build one.

[saggioculo]

After being hit with a flying piece of wood from a kick back on a table saw, I no longer use one or will I even be in the same room when one is being used.  Yeah, I know the old adage...if you fall of a horse get back on...ah....NO!  The accident happened over 10 years ago, but the painful memory is as fresh as the day it happened.