[jjchips]

anyone, I'm looking for easiest way to attach miter bars (rockler) to the sled,I've tried many ways but just doesn't seem to work, any suggestions will help because video's just don't spend much time on how to attach miter bars:vs_mad:

 

[chandler48]

"miter bars" are what? Do you have a link? I just use a piece of 1x oak cut 3/8" deep to fit into the rail slots on the saw. I built my sleds, raised the blade and set the sled square with the blade and hot glued the ends to the rail. Then I took it out and used regular TitebondII and fasteners to hold them together.

 

[SPS-1]

They have 1/4-20 tapped holes in them, right ? Use 1/4-20 flat head machine screws.

I used my own steel bar, not Rockler. But I cut a slot (dado) about 1" wide in the sled. Then wedged the bar tight against one side of the table saw, with some paper shims, to make sure the bar was straight. Them put a bead of PL Premium on the bar and put the sled on top and let it set. Then I filled the 1/8" gap on either side of the bar with Bondo filler to lock the bar in place -- can not move.

 

[Yodaman]

Yep, specs say 1/4-20 threaded holes for easy installation.

https://www.rockler.com/rockler-18-24-aluminum-miter-bar


Sounds easy enough, make a trip to the hardware store and pick up a couple 1/4-20 flat head screws
https://www.boltdepot.com/Socket_flat_head_Alloy_steel_black_oxide_finish_1_4-20.aspx

 

[jjchips]

They have 1/4-20 tapped holes in them, right ? Use 1/4-20 flat head machine screws.

I used my own steel bar, not Rockler. But I cut a slot (dado) about 1" wide in the sled. Then wedged the bar tight against one side of the table saw, with some paper shims, to make sure the bar was straight. Them put a bead of PL Premium on the bar and put the sled on top and let it set. Then I filled the 1/8" gap on either side of the bar with Bondo filler to lock the bar in place -- can not move.

yes, the rockler bars are 18" Im ok using 1 bar but when I add the 2nd bar it tends to not freely slide , so my pre-

drilling must be off since I have to put the screws in from top down

 

[Drachenfire]

I used William Ng's video as a guide to building my sled.

I set the table saw fence so the sled was centered on the blade slot and locked it down. I then placed washers in the slots so the miter bars (made from oak strips) would sit slightly proud of the table. I put a 4 drops of cyanoacrylate spaced out evenly on each bar. Making sure the sled was pressed firmly against the fence, lowered it onto the bars and pressed down for 30 seconds. I then pre-drilled holes spaced about 6-inches over the bars and counter-sunk screws. After securing the front and back fences I ran it through the blade to cut the slot and again used William Ng's 5-cut method to align the back fence and came up with only a .000583 variance.

Here is the finished product.

 

[chandler48]

I didn't know there was modern stuff. I am more primitive. Good information.

 

[SPS-1]

yes, the rockler bars are 18" Im ok using 1 bar but when I add the 2nd bar it tends to not freely slide , so my pre-drilling must be off since I have to put the screws in from top down

Going to be very hard to get two bars perfectly in-line. I used my table saw miter slot to hold my one bar straight. If you got a big saw, you can do that too. If your saw's table top is not long enough, you can hold the bars in-line with one or two spirit levels.

I made the front cross-bar slightly adjustable so I could dial in the perpendicularity using the 5 cut method. (That sure took a while.)

 

[SPS-1]

Sorry, I get it now. You are not trying to put two pieces of miter bar in-line, you have one in each miter slot. The second one adds nothing to the precision, and only fights the other guide if not perfectly aligned. Just eliminate the second guide. For more precision, the one guide should be longer.

 

[Yodaman]

Just thought of something that might help.
Since your rails are already pre-drilled and tapped. Place the rails into the slots and cover with sled base the way you want it. Pull everything foreword so the rails and sled overhang the table saw top by enough to see the first tapped holes from underneath. Pilot drill from the bottom up, C'sink and drill clearance hole from the top and install screws.
Now move the sled to back side of the table top and repeat.
Once you have two screws in each and of each rail installed you can take the sled off, turn it up side down and pilot drill for the remaining holes.


They look like nice rails and should last forever once installed.

 

[mer500]

Single runner will work as stated.



Put pennies in the miter slots to raise the bars above the table, and use double sided tape to attach the bars. Remove sled and drill your holes. Done.


Then you can align the back fence of the sled to the blade. Attach back fence and cut. Done.

 

[ChuckF.]

A good coat of paste wax on the table of the saw, the underside of the sled, and on the bars will help it slide with as little effort as possible.

 

[Photobug]

This is the one I built, or at least took most of my ideas from this. He has a great tutorial on a 5 cut method to get a very precise square fence. He also has a way to make a precise 45-45-90 triangle for miter cuts.