Hey guys, I am Sarah. Every week I comb through hundreds of DIY videos preparing projects for our weekly Maker show, Maker Break. Along the way, I find some good projects… and some GREAT ones, And right now, I’m going to share them with you! This is Sarah’s Top 5 DIY Crosscut Sleds. And these 5 only scratch the surface.
#5 is Wood Work Life
If you are like us, and are using a jobsite table saw for most of your projects you have probably thought about making life easier by building your own cross cut sled. Which you should! They do make life easier! This one particularly caught my eye because Rick has a super simple plan that you only need your table saw and a drill to make. He used materials he had around the shop to help keep the cost down and honestly these don’t need to be pretty to be functional. He used walnut for the miter bars, and scrap materials for the sled, and fence. Rick does a great job showing you how he put this sled together so be sure to go check it out!
#4 is John Heisz – I Build It
Now if you are looking to make some upgrades from your basic crosscut sled this is your video. John built this table saw sled that features an elaborate miter gauge for cutting any angle which I think is awesome. So he says it’s not a perfect build, but it definitely has me excited to get back into the shop, and help Rob add more features like this to our simple cross cut sled he just built. Until then, I will keep watching videos like this to give me something to look forward to building in the future.
#3 is The Wood Whisperer
Yes, this is an old video from Mr Spagnolo, but I had to include this. Mark does a fantastic job explaining the benefits of having a sled in your shop and then builds one with step by step instructions on how to do it yourself. He also walks you through how to do the 5 cut method to check accuracy of your fence. Now if you are not new to the maker world I am sure you have already seen this, or even built your sled based off of this video. But the advice Mark gives holds true to today.
#2 is Jonathan Katz-Moses
In the past Jonathan has made multiple sleds and actually made a giant one that he thought would be the king of all sleds, that ended up actually being too big and bulky to use with ease. So he set out to make a medium sized crosscut sled to just make life easier, with some fun details along the way. He added a stop block and a “beefy” T track to make this sled even more versatile. Then he explains how to do the 5 cut method. To be honest the first couple times this was explained to me it seemed very intimidating, but it really isn’t and making sure your fence is perfectly square will only make your projects that much better!
#1 is Nick Ferry
Alright, with this video we sorta leave simplicity behind but without taking on a lot of difficulty. Nick decided to go a step beyond a crosscut sled, and added a miter sled insert to make this project come in at #1. He also upgraded his miter runners to aluminum to take away the chance of the wood expanding or warping at all. Seriously this is one of the prettiest sleds and inserts I have found online. And no, making sure it is pretty isn’t that important, however I appreciate the extra steps he took to make it not only crazy functional but also a piece of art at the same time. Nick has a way with making intimidating projects seem so attainable and with this project is no different. Thanks for sharing!
That’s it! I hope you liked my list, but if you find a version of this project you think should have made the list add it to the comments below!