Shortly after unpacking my tablesaw I realized I needed a few things. The first was a crosscutting sled. Sounds basic, except that if you build your own, it must be perfect. And that part's not basic. You will need to make sure your blade is square in the saw, the fence is square to the blade and that all your tools are dead-on accurate to make this project.
In a lot of ways, a crosscutting sled can replace a mitre saw for cutting beautiful mitres, crosscuts, dados, rabbets and tenons. That's why it's worth the time and expense to build a good one.
Start by cutting a square piece of plywood for the base. It needs to be dead-flat and square; the accuracy comes from a solid foundation like this. My first sled had quartersawn hardwood runners, but for this one I used strips of low-friction plastic that worked at least as well, without the potential for seasonal movement.
Place the runners in the slots on the tablesaw, then lay the plywood base on top of them. Use the saw fence to align the plywood with the saw blade, since the two should be parallel. Next, mark the centre of the runners on the top of the plywood using a line that continues across the base from front to back. This shows where to drill the screw holes to attach the runners to the base.
Fasten the runners with screws driven down through the base into predrilled holes, making sure the screw heads are countersunk flush with the ply. The sled should glide very smoothly in the tablesaw at this point. If it sticks, check that the screws have not pushed out the sides of the runner material. If they have, sand a bit off or remove the screws and install them again with a larger pilot hole.
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