Crosscutting pineboard

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jaustin

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Hi
I'm about to start my first project with my new (and first) tablesaw - a very simple cabinet. I'm going to use pineboard. What is the correct, safe way to cross cut this? For instance I need to cut a piece 770x475 from a 850x495 board. From some online reading (and from the 'manual' that came with the saw) I understand that I should use the fence to rip the board to the required width (475mm), but I should NOT use the fence to make the crosscut. But won't the piece of wood (850x475 at this point) be too big to safely crosscut using the standard, supplied (ie, small) sliding mitre gauge?
Thanks,
Jason
 
Hi Jason , you can beef up your mitre fence by fixing a sacrificial piece of timber to it giving it more support . You can cut through the timber and make a new one when needed . If using the fence when cross cutting youll find the timber will bite against the blade and snatch :shock: It can be done but you need to know your stuff and it can still go wrong . What saw do you have ?
 
No Matt, a crosscut sled runs on one or both of the mitre slots. The RIP fence is never used for crosscutting.
As demonstrated by this silly ejit who has been in the WW comics over the past few months. This is how not to do what the OP asked
DraperRcd.jpg

The waney edged board is also not resting properly on the table as it app-ears warped. You can cross cut using the rip fence if the board is of a reasonable size, say the width is about 24" and the lenght is no more than 36" . Suggest getting Kelly Mahler's book "Mastering the Tablesaw" at your local Amazon etc. Full of information on safe operation of the TS.

Noel

PS No disrespect to the bloke in the picture but plenty of disrespect to Draper and their ad agency.
 
Thanks JFC - that makes a lot of sense. The saw is a Ryobi ETS-1525 (the one with the riving knife alignment problem back on 03/11/05; saw replaced now and all properly aligned).
 
Noel im cringing looking at that pic , i can nearly hear the noise the saw is about to make ! As well as noise yer bum makes when it happens :lol:
 
Hi Jaustin, welcome to the forum.

Matt the best thing to have for cross cutting is a sliding table. You can also use a sled but you never let it come in contact with the rip fence. If you do you are risking severe kickback and mark my words you do not want a piece of wood slicing into your side. To say it was painful is a understatement.


While on the subject of sleds, our cousins on the other side of the pond use them a lot, and you will find plans to make some nice ones on many of their websites. Norm ever has a old battered one that he uses all the time. And Incra has just released the "Mitre Express" which is very nice. But if you just want a basic one all you need is a piece of ply and some hardwood for the runners, or better still the metal runner of a old mitre gague.

Regards

Woody
 
Noel":3itjjbev said:
PS No disrespect to the bloke in the picture but plenty of disrespect to Draper and their ad agency

That is shocking! I'd be interested to see the same pic 10 seconds later. :shock:

Cheers

Tim
 
Oh cmon its a no no but it can be done with pressure applied to the fence and timber the fence side . Best not to but it can be done ...... And you do need to know your stuff when doing it ! But then if you know your stuff you dont do it :lol:
 
Jason. Make yourself a cross cutting sled that rides in the mitre slot to the left of the blade ( presuming you're right handed). I made my first one some 15 years ago and just wouldn't be without one. Totally safe to use and very accurate. Check the size of your saw bed though and think about the maximum cross cut you can safely make without the sled tipping up over the trailing edge.

Go for it mate and good luck with the project.

Mike H
 
Jason
Heres a pic of a "quick and nasty" crosscut sled I made-it should be perfect for what you want to cut. A piece of ply, a fence across the back and a piece of wood to run in the mitre slot screwed to the bottom of the sled. The fence has got to be at 90 degrees to the blade, but it only took 10 mins to put together.

Unfortunately, some silly person has removed the guard in this picture so you can see the sled easier :whistle:
HTH
Philly :D
2005_0530krenovhandles0016.jpg
 
supplied (ie, small) sliding mitre gauge
If you have a mitre gauge you have a mitre slot to run it in . I dont know the saw you have but there should be a groove in the saw bed that the mitre gauge sits in .If you have that then you can make a jig/ sled .
 
JFC":1chug7ph said:
supplied (ie, small) sliding mitre gauge
If you have a mitre gauge you have a mitre slot to run it in . I dont know the saw you have but there should be a groove in the saw bed that the mitre gauge sits in .If you have that then you can make a jig/ sled .
That's my point. I don't have a mitre guage, hence why I was toying with the idea of a sled (running against the rip fence). At least before the perils of doing so were explained. :(
 
Matt you don't say which saw you use. I'm perplexed as I've never come across a table saw that doesn't have a mitre gauge no matter how small or flimsy.

Look forward to your reply

Mike H
 
You could always make a sled which overlaps and runs along the outside edge of the tablesaw top, providing the edge of the table is straight enough with nothing for the sled to catch on it should work ok.

Mark
 
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