Bandsaw sled help

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Dale Parrott

Dale Parrott

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Joined
Feb 22, 2012
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292
Location
Goshen, Indiana
I am not new to making my own sleds to accommodate what ever I'm working on at the time, including the runners. For my next sled I'd like to try factory made adjustable miter bars. Should be a simple thing as they are all for sale at many different retailers. My issue is the miter slot on my 10" Rikon band saw is only 5/8". If anyone knows where to purchase one I'd really like to hear from you. Thank you in advance.
Dale
 
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Dale try McMaster-Carr. I bought some aluminum bar stock from them and made my own custom miter bars. They have stock 5/8" wide and it's quite reasonable as far as cost.
 
Yes you are going to have to get creative. Make from maple and wax it for sliding purposes. Or buy some flat stock and build off that. I know of no factory adjustable miter bars for 5/8"
 
There are ways to make them (wood, phenolic, aluminum, HDMW - my favorite) - adjustable if necessary to take up any play . Drilling a hole about every 3 to 4 inches about 1/8 to 3/16 inch from the edge and screwing in a very small Allen set-screw.That expands the edge a minuscule amount and takes up the slack/play. This should be done every 3 inches or so. If done right it can take up any slack. Doing this in aluminum will be a bit more tedious and somewhat different but it can be done.
 
I have the Rikon bandsaw. Their miter leaves a bit to be desired- flimsy and, to me, not accurate. I made a "sled" that move along the right edge of the table. Working on a better one and the posts give me some ideas.
 
I make most of my own from wood. I am at work right now but when I get home I'll post a picture of how I make them.
 
I really do appreciate all of your suggestions and it's all good advice, but... I must not have explained good enough. I know how to make the runners and have watched more videos than I want to admit. The thing is I don't want to make them and was just looking to try something new to me. Thanks to all for the input.
 
Dale this is not a knock on the saw but being a bench top saw it is not the most accurate and easy saw to adapt precision cutting sleds to. As I said I do not know of any 5/8" miter bars for slots like those. That slot is actually a t shaped slot too. If I were wanting as accurate sled as I could make for that saw I would build it off the side edges of the table with a stable piece of material as MDF or something I can screw into. Then you can route your own tracks in and build from there. Being there is only one miter slot on those saws can make it somewhat flimsy too. Thus building off the sides will stabilize that or if you had 2 miterslots. That is what is nice about a tablesaw. Seeing your design in pen blanks over the years does give us confidence that you have been doing something right all along and you no doubt have the ability to make a sled designed for your needs. Good luck.
 
jttheclockman said:
Dale this is not a knock on the saw but being a bench top saw it is not the most accurate and easy saw to adapt precision cutting sleds to. As I said I do not know of any 5/8" miter bars for slots like those. That slot is actually a t shaped slot too. If I were wanting as accurate sled as I could make for that saw I would build it off the side edges of the table with a stable piece of material as MDF or something I can screw into. Then you can route your own tracks in and build from there. Being there is only one miter slot on those saws can make it somewhat flimsy too. Thus building off the sides will stabilize that or if you had 2 miterslots. That is what is nice about a tablesaw. Seeing your design in pen blanks over the years does give us confidence that you have been doing something right all along and you no doubt have the ability to make a sled designed for your needs. Good luck.
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Thank you John. I will give some consideration to building off the sides of the table.
 
Woodchipper said:
John T., I checked my Rikon and the miter slots are square, not a T shape. Different model or manufacture year?
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Well that is good but still does not make a difference because they are probably still 5/8" and that is a odd size for miter bars. I am talking table top bandsaws because that is what he has. 10"
 
jttheclockman said:
Well that is good but still does not make a difference because they are probably still 5/8" and that is a odd size for miter bars. I am talking table top bandsaws because that is what he has. 10"
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Mine is a benchtop BS with 5/8 slot. As my late BIL would say, That sucks swamp water!
 
I've given up on finding the 5/8 adjustable bars. Today I tried 2 thing is the sled dept. The first was to attach 2 runners to slide against the outside of the table. I was pleasani tly surprised as it worked very well. No slop at all. The second was a plastic cutting board from the kitchen (please don't tell my wife} and made a runner. I cut it close and then finetuned it with my micro thickness sander to within a couple of thousandths. That was screwed to a piece of 3/4 melamine board and that worked good also. The melamine slides nicely. thanks for all the suggestions
Dale
 
If you run it off the side of the saw table but ALSO add a runner that glides in one of the slots you get positive a useful positive registration on the blade consistently
 
howsitwork said:
If you run it off the side of the saw table but ALSO add a runner that glides in one of the slots you get positive a useful positive registration on the blade consistently
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I'm not sure I get this. Are you saying to use the slot even if I'm using runners on both sides of the table or only one outside runner? Thank you
 
Dale Parrott said:
I'm not sure I get this. Are you saying to use the slot even if I'm using runners on both sides of the table or only one outside runner? Thank you
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I mean use a runner on ONE side of the table and then add a runner that glides in the slot. I use this arrangement on my bandsaw on a few sliding jigs and it works well. Sorry way I put it was unclear.

I put both runners ( slot one and one on table edge ) on one side of the blade so jig can slide clear past blade giving total work support next to the cutting point , but you could easily put a runner that glides in a slot on the other side (next to the bandsaw " spine" ).If you do you need to add some means to stop you slicing your jig in half if you get enthusiastic
 
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To me I would basically make a solid platform that I can route tracks in and screw things to such as clamps. You build off the platform. You do not need to slide the platform
 
howsitwork said:
I mean use a runner on ONE side of the table and then add a runner that glides in the slot. I use this arrangement on my bandsaw on a few sliding jigs and it works well. Sorry way I put it was unclear.

I put both runners ( slot one and one on table edge ) on one side of the blade so jig can slide clear past blade giving total work support next to the cutting point , but you could easily put a runner that glides in a slot on the other side (next to the bandsaw " spine" ).If you do you need to add some means to stop you slicing your jig in half if you get enthusiastic
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Thank you so much for clarifying. What you said makes perfect sense.
My experiment was a runner on both side of the table leaving the slot empty. There was no play and much easier than messing with the slot. Most of the time I prefer to have support under the cut off so the thought of only using one side of the table never even crossed my mind. I'm attaching 2 photos, one of my very simple "stop" so I didn't cut my sled in half. The other photo is the dual runners. I won't actually finish the dual runner sled as the top is way to flimsy. Just having fun and experimenting.
 

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Dale Parrott said:
Thank you so much for clarifying. What you said makes perfect sense.
My experiment was a runner on both side of the table leaving the slot empty. There was no play and much easier than messing with the slot. Most of the time I prefer to have support under the cut off so the thought of only using one side of the table never even crossed my mind. I'm attaching 2 photos, one of my very simple "stop" so I didn't cut my sled in half. The other photo is the dual runners. I won't actually finish the dual runner sled as the top is way to flimsy. Just having fun and experimenting.
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Yep. Something like this would work just fine and you can build off it with tracks and clamps and the whole nine yards. I have a project that I want to slice billiard balls in half and this is going to be what I start with also. That project is so far down the list. That gets back into my scrolling projects and other ideas.
 
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