Built a crosscut sled for my BT3000

[NovaWoodworker]

Greetings! I picked up a BT3000 years ago (I think when Lowes was clearing them out). I used to hang out on the Ryobi forum and I see an old account here (blangdon). I used to dream of making furniture as nice as Rod Kirby's jigs. Life got in the way of woodworking for 10 years. About 8 years ago I moved into a townhome thinking that 1 car garage would make a good workshop, and I finally got motivated to make that happen.

After I did some work to tune up and lube the BT, I am spending some time to build/improve jigs to improve the safety and accuracy of my work. I had the dual slot miter table around and finally got around to attaching it to the saw. I like the idea of a slot that is an exact distance from the blade. Well...

I just finished up a crosscut sled. The general goal was to help with cutting small parts with the ability to use with the blade guard in place. I built it for a size that will support cross cutting a 2 ft piece of plywood. The width is just right so that I should be able to store it on a (to be built) shelf in the cabinet.

I added a t-track to the fence. I am very happy with how the 2 hold down and 1 stop block turned out (out of some scrap walnut). I added some foam to the bottom of the hold downs to help grip the piece. I had attached foam to the back of the hold downs, but that did not work out so I removed it (the foam condensed at the top and pushed the bottom away from the fence). I am hoping I can use the t-track to attach other jigs.

I added a pic of my BT setup. Nothing too special...a Harbor Freight mobile base, a box mounted on the left to hold push sticks, an MDF table on the right that is mounted to the saw body, a (poorly made) fence that provides a high fence for the blade and dust collection for the router table. A folding outfeed table and a drawer or two in the cabinet are somewhere on my to do list.

[radhak]

Wow, that's a very fancy looking jig! My jigs are all utilitarian (that's just to mean they are ugly!), but your sled is inspiring; I might end up copying it - I do have a length of t-track lying around.

What's the height of the fence? I guess around 4 or 5", higher than the max height of the blade?

[erikburd]

Nice jig! I'm thinking of making something similar but I need the mitre track slots.

[ballard770]

Nice jig! I'm thinking of making something similar but I need the mitre track slots.

If you’re able to build a crosscut sled you should be able to build a miter track slot out of 2X wood. I think that there is a plan somewhere here in the sawdustzone - perhaps one of the longtime members can come up with the link.

additionally, there is a miter sled on the Woodsmith Shop that looks interesting. I plan to make a miter sled similar to the one in Woodsmith Shop as once it is built it is set for 90° corners that means no adjusting a miter fence and getting a cut that is slight different from 45°

[NovaWoodworker]

Wow, that's a very fancy looking jig! My jigs are all utilitarian (that's just to mean they are ugly!), but your sled is inspiring; I might end up copying it - I do have a length of t-track lying around.

What's the height of the fence? I guess around 4 or 5", higher than the max height of the blade?

The fence is about 3.75 in tall. I used it with the blade raised up at or near max to trim up the block that sits behind the fence, so it should be tall enough.

I put it to use cutting some small plywood rectangles for some speaker stands and a stereo stand and it worked very well. I think the size is about right and it will handle a 24" deep sheet.

[NovaWoodworker]

Nice jig! I'm thinking of making something similar but I need the mitre track slots.

Here are some pics of an insert that I had for years in the place where the miter slot is now. I just had a t-track (the one that is now in the sled) that I mostly used to hold a feather board, but it could be made with an aluminum miter slot. It is made out of two pieces of 3/4" MDF. The width is not too critical (but narrow is better for getting the SMT close to the blade). The top piece is about 0.85" wider to account for the lip to the left of the blade. I routed a little off the front and back bottom to get the height about right. Mine measures 1.35" deep at those spots. I suspect I got the idea from an old post.

An insert on the right of the blade would work as well. I have one that is just two 3/4" MDF boards with some shim material underneath to bring the height up to be level with the other tables.

[JLyon]

A few years ago I went nuts and went all in on building this sled, making heavy use of Rockler hardware, as you can see. I meant to share it here in the forum, but then got too busy, had to set woodworking aside for a while and never got around to posting it until now. Just last week I dusted it off to start making repetitive precision cuts in some 100 yr. old fir boards that I'm turning in to simple, vintage-looking boxes. It's a heavy rig but turned my BT3100 into a precision workstation for a few hours.

[NovaWoodworker]

A few years ago I went nuts and went all in on building this sled, making heavy use of Rockler hardware, as you can see. I meant to share it here in the forum, but then got too busy, had to set woodworking aside for a while and never got around to posting it until now. Just last week I dusted it off to start making repetitive precision cuts in some 100 yr. old fir boards that I'm turning in to simple, vintage-looking boxes. It's a heavy rig but turned my BT3100 into a precision workstation for a few hours.

Looks nice! I was not sure how much I would like the sled since the sliding miter table of the BT is one of its great features, but I have been very happy. It has been a boost to accuracy and makes cutting smaller parts much safer. I have a few jigs that I still want to add.

[nicer20]

Greetings! I picked up a BT3000 years ago (I think when Lowes was clearing them out). I used to hang out on the Ryobi forum and I see an old account here (blangdon). I used to dream of making furniture as nice as Rod Kirby's jigs. Life got in the way of woodworking for 10 years. About 8 years ago I moved into a townhome thinking that 1 car garage would make a good workshop, and I finally got motivated to make that happen.

After I did some work to tune up and lube the BT, I am spending some time to build/improve jigs to improve the safety and accuracy of my work. I had the dual slot miter table around and finally got around to attaching it to the saw. I like the idea of a slot that is an exact distance from the blade. Well...

I just finished up a crosscut sled. The general goal was to help with cutting small parts with the ability to use with the blade guard in place. I built it for a size that will support cross cutting a 2 ft piece of plywood. The width is just right so that I should be able to store it on a (to be built) shelf in the cabinet.

I added a t-track to the fence. I am very happy with how the 2 hold down and 1 stop block turned out (out of some scrap walnut). I added some foam to the bottom of the hold downs to help grip the piece. I had attached foam to the back of the hold downs, but that did not work out so I removed it (the foam condensed at the top and pushed the bottom away from the fence). I am hoping I can use the t-track to attach other jigs.

I added a pic of my BT setup. Nothing too special...a Harbor Freight mobile base, a box mounted on the left to hold push sticks, an MDF table on the right that is mounted to the saw body, a (poorly made) fence that provides a high fence for the blade and dust collection for the router table. A folding outfeed table and a drawer or two in the cabinet are somewhere on my to do list.

Wow - this is nice. I am in the same boat i.e. bought BT3100 (used) when I was doing a flooring project and then life got in the way. But now rediscovering the joy of woodworking and BT3100. I need to build some of these basic jigs to help me around. Thanks for inspiration.

- NG

[nicer20]

Here are some pics of an insert that I had for years in the place where the miter slot is now. I just had a t-track (the one that is now in the sled) that I mostly used to hold a feather board, but it could be made with an aluminum miter slot. It is made out of two pieces of 3/4" MDF. The width is not too critical (but narrow is better for getting the SMT close to the blade). The top piece is about 0.85" wider to account for the lip to the left of the blade. I routed a little off the front and back bottom to get the height about right. Mine measures 1.35" deep at those spots. I suspect I got the idea from an old post.

An insert on the right of the blade would work as well. I have one that is just two 3/4" MDF boards with some shim material underneath to bring the height up to be level with the other tables.

Wow - this could get a miter slot on either side of the blade since I don't have a miter slot accessory.

What trick you use to attach it to the table and also ensuring the slot is perfectly parallel to the blade?

Thanks in advance,

NG