Twin Miter Gauge "Crosscut" Sled?

[onocoffee]

Last week, I saw a guy on the internet post about a "crosscut sled" he made using two Incra v27 miter gauges linked with a straight fence made from Baltic Birch 18mm ply. Of course, lots of people on the thread poo-poo'd him but it seems rather logical to me.

We spend a lot of time trying to mount the runners and even more time to square the fence, doesn't this do it all in one swoop?

Interested to know your thoughts.

 

[Lincoln]

Last week, I saw a guy on the internet post about a "crosscut sled" he made using two Incra v27 miter gauges linked with a straight fence made from Baltic Birch 18mm ply. Of course, lots of people on the thread poo-poo'd him but it seems rather logical to me.

We spend a lot of time trying to mount the runners and even more time to square the fence, doesn't this do it all in one swoop?

Interested to know your thoughts.

I saw that - my take is that there isn't enough to stop the two mitre gauges getting out of sync with each other and causing some dangerous binding.

 

[ChuckM]

The work that's saved is the runner, but the fence still needs to be squared to the blade, meaning the effort of checking and adjusting the fence with x times of cuts is still there.

Crosscut sleds aren't that complicated unless someone insists on 0.0001" kind of accuracy. We don't need machinist's level of tolerance when we work with wood.

Square enough is my motto.

Try this: bring a square to the corners of some of your store bought furniture pieces and check them. Do the same with a straight edge and see how flat they are.

 

[smorgasbord]

I actually commented on the video days ago.

It's an interesting, but inevitably flawed, idea. First, he's got two miter gauge heads to align. Then notice that he's always got two hands spread on the fence in use since with two bars connected only via the fence, the torque (angular forces) are larger than the supports. Binding might result depending on the bar/slot tolerances and materials (friction).

Then without a base there's additional friction of the workpiece on the table surface, but yet no way to clamp anything down.

 

[Duckler]

You make some useful comments. The creator of that video seems to be a bit of a goofball (Redneck term for eccentric).
I think his idea has some redeeming features. The thickness of a sled has always been a downside. If a sled was made from 1/8” tempered masonite or phenolic that might be a partial solution.
Of course, the more times that a sled is used for a new (unique) angle, the more cuts will be made in the sled base.

 

[ChuckM]

Wait. That sled has no bottom? Without a bottom, certain functionalities are lost.

My sled is made of thin plysheet...I can haul it around with one hand.

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