DocWheeler
09-05-2009, 07:45 PM
I thought it might be nice if there was a place to add ideas about sleds and jigs. There have been several people that have used T-nuts or T-slots to create sleds, I really liked those ideas. I never took the time to create those because it seemed that there was no one-size-fits-all sled size. So here is what I have been doing with some success.
Using a piece of 3/4" plywood (B), I fasten 3/4" X 3/4" material on the long edges (A). In this example, the same 3/4" material was used on the ends also (A) in the first photo. Since I wanted the most amount of open area as possible, this works well. The only problem is that the sensor that measures the sled needs a continuous surface to read the width and at least an inch wide surface for the second edge finding for length. If you set the rear roller on the 3/4" end piece to start with, the sensor is only an inch or so toward the center of the machine - so that piece of material (F) for the sensor to read is not very wide. For the length measurement, the piece of material can be even smaller (G).
I create an MPC to carve the centerlines (C) both ways in the bottom of the sled. I try to cut my project pieces to a uniform width so I can screw down guides (E). On this last project, I put screws (D) into the sides of these guides to "fine-tune" the centering the pieces because they were two-sided carves (it did not work well).
The second picture shows a slot that I cut in the ends of the material to hold it securely to the sled.
The third picture shows the index-corner (A) that goes in first on the keypad side. B, C, and D were previously described. E shows the way I fastened this piece of material to the sled - a couple of T-slots would have worked great, especially if they were always in the right places! As it is, I just put a lot of holed in my sleds!
I hope that this helps in some way and I also hope that others add their ideas.
Using a piece of 3/4" plywood (B), I fasten 3/4" X 3/4" material on the long edges (A). In this example, the same 3/4" material was used on the ends also (A) in the first photo. Since I wanted the most amount of open area as possible, this works well. The only problem is that the sensor that measures the sled needs a continuous surface to read the width and at least an inch wide surface for the second edge finding for length. If you set the rear roller on the 3/4" end piece to start with, the sensor is only an inch or so toward the center of the machine - so that piece of material (F) for the sensor to read is not very wide. For the length measurement, the piece of material can be even smaller (G).
I create an MPC to carve the centerlines (C) both ways in the bottom of the sled. I try to cut my project pieces to a uniform width so I can screw down guides (E). On this last project, I put screws (D) into the sides of these guides to "fine-tune" the centering the pieces because they were two-sided carves (it did not work well).
The second picture shows a slot that I cut in the ends of the material to hold it securely to the sled.
The third picture shows the index-corner (A) that goes in first on the keypad side. B, C, and D were previously described. E shows the way I fastened this piece of material to the sled - a couple of T-slots would have worked great, especially if they were always in the right places! As it is, I just put a lot of holed in my sleds!
I hope that this helps in some way and I also hope that others add their ideas.