85 - Router Table, страница 36
CORNERS ARE REMOVED TO MAKE SLED EASIER TO HANDLE building the Base CENTERLINE ALIGNS WITH CENTER OF SAW BLADE & Guard BASE MITER -—-BAR FRONT VIEW The base of the miter sled is the foundation for the whole assembly. So you'll want to use a material that's flat and stable. That makes installing and adjusting the other parts easier. I chose 3A" plywood. I started with a rectangular piece. You'll want to make sure the front and back edges are straight and smooth. That way, you can use them later as a reference for locating and adjusting the fences. To make the sled lighter and easier to manage, I cut off the corners of the base, as shown above. Once that's done, you'll need to find and mark the centerline of the base. You'll use this line later to align the sled with the blade on your table saw. This centerline also serves as a reference line when it comes time to attach the blade guard and fences. (I used a framing square to mark the centerline.) Attaching the Runners. Now for the challenging part — mounting the runners. The trick here is to first attach the miter bars using carpet tape. Tire tape just holds them in place so you can attach them with screws. Use your table saw as a guide for mounting the miter bars. You can see how to do this in the box below. Blade Guard. Once you've got the runners mounted, you can turn your attention to the blade guard. The blade guard does two things. First, it shields your hands from the saw blade. As you finish the cut on tire workpiece, the blade ends up "buried" under the blade guard. Second, the blade guard adds stability to the sled. It ties the two sides into one unit. Aligning the Runners Since tire miter sled uses two miter bars, it can be difficult getting them aligned to your table saw. Here's an easy trick for attaching them that will ensure smooth operation. You'll use carpet tape as a helping hand. The first thing you need to do is insert two pennies in each miter slot of your saw. See the drawing at right. This will hold the miter bars proud of the table surface so that the carpet tape will "grab" the base. After attaching two or three pieces of carpet tape to each miter bar, align the ends of the bars with the front of your saw table. Next, you'll want to align tire back edge of the sled base flush with the front of the saw, as shown at right. But you'll want to be careful not to let it touch the carpet tape yet. Now, carefully move the base so its center line is in line with the saw blade. Then it's just a matter of lowering the sled onto the miter bars. Finally, you can remove the sled and permanently attach the runners. ALIGN BACK EDGE OF BASE FLUSH WITH EDGE OF SAW TABLE THEN LOWER SLED BASE ONTO MITER BARS CENTERLINE DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE TEMPORARILY POSITIONS MITER BARS ON BASE PENNIES RAISE MITER BAR ABOVE TABLE SURFACE 36 ShopNotes No. 85 |
