Keep Your Hands Safe with a Small-Parts Cutoff Sled

Build this sled to fit your table saw and use it to crosscut small parts safely and effectively, keeping your hands clear of the blade

Nothing beats a table saw for making accurate crosscuts, whether you’re using a miter gauge or a sled. But when you need to cut small parts, such as toy building blocks, box handles and pulls, or tabletop-mounting buttons, it’s imperative that you not hold these parts with your hands close to the blade. If something goes wrong, there would be no time to react and pull your hands back to prevent an accident. The simple solution is to build a sled especially for small parts like these. This sled, made of plywood and a short piece of hardwood, can be built in a day and will then protect your hands for many years to come.

Let’s get started.

Note: This sled is built to fit a SawStop Professional Cabinet Saw; adjust dimensions as needed for other saws.

Materials List:

• Quarter-sheet (2’x4’) of 3/4″ Baltic-birch plywood, MDF, or MDO
• 1 piece 1” x 4” x 27” hardwood
• hardwood scrap
• 3 @ 24” aluminum T-track (#4 x 1/2” screws typically are not included)
• 2 small aluminum hold-downs with T-bolts and knobs (or anything similar)
• 1 T-track stop with T-bolt and knob
• 14 @ #8 x 2” wood screws
• 12 @ #8 x 3/4″ flathead wood screws

Step by step:

1. Cut the plywood to 12” x 24”. Lay out a centerline across the length to indicate where the blade will cut.
2. Select a piece of hardwood that’s 12” long and at least 2” wide (or one piece 24” long). Plane it to 3/4” thickness. At the table saw, rip two 3/8” strips from this blank. These will be the miter-slot guides for the sled. If your strips are longer than 12”, crosscut them to that length.

3. Rest the plywood base on the table saw. Align the centerline with the blade and bring the rip fence against the base’s end; when aligned, lock the fence in place. Place two dimes in each miter slot nearest the operator position. Apply double-faced tape to the guide bars and place the bars in the miter slots on the dimes, aligned with the front edge of the table. Press the plywood base against the fence and aligned with the front table edge and slowly lower it onto the guide bars, pressing firmly to make the tape stick. Remove the base and guide bars from the table saw.

4. Secure the guide bars to the base with 3/4” flathead screws, fully countersunk in the guides. Trim away any excess tape not covered by the guide bars. Place the base in the table saw miter slots—with the blade lowered—and slide the base back and forth. If it does not slide smoothly, use a shoulder plane or sanding block to trim the guide bar edges slightly.

5. Lay out locations for the T-track on the base. Mark the two inner T-tracks to be 1-3/8” from the centerline to the near edge. With the outer T-tracks you must be careful to avoid the guide bars. We made the left track 4-1/4” from the centerline and the right one 6-1/2” from the centerline. This spacing avoids the bars and also provides different spacing for clamping various lengths of workpieces. Set this aside.

6. Mill a hardwood blank to 1” thick (not 3/4″), 4” wide, and 27” long. Crosscut a 2-1/2” segment from one end, then crosscut the remaining length to 24”. Set these pieces aside.

7. Install a stacked dado set on the saw equal in width to the T-track. Make cuts in scrap stock to ensure a perfect fit. Set the dado height slightly above the depth of the T-track; this allows the track to sit just below the sled surface. Using the rip fence, invert the base and cut the four grooves where marked.

8. Retrieve the longer hardwood piece—which will be the rear fence—and cut a groove along the length for T-track. The location of this groove should match the height of your T-track stop. In our case, the lower edge of the groove is 1” from the bottom edge.

9. Cut two lengths of T-track to 12” and file or sand the ends to remove any sharp edges or burrs. Screw the tracks into the grooves. If your screws break through the bottom, use a file or angle grinder to remove those tips and make them flush or even slightly recessed. Failure to do this will scratch your table saw top!

10. Install a 1/4” round-over bit in your router table, then round over both sides of the ends and one edge of the long rear fence and short front fence. Sand all surfaces smooth on each piece.

11. Crosscut the remaining T-track into two 11-1/4” pieces. Install these into the rear fence, flush at each end, and secure with 3/4″ flathead screws. This leaves a gap near where the blade will pass, preventing metal-to-blade contact that would trigger the SawStop safety system. Use a file to round over the ends of the T-track to match the profile of the fence.

Note: For the next two steps, be sure to drive no screws within 1/2″ of the blade centerline, to prevent a brake activation.

12. Mount the rear fence to the base 1-1/2” from the rear edge. Screw the fence on from underneath—no glue, in case you ever need to replace it.

13. Screw the front fence flush with the base’s front edge, centered on the blade centerline. (This fence acts as a bridge to hold the front edges of the base together securely after cutting into the base. It has to be narrow to allow access to install the hold-downs in the T-track.)

14. Screw on a 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” x 10-1/2” protective guard behind the rear fence. We used two pieces of 3/4″ plywood glued together, but any material will work. This piece shields the blade should you cut past the fence.

15. Place the sled on the saw in the miter slots, power up the saw, and cut along the centerline. Do not cut any deeper than needed. If you plan to hang this sled on a hook or nail, drill a hole in one end of the base.

16. Now install the hold-downs and the fence T-track stop, and you’re ready to cut small parts safely.