Hello, all I’ve been trying to keep my sled as smooth as possible so I using a store bought tabletop I’ve managed to securely mount everything I need by using soft-wood screws to the just the top without drilling through since the top is thicker.
I was wondering if anyone has run into some sort of brick holder mechanism that could just secure from the top, or if I have to break down and design it myself, 3d print it, and post the STL here for all to have?
Yeah I’ve used the standard wood pieces with 3” decking screws. Length will depend on your brick size but it works fine.
I haven’t seen anything like that. However, the first thing that came to mind is some kind of open ended box glued to the top of the sled. Slide the brick into the box, and secure it with maybe a bolt that goes into the box.
Ok, sounds good!
So I dirty designed this, took @gersus idea and used 3in deck screws, @theHipNerd created a box the brick will just slide in. I’ll go ahead and start the print and post the results in the AM!
I’m starting to see why this hasn’t been done before. The time and plastic to 3D print this makes it completely impractical.
However, I’ve gotten this far so let’s give it a try. I removed some of the material to speed up the process. Will post STL either way.
I don’t think you want the bricks perpendicular to the sled since that will throw off the sled balance.
I just didn’t sketch it right. My intention was to show a sleeve of sorts glued to the top of the sled.
bricks vary in any case, so you need to balance after you put the weights on the
sled.
David Lang
Ok, so it turned out pretty well, the brick fits perfectly in there, using 3in deck screws. I haven’t actually bolted this one down, I am going to print the other one… again, not super practical given the cost and time investment compared to just using a piece of wood.
Worth noting, it does take away from the clearance of the hose, so if you’re using a RIGID vacuum for example, it may not allow for your hose to fit straight through.
I drilled a hole in my bricks and bolted them through the sled, countersinking the hex head into the sled. 
Thanks, David. This is something I’ve been wondering about, although feel that what I have is pretty good so it’s at the bottom of my priority list. Not to digress too much on this thread but, the
part is adjusting the height of the chain connection to the sled, right?
correct, ideally you adjust the height of the chain connection to the sled
to balance it, then you adjust the chain angle (either by moving the top beam in
and out, or by adjusting the workpiece by putting more or less thickness behind
it)
David Lang
I used iron shim plates which have a hole in the center. Two stacks, a bolt through each. No problems.
I put an 1/8” sheet of HDPE on the bottom of my sled. It’s very slick and covers the holes I made for bolting the bricks and linkage. The only hole is for the router bit (2” I think). The inside hole and outside of sled were rounded off with my other hand router.
This sounds like a great idea. It made me thing that a sled made out of plexy glass so you could for sure see all that you’re cutting… but that sounds way expensive.
So to wrap up the topic, I printed them both, one regular size, and actually one which is 50% of Z… the second 50% of Z actually works wonderfully! Not only is it a fast print, low plastic costs, it allows for variations in brick thickness and screw length.
got them both on there, it definitely works
So as promised, here is the STL, this is for the full size but you can adjust the z height yourself.MASLOWCNC-BRICKHOLDER_BY_ORBIMEDIA.stl (603.2 KB)
That would be cool!
