what’s a good average distance that the machine wont tilt off a board from the edge? and if you want to cut to the edge how far out would a spacer have to be from the workpiece to be effective but not unnecessarily close to the piece, meaning not wasting space by being closer to the workpiece then needed (aka probably the machine distance to tilt but if its say 2-3 inches off the side and it will start tilting would that mean that i could just place spacers every 2-3 inches outside in a expanding zone to allow me to cut and entire board edge included or would they need to be closer since it needs to be able to smoothly ride on it, essentially how close would spacers have to be to where the machine will glide across it like a flat board?
When I’m cutting a part or something from a scrap piece I normally set the runners an inch or so from the workpiece. Honestly it could be right up to the edge without a gap. With the runners about three or four inches wide. Just need to support half the sled if the cut is all the way to the edge. When I’m cutting a full 4x8 sheet I have a depth adjustable 1x6 frame around the 4x8 sheet.
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Mine didn’t tip until about 2 inches from the edge. I just slid extra board up against it and it was good. Didn’t need to fix it down. I would be comfortable with a 3 to four in gap. Both with vertical and horizontal cutting it worked great just to lean or slide extra wood close. I think you could even space things out more up to about 6 inches but I was happy with 3 to 4 Here are pictures of things that worked for me with no tipping.
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@Bryan1 How did you make your frame depth adjustable?
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Slotted brackets, hanger bolts and wing nuts. One side of the bracket is screwed to the 1x6 and the slotted half has the hanger bolt through it attached to the frame itself. Whatever thickness I cut I loosen the wing bits and adjust the 1x6 even with my work piece and tighten it all down. I’ll try and get a picture a little later. These are the brackets. The hanger bolts I purchased off of Amazon.
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To clarify my frame is not adjustable. I have a 1x6 picture frame around my spoil board that is adjustable to my work piece thickness so I can all the way across a 4x8 sheet.
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cool, thank you for sharing.
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Caleb Yager wrote:
what¢s a good average distance that the machine wont tilt off a board from the
edge? and if you want to cut to the edge how far out would a spacer have to be
from the workpiece to be effective but not unnecessarily close to the piece,
meaning not wasting space by being closer to the workpiece then needed (aka
probably the machine distance to tilt but if its say 2-3 inches off the side
and it will start tilting would that mean that i could just place spacers
every 2-3 inches outside in a expanding zone to allow me to cut and entire
board edge included or would they need to be closer since it needs to be able
to smoothly ride on it, essentially how close would spacers have to be to
where the machine will glide across it like a flat board?
I have found that if you get closer to ~3" to the edge, you start to have
problems, so I try to provide support for 4-5" of the sled. you do not need to
support the entire sled.
I usually use scrap material to provide the support (on the original maslow,
were were referring to these as ‘skirts’ around the edges.
it can be up against the workpiece, but you could also leave a couple inch gap
and then have a rail that the sled rides on.
how close you can come will vary from edge to edge, the top tends to be the
worst as the belts are higher on the sled.
David Lang
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