Shawn Curry
ArboristSite Operative
I started building this system about a year and a half ago, after seeing a Youtube video of a guy doing the same on his bandsaw. I drew inspiration from a couple different versions I found online, and from traditional sliding carriage sawmill designs.
I built a set of infeed and outfeed tables with removeable roller track which match the height of my bandsaw table. I recommend using adjustable feet; I ended up having to hack a little bit off of the feet on my infeed table with a circ saw to get it to the right height. Not a very precise cut, but it did the trick. Also, due to the relatively small size of my bandsaw table, I found it necessary to use a roller stand to provide a little outboard support for the sled when it's riding over the bandsaw deck.
The sled is a culmination of several different versions I built. It's 8' long, and has a 10' runner let into the bottom, which registers in the miter slot on the bandsaw table. I routed some t-slots into it at 1' intervals to accept Rockler style jig hardware, in order to locate clamps, hold downs, or angle irons, as needed, without having to screw/unscrew them all of the time. I use it most often with the pipe clamp, which also comes in handy as a full-length handlebar.
One last feature I'll mention, which is not shown, was the recent addition of a pencil drawn scale on the sled. I marked out full length lines every 1", and 1/4 and 1/2 marks at 1' intervals. This really sped up the setup time and improved accuracy on cants that are not perfectly straight - as I can quickly 'eyeball' any adjustments needed to compensate for a previous inaccurate cut.
In this video, I'm working on salvaging some lumber that was sawn and dried incorrectly. Enjoy!
I built a set of infeed and outfeed tables with removeable roller track which match the height of my bandsaw table. I recommend using adjustable feet; I ended up having to hack a little bit off of the feet on my infeed table with a circ saw to get it to the right height. Not a very precise cut, but it did the trick. Also, due to the relatively small size of my bandsaw table, I found it necessary to use a roller stand to provide a little outboard support for the sled when it's riding over the bandsaw deck.
The sled is a culmination of several different versions I built. It's 8' long, and has a 10' runner let into the bottom, which registers in the miter slot on the bandsaw table. I routed some t-slots into it at 1' intervals to accept Rockler style jig hardware, in order to locate clamps, hold downs, or angle irons, as needed, without having to screw/unscrew them all of the time. I use it most often with the pipe clamp, which also comes in handy as a full-length handlebar.
One last feature I'll mention, which is not shown, was the recent addition of a pencil drawn scale on the sled. I marked out full length lines every 1", and 1/4 and 1/2 marks at 1' intervals. This really sped up the setup time and improved accuracy on cants that are not perfectly straight - as I can quickly 'eyeball' any adjustments needed to compensate for a previous inaccurate cut.
In this video, I'm working on salvaging some lumber that was sawn and dried incorrectly. Enjoy!
