How to build a small table saw sled, step by step. Very handy, use int on my table saw all the time. woodgears.ca/delta_saw/small_s... Plans here: woodgears.ca/delta_saw/sled_pl...
I have been watching your videos for over 8 years and you are always my reference, you are so methodical and precise. I cannot thank you enough for sharing your knowledge.
When I measured the shrinkage and expansion of various woods, the exotics showed a bit less of it than domestic species. I actually did some original research on this. Also, I oriented it so that the radial grain direction is horizontal. Radial shrinkage is generally a bit less than tangential.
I'm not sure which is better. You're projects, or your video making skills. Both are amazing, and it's what keeps me coming back looking for more. Thanks, Matthias!
I just finished rebuilding a ten inch Craftsman 113 table saw from the 50's. Very solid, smooth and powerful. My experience using table saws is limited(normally I'm a metal worker) so I'm taking a crash course before attempting any projects. This was a great video, I'll check out your others. Liked and subscribed.
Hi Matthias, I too was curious about the hinged thingy on your wonderful small sled; which brought me to this video; where you remark on the reliability of framing squares. All of your videos teach me something about methods of work, I'm dazzled by your shop built tools; and the privilege of watching your inventiveness always lifts me up. By way of recompense I'd like to share an old trick for checking and truing a steel framers. Forgive me if this is something you already know. To read the accuracy of a framers you need a board with a straight edge that is at least twice the length of the body and somewhat wider than the length of the tongue. A fair square cut on a piece of 3/4 ply will suffice. Lay the body against the edge with the tongue placed so you can flip the square and still have complete registration of the body on the board edge. Strike a thin pencil line from the crook to the end of the tongue. Flip the square over and strike another thin pencil line from the edge (at the original mark) again from the crook to the end of the tongue. If they align exactly the square is true. If they diverge, the divergence is twice the error of the square. Scribe a thin straight line from the heel to the crook. To widen the square use a fine point punch and strike a point on that line (not too hard) about 1/4 the way from the crook to the heel. To constrict the square strike a point on that line about 1/4 the way from the heel to the crook. Check again until you have the alignment. Note: this will not work with some older/antique squares. Back in the day some of them were tempered. These can only be trued by grinding. Aluminum framing squares are adequate for drywall and don't need to be square.
Great video on the new smaller sled, now that is one I can use for my saw table. Glad to see you designed one for those of us that do not need the larger size.
Two guide rails would be twice as string. That's the advantage. But more likely to jam with seasonal wood shrinkage. With the close fit I made for the one bar, jamming with seasonal changes would be almost inevitable.
It's really incredible what you're able to do with a table saw and a little ingenuity. I'm not into wood cutting and I probably never will be, but that was a very interesting, informative, and well made video, and I watched the whole friggin thing. You put everything in there that needed to be. No more, no less. Bravo sir, bravo.
I love how precise and well planned all your projects are. I am always impressed with your attention to detail & creative engineering. Very inspiring. I had no plans to build a sled like yours, but I think I just might give it a try now.
Matthius I think I have watched all of your vids and some repeatedly, I love the fact you work in thousands of and inch but found you also work in smidgins. Now that I find you are working in the same measurements as I work in I feel more confident and able to follow and make some of your projects. Joking apart please keep up the vids I find them very interesting and love the way you look at things, I have come back to woodwork late in life but think I can still learn something new
one of the biggest things that put this "single runner" design above the rest, is when you rotated the sled around 180 degrees. The added functionality makes this superior to what I'm calling a "double runner" design. in addition to the added functionality, this design is also significantly smaller than the other sleds. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Because it allows the fences to be conveniently short when making crosscuts through the slot, but if you want to raise the blade to make a deep cut, you can flip the sled around (and not cut through your fences).
Looks like a good idea, I just bought a table saw after using a radial arm saw for all these years, this might be my first project to help me build a sliding router table that Stumpy Nubs made, router jigs that I have seen are also on my build list.
Thanks for the vids. Love your work. While I'm amazingly impressed with the way your mind works with your woodworking skills, I must say I'm more impressed with the jobs you complete in a tiny workshop. Low ceilings and cramped space, and yet you "crank" out so many wonderful projects. Good for you. It just goes to show.... But again, thanks very much. I learn a lot from your vids.
I like all your salvage finds.. great stuff to pick up that people once left behind. Ive been cruising around our local flooring shop but as of lately no such luck lol
Love the idea of using a dado to give you a thicker runner. For saws like my old Craftsman contractor saw with really shallow miter grooves, a thin runner attached to a flat bottom might not perform as well over time. Also a great idea to use a single runner and make the sled reversible for 2 cut locations, one in the middle like a standard crosscut sled and one on the edge, which gives more fence support for longer workpieces. And cutting the base in two and butting the edge of the square up to another piece of wood allows for easier squaring of the fence than trying to eyeball whether the kerf lines up with the edge of the square. I will definitely be trying all of these in my next sled. Pure genius!
Doh! As usual, wished I'd thought of that. I built one and retired my larger one cause I mostly used it for small stuff and this just works better, plus I have a decent chop saw. It's reversability is surprisingly useful. I did make sure that the rear fence was also as square as possible which, allows a bit more flexibility. I like your clever safety, but, for me, I worry about it creating a dangerous complacency so I prefer just a block of wood attached behind the front fence, and paying attention. You are one smart wood engineer (somehow woodworker seems like an inadequate term for you). Keep the ideas coming. Thanks.
Wow, this is the first video where I see the way to build a sled that I use myself. I will have finished my 1000th sled by christmas. This method is easy, fast and accurate.
I built a sled similar to this one on a lark, after watching your video, and have found it to be far more useful than expected. Also, I've noticed the miter box does not make accurate crosscuts on really small pieces where this does. Thanks for the great idea and nice design.
Love this design and building method. Matthias, do you ever run into swelling runners in humid weather? When it rains here, my sleds get really "sticky".
Awesome sled! I was interested to see what methods and thought processes you went through for when I make mine shortly, but I gotta admit, the main thing that drew me to this video was to figure out what the block on the back was when I saw it in another video and now I know lol. If only I had practical use for it myself. Maybe in version 2.0 or 3.0
Very nice, I made the exact same thing about 5 years ago. It works great. The only difference is that I added a perspex safety guard over the blade area.
Love your videos, always look forward to the next. Also love the fact you dumpstered that hardwood and you showed the couple thou play and the hot glue fix
Just whipped up my own table saw sled. I don't have a jointer/planer, so I ran some 2 x 4s along the table saw to get them as flat as possible. I don't need to be that accurate anyway. Thanks for the videos!
Just purchased a framing square because my other squares are too small to make cabinets with. I'm very happy to hear they are reliable. Damned if I can find a mini-square for sale here though.
I was also looking at that dial indicator get-up you had there. Nice and small. I would like to take a closer look and see how it all goes together. good video
I like your sled. I almost learned about cross cut sleds the very hard way, after which I took red paint and painted a NO-GO ZONE on the front of the sled, where my hands may never go.
Great channel Matthias. I notice that you are very practical in your creations, you take everything in account, even very small details, so you get multipractic utilities. I wonder if you can make a video on how to approach to make practical wooden corner clamp (like to be used to fix two parts when glueing or screwing on right angle), not to big not to small...
thanks Matthias, after a long time i saw you making something with less of physics involved. :-)). very nicely made and videographed. Keep up the good work.
Very cool sled, I like!!! Perhaps its worth mentioning how to adjust a square like that true to square; as well as how to check that your sled is square by trimming for the four sides of a scrap piece of mdf and measuring the difference in width of the fourth cuts offcuts beginning and end...
I'd be really interested to see how accurate this one ended up. Have you tried the 5-cut method (or another method) to see how square it turned out? If this way works, it's just so much easier to build than the alternatives.
Good stuff here, nice job. 1 thought however, you have a great design on your jointer push stick that you should use for your table saw as the Twiddle sticks you have now are dangerous. That same jointer design just needs to be thinner for use on the table saw. You will find this type holds the stock down flat to the table. It lets you apply side pressure to keep stock against the fence. It has a handle that is WELL above the blade and the small notch grabs the stock from behind. It's the absolute safest push stick design I've ever used in 35 years in the shop. Keep up the good work.
A reader asked about using a cross cut sled for bevel cutting. Actually, you can make another set of runners on the same sled. Remove the runners for miter cutting, of course. When using the extra runners on your table saw, make the bevel cut right into your cross cut sled as you did with the miter cut. It is basically a zero-clearance insert in a way. When your beveling work is done, switch back to the original runners and continue with miter cutting. This is the fasted way I can think of using the same sled. Remember to mark with indelible pen runner positions and name them. Keep in mind that your new runners will cause the sled to move to the left or right when in position depending on whether you place the runners to the left or right. Obviously all this means that your runners will have to be screwed, not glued.
@ 6:00..... I calibrate measuring instruments at work. I have seen about 10% of brand new framing, quick, & machinist squares not be square. Just use a machined square block to test if it is true. This sled is absolutely beautiful.
Doesn't need to be exact dimensions on anything, just make sure that the back face of it where the wood rests is perpendicular to the blade. The size of the sled should reflect the size of the wood you usually work with.
By the way I have a table saw that is bereft of mitre guides it is just a plain sheet steel top but I am working on a table sled that spans the table completely and uses the edges of the table as guides, I am also working on using bolts on both sides back and front as a method of squaring the sled to the blade My other alternative is to look out for a used/scrap table saw that has the pre-requisite guides that can take rails and work from there.
Thanks for all the cool videos. I think you have extraordinary talents there buddy. I now have more projects that I don't have time for :) Keep em coming please.
I know what you mean Josh - the little contractor saws I have owned have the little retaining clips which require a T-shaped runner. My sleds are not nearly as nice as Matthias', but I was able to do some very delicate work to the runner on my router table before I attached to sled base - I was able to create a T-slot runner which does work. I have looked a bit for pieces of aluminum or nylon already shaped as I need, but did not find.
I'd like to use a similar "raise the saw into the wood" technique to cut a shallow 2mm-wide 5mm-deep groove. I would push the wood through the saw normally, except that the groove doesn't travel the whole length of the wood - it's in the middle (to allow 2mm-thick boards to slot in). I have a router table so I could always just buy a groove cutting disc bit and be done with it, but I wondered if the table saw method is just good enough to save me the purchase (except I'd have to chisel out to the edges after and depth isn't easy to judge)
Хобби
Been enjoying some old school Matthias, what a back catalogue!
I have been watching your videos for over 8 years and you are always my reference, you are so methodical and precise. I cannot thank you enough for sharing your knowledge.
When I measured the shrinkage and expansion of various woods, the exotics showed a bit less of it than domestic species. I actually did some original research on this.
Also, I oriented it so that the radial grain direction is horizontal. Radial shrinkage is generally a bit less than tangential.
I'm not sure which is better. You're projects, or your video making skills. Both are amazing, and it's what keeps me coming back looking for more. Thanks, Matthias!
Fantastic Matthias. You're on top of your game am sure. Amazing knowledge and the quality of your videos it's A+. Thank you. Ric
I swear, time must stand still in your shop. I'm always amazed at the time and perfection you put into every piece you make! well done sir
Yes, in the summer, my tenon jig is much harder to slide. Haven't had as much of an issue with the exotic wood on my older sled though.
For more info, click the link in the description. Just like it says in the video.
I just finished rebuilding a ten inch Craftsman 113 table saw from the 50's. Very solid, smooth and powerful. My experience using table saws is limited(normally I'm a metal worker) so I'm taking a crash course before attempting any projects. This was a great video, I'll check out your others. Liked and subscribed.
I didn't use a caliper in this video. That was a dial indicator, mounted to a block of wood. Serach for "fence micro adjusting" on woodgears.ca
Hi Matthias,
I too was curious about the hinged thingy on your wonderful small sled; which brought me to this video; where you remark on the reliability of framing squares. All of your videos teach me something about methods of work, I'm dazzled by your shop built tools; and the privilege of watching your inventiveness always lifts me up. By way of recompense I'd like to share an old trick for checking and truing a steel framers. Forgive me if this is something you already know.
To read the accuracy of a framers you need a board with a straight edge that is at least twice the length of the body and somewhat wider than the length of the tongue. A fair square cut on a piece of 3/4 ply will suffice.
Lay the body against the edge with the tongue placed so you can flip the square and still have complete registration of the body on the board edge.
Strike a thin pencil line from the crook to the end of the tongue. Flip the square over and strike another thin pencil line from the edge (at the original mark) again from the crook to the end of the tongue. If they align exactly the square is true. If they diverge, the divergence is twice the error of the square.
Scribe a thin straight line from the heel to the crook. To widen the square use a fine point punch and strike a point on that line (not too hard) about 1/4 the way from the crook to the heel. To constrict the square strike a point on that line about 1/4 the way from the heel to the crook. Check again until you have the alignment.
Note: this will not work with some older/antique squares. Back in the day some of them were tempered. These can only be trued by grinding. Aluminum framing squares are adequate for drywall and don't need to be square.
That method of squaring the sled up is so simple and so brilliant !!! thanks made my day
Just finished first sled. Great series...always appreciate your orderly processes.. thanks!
Matthias keep up the good work. Its fun to see the level of accuracy in your build ! VERY COOOL
I'm 60 + I can still say cool
Great video on the new smaller sled, now that is one I can use for my saw table. Glad to see you designed one for those of us that do not need the larger size.
Just finished the sled used oak for the runner ... Thank you so much for all your work! Axel
Axel Faltin spray sillicon spray on it or put some wetwall on the bottim and it goes lile absoulte shit
Two guide rails would be twice as string. That's the advantage. But more likely to jam with seasonal wood shrinkage. With the close fit I made for the one bar, jamming with seasonal changes would be almost inevitable.
Thanks for the tip of machining wood with the help of a dial gauge, never thought of woodworking that way. Learn something new every day!
It's really incredible what you're able to do with a table saw and a little ingenuity. I'm not into wood cutting and I probably never will be, but that was a very interesting, informative, and well made video, and I watched the whole friggin thing. You put everything in there that needed to be. No more, no less. Bravo sir, bravo.
I recently built one and it is great. I have used it a lot already.
Thanks Matthias
I love how precise and well planned all your projects are. I am always impressed with your attention to detail & creative engineering. Very inspiring. I had no plans to build a sled like yours, but I think I just might give it a try now.
Matthius I think I have watched all of your vids and some repeatedly, I love the fact you work in thousands of and inch but found you also work in smidgins.
Now that I find you are working in the same measurements as I work in I feel more confident and able to follow and make some of your projects.
Joking apart please keep up the vids I find them very interesting and love the way you look at things, I have come back to woodwork late in life but think I can still learn something new
one of the biggest things that put this "single runner" design above the rest, is when you rotated the sled around 180 degrees. The added functionality makes this superior to what I'm calling a "double runner" design. in addition to the added functionality, this design is also significantly smaller than the other sleds.
Thank you for sharing your ideas.
How do you think flipping that around adds to the functionality?
Because it allows the fences to be conveniently short when making crosscuts through the slot, but if you want to raise the blade to make a deep cut, you can flip the sled around (and not cut through your fences).
Love your videos, Matthias! Brilliant stuff, thank you.
James
Seems you make the best thought out designs , mine are never as elligant. Great job!
AWESOME video. This guy makes my table saw skills look like a 2 year old.
Gets in the way, and I use a lot of different sized blades. Avoiding kickback is also a function of experience.
Друг,ты верующий человек?
Very nice Matt. Your videos are always clear and concise. I have learned a lot from your work. I look forward to all your videos.
Absolutely love that you use a dial indicator. Most people don't get that finicky with woodworking
Looks like a good idea, I just bought a table saw after using a radial arm saw for all these years, this might be my first project to help me build a sliding router table that Stumpy Nubs made, router jigs that I have seen are also on my build list.
Thanks for the vids. Love your work. While I'm amazingly impressed with the way your mind works with your woodworking skills, I must say I'm more impressed with the jobs you complete in a tiny workshop. Low ceilings and cramped space, and yet you "crank" out so many wonderful projects. Good for you. It just goes to show.... But again, thanks very much. I learn a lot from your vids.
I like all your salvage finds.. great stuff to pick up that people once left behind. Ive been cruising around our local flooring shop but as of lately no such luck lol
Love the idea of using a dado to give you a thicker runner. For saws like my old Craftsman contractor saw with really shallow miter grooves, a thin runner attached to a flat bottom might not perform as well over time.
Also a great idea to use a single runner and make the sled reversible for 2 cut locations, one in the middle like a standard crosscut sled and one on the edge, which gives more fence support for longer workpieces.
And cutting the base in two and butting the edge of the square up to another piece of wood allows for easier squaring of the fence than trying to eyeball whether the kerf lines up with the edge of the square.
I will definitely be trying all of these in my next sled. Pure genius!
Doh! As usual, wished I'd thought of that. I built one and retired my larger one cause I mostly used it for small stuff and this just works better, plus I have a decent chop saw. It's reversability is surprisingly useful. I did make sure that the rear fence was also as square as possible which, allows a bit more flexibility. I like your clever safety, but, for me, I worry about it creating a dangerous complacency so I prefer just a block of wood attached behind the front fence, and paying attention. You are one smart wood engineer (somehow woodworker seems like an inadequate term for you). Keep the ideas coming. Thanks.
Wow, this is the first video where I see the way to build a sled that I use myself. I will have finished my 1000th sled by christmas. This method is easy, fast and accurate.
Great Videos Started To Be More Interested In Wood Workings Thanks To Your Videos Great Job
I see you working in imperial and metric one after the other, I am glad I am not the only person to do that lol
Great presentation and a very nice project. I really like the idea of the hinged stop on the back of the sled. Thanks for posting.
I built a sled similar to this one on a lark, after watching your video, and have found it to be far more useful than expected. Also, I've noticed the miter box does not make accurate crosscuts on really small pieces where this does. Thanks for the great idea and nice design.
That cocobolo is beautiful and pricey! So glad you saved it from the trash! And great video too
Love this design and building method. Matthias, do you ever run into swelling runners in humid weather? When it rains here, my sleds get really "sticky".
Nicely done and I love the safety features! So many people don't care about their fingers these days and even defend NOT using any safety equipment.
The Sled stop was an insanely over engineered addition. I love it! Keep up the great vids!
Awesome sled! I was interested to see what methods and thought processes you went through for when I make mine shortly, but I gotta admit, the main thing that drew me to this video was to figure out what the block on the back was when I saw it in another video and now I know lol. If only I had practical use for it myself. Maybe in version 2.0 or 3.0
Hand't thought of that. I never use the built in rulers, always just measure the the blade, with calipers if it's critical.
Thank you Matthias, something I have been intending to make for some time. You have given me some really good ideas....
Sorry I did not see your video first. You have addressed the safety issues correctly. I have a trashed thumb from another design, Well done!
Very nice, I made the exact same thing about 5 years ago. It works great. The only difference is that I added a perspex safety guard over the blade area.
Thanks for this Matthias, I was wanting to make one and I'm glad you have a video on it.
Thanks for the one runner tip. Far less of a problem than two.
Love your videos, always look forward to the next. Also love the fact you dumpstered that hardwood and you showed the couple thou play and the hot glue fix
good video for someone who has an excellent accurate table saw, not your typical DIYer.
That sled stop is really cool, Mr. Engineer...I'm subscribed.
Just whipped up my own table saw sled. I don't have a jointer/planer, so I ran some 2 x 4s along the table saw to get them as flat as possible. I don't need to be that accurate anyway. Thanks for the videos!
Just purchased a framing square because my other squares are too small to make cabinets with. I'm very happy to hear they are reliable. Damned if I can find a mini-square for sale here though.
I make the one runner to about .002", if there was two, wood movement, even with plywood, would cause it to jam.
This is great I have been looking for a simple sled like this since I got my table saw, thanks for uploading.
I was also looking at that dial indicator get-up you had there. Nice and small. I would like to take a closer look and see how it all goes together. good video
Never considered using aluminium. Wood works just fine, and I can fit it to my saw's slot (which is slightly too wide)
Impresive craftsmanship dude, precise work, enjoying your videos
Watch the video, read the article for more information.
excellent articulation and demonstration. Well Done Mate!
The hinged block is ingenious! Thanks for sharing.
Love the two sleds. Ingeniously simple.🙂
UHMW is a bit on the soft side. Exotic hardwood, even if you have to buy it, is also cheaper.
You inspired me to make my own table saw and I did. Thanks Matthias.
I like your sled. I almost learned about cross cut sleds the very hard way, after which I took red paint and painted a NO-GO ZONE on the front of the sled, where my hands may never go.
Great channel Matthias. I notice that you are very practical in your creations, you take everything in account, even very small details, so you get multipractic utilities. I wonder if you can make a video on how to approach to make practical wooden corner clamp (like to be used to fix two parts when glueing or screwing on right angle), not to big not to small...
I really like the sled stop! I think you're on to something. Nice video!
I can't get a steel runner of the exact size. My slot is a bit bigger than 3/4"
Very good craftsmanship and safety. You have great videos and very clean shop.
Those dial indicators sure are handy. Definitely on my list of things to get at some point.
your equipment works very well. Can you show how to tune up the table saw drill press and jointer?
That's a great idea. I have a big sled & it's a bit of a pain to put on the saw & take it off all the time. A little sled would be very handy.
I like the safety block that engages the out feed extension.
I built my sled following this plan, great!
thanks Matthias, after a long time i saw you making something with less of physics involved. :-)). very nicely made and videographed. Keep up the good work.
Muito bom, obrigado por sempre estar nos dando essas dicas maravilhosas. Estou à aprender.
Haven't been able to find a metric dial indicator.
I have yet to come across a design for a corner clamp that I like, even out of metal.
I don't think a riving knife helps much with a crosscut sled, but as long as it doesn't get in the way, leave it in.
Very cool sled, I like!!! Perhaps its worth mentioning how to adjust a square like that true to square; as well as how to check that your sled is square by trimming for the four sides of a scrap piece of mdf and measuring the difference in width of the fourth cuts offcuts beginning and end...
I'd be really interested to see how accurate this one ended up. Have you tried the 5-cut method (or another method) to see how square it turned out? If this way works, it's just so much easier to build than the alternatives.
Good stuff here, nice job.
1 thought however, you have a great design on your jointer push stick that you should use for your table saw as the Twiddle sticks you have now are dangerous. That same jointer design just needs to be thinner for use on the table saw. You will find this type holds the stock down flat to the table.
It lets you apply side pressure to keep stock against the fence.
It has a handle that is WELL above the blade and the small notch grabs the
stock from behind. It's the absolute safest push stick design I've ever used in
35 years in the shop.
Keep up the good work.
A reader asked about using a cross cut sled for bevel cutting. Actually, you can make another set of runners on the same sled. Remove the runners for miter cutting, of course. When using the extra runners on your table saw, make the bevel cut right into your cross cut sled as you did with the miter cut. It is basically a zero-clearance insert in a way. When your beveling work is done, switch back to the original runners and continue with miter cutting. This is the fasted way I can think of using the same sled. Remember to mark with indelible pen runner positions and name them. Keep in mind that your new runners will cause the sled to move to the left or right when in position depending on whether you place the runners to the left or right. Obviously all this means that your runners will have to be screwed, not glued.
You need to square the fence to the T-slot, not to the blade, not to the rip fence. Neither of those is guaranteed to be parallel to the T-slot.
I do check them for square. Never found one that was out of square.
Você está de parabéns, pois é um belíssimo projeto.
Great vid Amigo'' Will work on one for my table saw, cheers!
Nice and useful invention. Thank you a lot for the idea!
dude, great idea with the micrometer, love it, doing it, thanks!!!
curious to why to cut the sled before you had the fences on? seems to me if you squared your fence to the blade you should be good.
Dumpster diving is a sport best done alone and opportunistically. Less likely to draw attention, and no need to share the pickings..
You are really creative
@ 6:00..... I calibrate measuring instruments at work. I have seen about 10% of brand new framing, quick, & machinist squares not be square. Just use a machined square block to test if it is true.
This sled is absolutely beautiful.
Doesn't need to be exact dimensions on anything, just make sure that the back face of it where the wood rests is perpendicular to the blade. The size of the sled should reflect the size of the wood you usually work with.
By the way I have a table saw that is bereft of mitre guides it is just a plain sheet steel top but I am working on a table sled that spans the table completely and uses the edges of the table as guides, I am also working on using bolts on both sides back and front as a method of squaring the sled to the blade
My other alternative is to look out for a used/scrap table saw that has the pre-requisite guides that can take rails and work from there.
Thanks for all the cool videos. I think you have extraordinary talents there buddy. I now have more projects that I don't have time for :) Keep em coming please.
I know what you mean Josh - the little contractor saws I have owned have the little retaining clips which require a T-shaped runner. My sleds are not nearly as nice as Matthias', but I was able to do some very delicate work to the runner on my router table before I attached to sled base - I was able to create a T-slot runner which does work. I have looked a bit for pieces of aluminum or nylon already shaped as I need, but did not find.
I'd like to use a similar "raise the saw into the wood" technique to cut a shallow 2mm-wide 5mm-deep groove. I would push the wood through the saw normally, except that the groove doesn't travel the whole length of the wood - it's in the middle (to allow 2mm-thick boards to slot in). I have a router table so I could always just buy a groove cutting disc bit and be done with it, but I wondered if the table saw method is just good enough to save me the purchase (except I'd have to chisel out to the edges after and depth isn't easy to judge)