Making a Cross-Cut Box for the Table Saw

Cross-cutting on the table saw is dangerous. A slight movement sideways while cutting can cause the piece you are cutting to be kicked back at you. Depending on the HP of your saw this can be quite powerful and can cause serious injury. A cross-cut box will keep the piece from moving and make cross-cutting much safer.

A sliding table for your saw will achieve the same thing but is made for larger stock, Cutting something relatively small can still be a problem. In guitar building most things we cross-cut on the table saw are small hence a cross-cut box is very useful. If you have watched the guitar making and plane making videos you have noticed that I always cross-cut small items with the box.

A cross-cut box is fairly easy to make. The trick is getting the back fence to be perfectly perpendicular to the blade. This video will show you how to make the box from scratch and demonstrate a surefire way of getting the back fence parallel. In the video I mill some rough wood to dimension and demonstrate how to evaluate the wood before you cut and how to minimize waste by laying out the cut carefully before hand.

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