Creating The Temporary Sled
Note: This technique is no longer recommended, for the latest instructions see www.maslowcnc.com/assemblyguide
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Now that we have a temporary frame for the machine, we need to build a temporary sled to hold our router. This sled needs only work well enough to be used to cut the real sled, in the same way that the temporary frame will soon replace itself with the final frame.
We've created a printable template of the temporary sled which can guide you in the cutting process. You can download and print the temporary sled PDF here. The dimensions of the print will vary slightly on different printers and paper sizes. That is OK. The dimensions of this temporary sled are not critical.
Attach the paper template to the sheet of plywood not used for the frame with a glue-stick or other temporary glue. If you do not have a glue-stick, the pattern on the template can be traced onto the wood. We recommend cutting the temporary sled in the edge of the plywood to use as little wood as possible.
Familiarize yourself with safe operating procedures for your router. Each router is different and it is important to know how to operate yours safely. The manufacturer will provide you with a safety guide particular to your router. You can find a safety guide with some good guidelines for operating a router safely here.
Drill the holes for the bolts marked as small black circles on the template. These go all the way through the plywood. Use a 3/8ths inch or 10mm bit for these holes.
Drilling a pilot hole inside the sled interior will make routing out the temporary sled in the next steps easier.
Set your router depth to 5mm (1/4 in) and router out the inside of the bolt head recesses shown marked as red circles on the template.
Cut along the inside of interior circle and along the outside of the blue line which defines the edge of the temporary sled using your router. The dimensions of the temporary sled are not critical, it is designed to be built by hand. Do your best to follow the lines, but small imperfections won't prevent the temporary sled from working. We know you are not a robot.
Note if you can, it is helpful to round off the lower outer corner of the sled, you can do this pretty fast with some 100 grit sand paper or a round over bit with the router. The rounded edges are not essential, but they help prevent the sled from getting caught when moving around.
Attach the chain brackets using the bolts, washers, and lock-nuts in the hardware bag using the provided Allen wrench.
A combination 9/16" wrench (or 9/16" socket wrench or adjustable wrench) will make it easier to tighten the lock nuts, but you can get away with just pliers in a pinch.
Remove the base-plate that came with your router. On most routers this is done by removing screws from the bottom of the bottom of the base-plate.
Attach the router to the temporary sled where the base-plate used to be. This step will differ from one router to the next, but the process will be similar. The screws which hold the base-plate to your router may not be long enough, in which case you may need to find longer ones.
Note: depending on your router and router base-plate, you will probably need to drill holes in the temporary sled to mount your router to it. Use the router's base-plate screw holes as a template for the drill holes. Be sure the holes are in the correct orientation to how you want the router placed on the temporary sled. You may also need to countersink the screw heads so they are flush with the bottom of the temporary sled.
Attach the temporary sled to the chains on your temporary frame using the cotter pins.
In the next step we will set up and calibrate the machine, then use the temporary sled to cut the full size sled.