sliding panel cutting jig for Ryobi BT3100

[myn]

I've got a Ryobi BT3100/BT3000 table saw but don't see any slots for the runners. Ryobi makes an expensive addon for this that adds a miter slot but I wanted to see if I could get away with something cheaper. As the BT3100 almost has a cult following in the woodworking arena I was wondering if anyone else had a suggestion?

It does have a sliding miter / crosscut sled. Is this a decent alternative to the panel cutting jig?

How imperative is it to have the panel jig? For reference I'm planning on either building a Table Tuba or Tuba HT.

[LelandCrooks]

Appears that sliding table acts as a panel jig. But it doesn't look like it has enough throw for the bigger panels.

[David Carter]

I built an Omni 10 and a pair of DR250's on a borrowed Ryobi table saw just like that before buying my own saw. To this date I have still not built/used a panel cutting jig. I need to take the time to do it because cutting square panels is a lot easier with one, but it can be done with the saw you've got. Just make sure you check your panels to make sure they're square after cutting them. I always cut a little large so there's room to trim some in case they need fine tuning.

[Tim A]

That's one of my table saws.

One of the features on that saw is that the rails slide. You can remove the slide and the right extension table, slide the rails all the way to the left, and support a large panel. You can also swap sides with the extension table and slide if you want. It's pretty versatile.

Unfortunately crosscuts are limited, as Leland suggests. It will only crosscut up to about 14" if memory serves using the sliding miter. I can't recall because I use a Radial Arm Saw for crosscutting nowadays. The sliding table/wide crosscut fence are extremely accurate up to the allotted width.