|
Here is a jig I made for the table saw that I could have written about before but didn’t think of it. Just recently I posted an article on how I mix French polish and that reminded me about this jig. Why? It was one of my early attempts at French polishing. When I finished it I learned that not only was French polishing hard, but that you shouldn’t polish stuff with handles sticking up out of the middle. You can’t finish into a corner.
Be that as it may, I made this jig for safety when cutting thin strips of wood in the shop. I use it for cutting table saw runners for jigs (although you are limited to how long the pieces are that you cut), ripping off small mouldings made at the router table, cutting out strips for use as bandsaw guide blocks, and other similar operations.
I originally saw this in a magazine, I think, and I have made a couple in the past. I believe you can find it in Kelly Mehler’s table saw book and video. There isn’t much to it and the design is straightforward and quite intuitive.
I started with a scrap of hardwood that was wide enough to allow room for my hand and some kind of handle, without getting them caught between the fence and the saw blade. I cut it to a length that would make the jig longer than it was wide. That makes for greater stability when you use it.
Many times I see, on television or in print, where someone passes a sheet of something through the table saw that’s wider than it is long. In effect they are using the rip fence to crosscut the sheet. Although some who read this will no doubt disagree, I feel that this is highly dangerous and should not be done. That is the reason we make crosscut sleds. Passing a sheet through the saw that’s wider than it is long is an accident waiting to happen. So much for today’s safety lesson.
The actual size doesn’t really matter as long as the jig isn’t too long making it’s center of gravity out over the edge of the saw table. Then I added a handle.
Don’t ask me why, but sometimes I get off on a tangent. I did when I made this jig and decided to put a handle on it that was patterned off a Stanley plane tote. A dowel would have sufficed but I opted, instead, to spend a day bandsawing, filing and sanding this darn handle out of a scrap of mahogany from a sign I carved. The result is very nice but you don’t need to go that far. The handle was mounted using two screws from underneath and then it was time to size the jig.
I set my fence to eight inches, which was slightly smaller than the width of the jig. Then I placed the jig against the fence and sawed most of the way through it. At the end of the blade side of the jig you need a little piece of wood jutting out of the side to catch the back of the work piece and push it through the saw. I simply used the bandsaw to remove most of the wood I just finished ripping on the table saw, leaving the piece at the end of the jig base sticking out. You don’t need to leave much. If you cut it all the way off, either while sizing or in use, you can always screw a replacement on from the end.
Last, I drilled a hole for hanging the jig off the wall and applied a finish. Again I went overboard and French polished the top and handle, but you don’t have to do that. The edges and the bottom were waxed with paste wax to allow for smoother movement against the fence and saw table. And again, before I forget, I used a Jiffy marker to write on the underside that the base width was set at eight inches. That way, if I want a half inch strip, I just have to set the fence at eight and a half inches, and I can run as many strips as I want.
This jig is not just a safety feature but a production jig. If you want a pile of three quarter inch strips you just have to mill the stock, set the fence, then keep running the stock through with the jig. No further measurement is required.
In use, make sure that you apply pressure to ensure the jig stays against the rip fence. I also use a push stick to hold the wood being cut firmly against the jig. Cutting the end off a push stick is fine, but watch you don’t do the same to your fingers. I always stop the saw between strips as I refuse to reach over a spinning blade – whether there is a guard in place or not.
The end result was a very nice looking and functional jig. You don’t have to go to this extent, but this jig is very handy when it comes to making a lot of small parts safely.
|
