A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi all
Too late for the competition but....
Mother-in-law's 77th Birthday coming up and so mrs T asked me to make her a box as I've made a few 'nice ones' lately
Very clever ploy used there!!
This jig took about 2 hours to build using a couple of offcuts of Oak and Ash.
Anyway, I got some figured Beech (never seen it figured before) and got working. Decided to make finger joints BUT as I have never cut them before, I didn't have a jig.
Here is the result of the mad panic :wink:
I made it 'micro adjustable' with a 6mm bolt as the thread has a pitch of 1mm (360 degrees = 1mm movement).
I've posted plenty of pictures in case anyone is inspired to make one. It works very well and the box is nearly finished. Guide rail for mitre slot was made from an old plastic chopping board and I highly recomend this approach.
Below you can see the end of the adjuster. I used it to set the gap between the Oak 'pin' and the next finger cut. Fine adjustment is paramount here to get a nice fit between fingers and holes. Also, a handle cut from the workshop broom!! to keep my pinkies safe :wink:
I cut a slot in the front piece of ash to allow me to set the jig up for various cutter (pin) widths - locked with a 6mm bolt. I also cut a 10mm deep dado in the back for the nylon runner strip shhown below. I cut these on the router table with 2 end stops clamped to the fence. The fine adjuster has a 'nyloc' nut on the end where it touches the front sliding piece as I felt that this would give more accurate positioning than the end of the bolt would. To set the jig up, I loosened the locking bolt that holds the front in place and adjusted the micro adjuster screw to the desired position, locked everything up and ran a test cut. I measured the pin and hole sizes in my test piece and found it out by 1/2mm. I unlocked all bolts, turned micro adjuster 180 degrees and voila!! perfect cut.
Next picture shows a piece of nylon cut from the chopping board to run in the mitre slot. Nylon works really well for this as it does not swell or contract with changes in humidity or heat in the workshop and fits very 'snuggly' in the mitre slot.
Pin is screwed to base - no glue as it will wear!!
One of the most important things to do is make sure jig is square to the mitre slot or the box will be twisted DAMHIKT!!! :evil: (Look ma, my hand's on the internet!)
In use :wink: Test piece being cut.
Rear view showing handle
Cheers
Tony
Too late for the competition but....
Mother-in-law's 77th Birthday coming up and so mrs T asked me to make her a box as I've made a few 'nice ones' lately
Very clever ploy used there!!This jig took about 2 hours to build using a couple of offcuts of Oak and Ash.
Anyway, I got some figured Beech (never seen it figured before) and got working. Decided to make finger joints BUT as I have never cut them before, I didn't have a jig.
Here is the result of the mad panic :wink:
I made it 'micro adjustable' with a 6mm bolt as the thread has a pitch of 1mm (360 degrees = 1mm movement).
I've posted plenty of pictures in case anyone is inspired to make one. It works very well and the box is nearly finished. Guide rail for mitre slot was made from an old plastic chopping board and I highly recomend this approach.
Below you can see the end of the adjuster. I used it to set the gap between the Oak 'pin' and the next finger cut. Fine adjustment is paramount here to get a nice fit between fingers and holes. Also, a handle cut from the workshop broom!! to keep my pinkies safe :wink:
I cut a slot in the front piece of ash to allow me to set the jig up for various cutter (pin) widths - locked with a 6mm bolt. I also cut a 10mm deep dado in the back for the nylon runner strip shhown below. I cut these on the router table with 2 end stops clamped to the fence. The fine adjuster has a 'nyloc' nut on the end where it touches the front sliding piece as I felt that this would give more accurate positioning than the end of the bolt would. To set the jig up, I loosened the locking bolt that holds the front in place and adjusted the micro adjuster screw to the desired position, locked everything up and ran a test cut. I measured the pin and hole sizes in my test piece and found it out by 1/2mm. I unlocked all bolts, turned micro adjuster 180 degrees and voila!! perfect cut.
Next picture shows a piece of nylon cut from the chopping board to run in the mitre slot. Nylon works really well for this as it does not swell or contract with changes in humidity or heat in the workshop and fits very 'snuggly' in the mitre slot.
Pin is screwed to base - no glue as it will wear!!
One of the most important things to do is make sure jig is square to the mitre slot or the box will be twisted DAMHIKT!!! :evil: (Look ma, my hand's on the internet!)
In use :wink: Test piece being cut.
Rear view showing handle
Cheers
Tony
