seeking your opinion

[devonwoody]

Got an email in this morning from Woodworking Tips.com and they are showing the Adjustable Taper Jig.

However the cut off piece of timber does not lay on the saw table but drops off at the end of the cut.
So therefore timber is suspended (in mid air or the drop of piece is) is this a safe method of cutting timber on a tablesaw.
I could use the jig to make straight edges on timber with poor edges if taper is set to square.

 

[wizer]

I think your concerns are valid, I have seen better jigs for this purpose. Norm did one which was very simple.

 

[DaveL]

John,

If you look here you will find my 3 year old post on converting a waney board to square edge, not as posh as that jig but it works.
I also do this now by pinging a chalk line on the board and free hand sawing it on the bandsaw, edge is then trued on the planer.

 

[Inspector]

Nothing wrong with the jig if you add a piece of the same plywood to the side of the table so the freshly cut piece doesn't fall.

A strip of wood attached to the bottom of the plywood to sit in the miter slot will keep it located side to side. Place it such that you can use it to trim the side adjacent to the blade off so that the sled will not hit it at any point along it's length. After the edge is trimmed attach a cross piece to the front to keep it from sliding front to back. Add clamps or embed some magnets in the underside to keep it down. You could even add an arm to hold a sheet of polycarbonate or plywood that covers the saw blade to keep your fingers away. Scrit may even approve of the extra guarding (I hope).

After a second look at the picture I noticed they use the fence to ride the sled against. I'd prefer the miter slot on that side instead, with the fence completely out of the way.

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks to all above. perhaps if I tried using this jig I would have confidence or perhaps not in the method

 

[motownmartin]

Something like this could be a better bet http://incra.com/product_buildit_main.htm

Martin