A
Anonymous
Guest
I recently acquired some plans of a micro-adjustable box-joint jig put out by ShopNotes, which is designed to be attached to a mitre gauge, which can be used either with a dado set on the table saw, or on a router table, if your table includes a mitre-gauge slot. At first sight, this jig seemed ideal, since it was micro-adjustable both for the width of the index pin and for its distance from the cutter. Pictures of the jig attached to a mitre gauge are at
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dldund ... /my_photos
Unfortunately, I found that the jig had some major drawbacks; the slight amount of play of the mitre gauge in my table saw's slot led to some imprecision, and so did the fact that the L-shaped bracket which formed one side of the adjustable index pin tended to flex, giving rise to further inaccuracy. To produce well fitting joints, a box-joint jig needs to be able to ensure that the index pin is adjusted so that the index pin is exactly the same distance from the cutter as the thickness of the pin. Any inaccuracy is cumulative, and unless the two parameters are identically matched, the joint will not fit. I found that, because the Shopnotes jig lacked any measuring device, the micro-adjustment was almost as hard to fine-tune as a jig without any micro-adjustment system.
In order to overcome the limitations of the ShopNotes jig, I decided to build a different version which would address its shortcomings. My jig, of which pictures are given at the same location as given above, is attached to a miniature crosscut sled, which has runners fitting into both slots of my table saw, effectively eliminating the sloppiness that results from a loose-fitting mitre-gauge bar. My jig has a solid, fixed-width, but interchangeable, index pin, and it incorporates a dial-gauge in the micro-adjustment system, making fine-tuning of the jig's adjustment quick and easy.
Since dado sets are apparently illegal in the EC, my jig would need to be adapted by EC users to have only a single runner for use on a router table.
I am hoping to publish an article on my jig in Australia, and perhaps also in the US, but I would be happy to e-mail a copy of the article to any forum member who may be interested, if they message me with their e-mail address
Rockerau
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dldund ... /my_photos
Unfortunately, I found that the jig had some major drawbacks; the slight amount of play of the mitre gauge in my table saw's slot led to some imprecision, and so did the fact that the L-shaped bracket which formed one side of the adjustable index pin tended to flex, giving rise to further inaccuracy. To produce well fitting joints, a box-joint jig needs to be able to ensure that the index pin is adjusted so that the index pin is exactly the same distance from the cutter as the thickness of the pin. Any inaccuracy is cumulative, and unless the two parameters are identically matched, the joint will not fit. I found that, because the Shopnotes jig lacked any measuring device, the micro-adjustment was almost as hard to fine-tune as a jig without any micro-adjustment system.
In order to overcome the limitations of the ShopNotes jig, I decided to build a different version which would address its shortcomings. My jig, of which pictures are given at the same location as given above, is attached to a miniature crosscut sled, which has runners fitting into both slots of my table saw, effectively eliminating the sloppiness that results from a loose-fitting mitre-gauge bar. My jig has a solid, fixed-width, but interchangeable, index pin, and it incorporates a dial-gauge in the micro-adjustment system, making fine-tuning of the jig's adjustment quick and easy.
Since dado sets are apparently illegal in the EC, my jig would need to be adapted by EC users to have only a single runner for use on a router table.
I am hoping to publish an article on my jig in Australia, and perhaps also in the US, but I would be happy to e-mail a copy of the article to any forum member who may be interested, if they message me with their e-mail address
Rockerau