Popular Woodworking 2007-08 № 163, страница 16

Jig Journal

by robert w. lang

Table Saw Tenon Jig

With five pieces of wood and a clamp, you can make vertical cuts safely.

Mo

ost magazine articles about jigs miss the point entirely. Jigs exist to make work easier, safer and more accurate. They shouldn't be complicated projects in and of themselves - they should be something simple you can put together quickly so you can get on with your work.

We admit to falling into this trap ourselves in the magazine's shop. The corners of our shop are home to jigs that were built for articles about jigs. We can't throw them out because the amount of hardware and time that went into making them has us convinced that they're valuable. The problem is, we almost never use them. They're too big, heavy and complicated to bother with.

Instead, we use a handful of truly useful jigs that we've put together quickly to meet a need. This new column is all about this kind of jig. We've made some promises to ourselves about the kind of jigs we're going to present. For starters, we're going to keep it simple. Most of the jigs we really like only do one thing, but they do it very well.

And we're going to focus as much on how to use the jigs as on how to make them. You won't see a cutting and hardware list that takes up more than a line or two, and we'll let you decide whether to get a sheet of Baltic-birch plywood or use whatever you have.

We will show you sound principles and simple techniques that we have used over and over again. I f your hobby is making j igs, you may be disappointed; if you want to work smarter, we think you'll be pleased.

This table saw tenon jig is a good example of what we mean. There are only five wood parts to it, and you don't really need the hold-

Nothing wrong with simple. This tenoning jig performs one task, and does it safely and accurately It costs little, and makes use of the existing table saw fence for fine adjustments.

down clamp. A "C" or "F" clamp will workjust as well, but it will slow things down. You can make precise tenons as long as the maximum depth of cut of your saw, and there are probably a thousand variations to the jig.

This jig enables you to safely make a cut on the table saw with the workpiece held vertically as it moves over the blade. I've seen this done freehand on television and it always makes me cringe. The chances of the piece catching and kicking back are too big to risk.

Smooth Moves Make Tight Joints

The key element in making thisjig is to get it to slide nicely along your table saw's rip fence. It needs to be free to move, but not sloppy. This depends on the width of the horizontal piece that goes on top of the fence, between the two vertical pieces. Ifyou screw the pieces together without gluing them, you'll be able to make some trial runs and get it just right.

Changing the width of the horizontal piece changes the fit, so if you're not sure of the exact width you need, start big and trim

24 ■ Popular Woodworking August 2007

LEAD RHoto BY AL RARRISH; ILLusTRATioN BY Mary JANE FAYoRITE