43 - Build Your Own Dovetail Jig, страница 12

IN THE SHOP

Plastics

in the Woodshop

There's no question about it. A good jig makes woodworking easier. And often, only one thing is required to make that jig better — plastic.

Laminate

A You can find plastic laminate at most home centers. It's inexpensive. And it comes in a variety of colors.

One type of plastic that gets a lot of use in my shop is thin, flexible sheets of plastic laminate, see photo at left. It's an inexpensive, commonly available material that's often used to cover the countertops in kitchens and bathrooms.

PAPER. So just what exactly is plastic laminate? Basically, it's made up of layer after layer of paper. Each layer is soaked in a plastic resin. Squeezing them together in a heated press permanently bonds the layers into a hard, durable plastic.

DURABLE. These sheets of plastic laminate provide an easy

B. Slick. This cutoff table rides on pieces of plastic laminate, so it slides smoothly without binding.

way to cover a large area with a tough, durable work surface. This makes it ideal for the top of a router table or any project where you need a wear-resistant surface, see photo 'A.'

To apply plastic laminate, you simply glue it to a subsurface. (I use contact cement.) Then trim the edges flush with a router and a flush-trim bit. Note: For smaller pieces of laminate, you can use yellow glue to apply it to the subsurface.

SLICK. Another thing I like about plastic laminate is it creates a smooth, slick surface. When you push a workpiece across a surface covered with laminate, it glides smoothly and easily. And applying laminate to parts that slide against each other reduces friction considerably, see photo 'B.'

heat bonds the layers together. This makes phenolic an extremely hard, durable material. (That's why we used it to make the fingers on the Dovetail Jig shown on page 16.)

Depending on the number of layers, this process produces different thicknesses of phenolic,

D. Holds Threads. Because it's so hard, phenolic holds threads well as in this painted crank.

see margin. (It ranges in thickness from V8" to V2".)

RIGIDITY. The thicker pieces of phenolic are incredibly rigid. I use a ³/8"-thick phenolic plate for the insert on my router table, see photo 'C.' This way, I don't have to worry about the insert sagging from the weight of a heavy router.

HOLDS THREADS. Another advantage of phenolic is it holds threads better than some of the softer plastics. So accessories made of phenolic can be securely fastened to tools or jigs, see photo 'D.'

COST. The only drawback to phenolic is it's a bit expensive. I paid $22 for a ³/s"-thick piece that's about 10" x 12" in size. (See margin for sources of phenolic.)

A. Durability. Plastic laminate creates a tough, durable surface on the platen of this edge sander.

Phenolic

A Phenolic is available in several different thicknesses from the following mailorder sources:

• McFeely's 800-443-7937

• Woodhaven 800-344-6657

• Woodsmith 800-835-5084

A close "cousin" to plastic laminate is a plastic called phenolic. As with laminate, it's made from a number of layers of material soaked in resin. Here again, applying pressure and

C. Rigid. Phenolic is quite rigid, so this insert plate won't sag when you mount a router to it.

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ShopNotes

No. 43