85 - Router Table, страница 6

85 - Router Table, страница 6

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!4" LOCK NUT AND WASHER

#8 x 1" rh W00DSCREW

working alone is squaring large face frames and cases. It seems that 1 can never get my tape measure to behave when I need to measure from corner to corner to square things up. So I built the squaring jig you see in the photos at right to make this a simple task.

The jig is easy to build. 1 made the comer block with a 90° notch by first drilling a centered hole in a square piece of plywood. Then you can set up die miter gauge on your table saw and make two 45° cuts in the block. Finally, screw the comer block to a V2" plywood 1 backing block, like you see in the illustration below.

Tire arm is a piece of VV'-thick hardwood. A hole in one end of the arm allows you to secure the comer block to the arm with a lA" hex bolt.

The jig makes it easy to work from the far end of a frame or case. You first slide the

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a. ^ END VIEW

CROSS SECTION

Squaring Jig

One of the difficult tasks of

BACKING BLOCK (3'/2x3'/?. -'/zPly.)

MEASURING ARM

C/2X1 -

CORNER BLOCK (3 x 3</2 - % Ply.)

block over the corner and lock it into position. Then just extend the long measuring arm diagonally across to the opposite comer.

With this jig, you don't need to remember any measurements. Just place a piece of masking tape at the end of tire arm and mark the the comer, like you see in the inset photo above. Then you can quickly

move the jig to check the other diagonal and compare this distance to the mark you just made.

Now, I no longer worry about the size of the case or face frame I'm working with. It's easy to get them squared up. And 1 don't need anyone around to give me a hand.

E. John De Waard Marshall, Michigan

Quick Tips

► Whenever glue needs to be placed into small, hard-to-reach places, Istvan Balogh of Tulsa, OK, slips a drinking straw into the spout of the glue bottle. This extends the reach and lets him apply glue into places too small for his glue bottle to fit. With the simple straw extension, glue can also be quickly dispensed with pinpoint accuracy into even the smallest joint spaces.

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ShopNotes No. 85