Woodworker's Journal 2006-30-Winter, страница 12

Improving Safety

Finally, jigs can make woodworking safer. Shop-made featherboards and push sticks—really just simple jigs—help keep all ten fingers where they belong...on your hands. A crosscut sled takes the balancing act out of zipping a long piece of lumber in two. Tenoning jigs make it safe to turn the end of a workpiece into a tenon without the wood tipping willy-nilly as its bottom disappears into sawdust. Jigs help keep workpieces firmly planted, bits and blades covered and our hands and arms out of harm's way. Whenever an operation gives you the even the slightest concern about safety think twice about its execution. If there's a way to make the task safer, it will usually involve a jig.

What Makes a Good Jig?

Ultimately, a jig only works if its form follows its function. Sometimes, a slapdash approach is all it takes to build a serviceable jig...a flat piece of scrap and two clamps just may do the trick. Other times, youU need to be more intentional and build your jig from a few parts or make it sturdy enough so it can be used over and over again. And then there are those "cadillac" jigs, like the variety shown on this page, that truly become projects in their own right. You know the ones...complete with special hardware, moving parts and micro-adjustability. A jig with all the bells and whistles could be a mainstay in your shop for years. We try our best in the pages of Woodworker's Journal to give you a good sampling of all three types of jigs. After all, woodworking just gets better with these valuable shop aids.

A--

ML

• . J /

For exacting operations, such as routing evenly spaced fluting, you may need to build a jig that offers multi-axis cutting control. But the effort you spend designing and building the jig will be its own reward considering the money and time you'll save by improved accuracy.

Rube Goldbeig-inspired? Maybe yes, but this panel-raising sled offers superior control when guiding door panels on-edge and at an angle to a saw blade. It's fully adjustable to suit a range of bevel angles.

What jigs lack in elegance or visual appeal they more than make up for in sheer utility. Hearty every shop machine and woodworicing technique can be improved with the right jig.

Jigs can serve a transfomrational purpose for shop machines. Equipped with a finger joint jig and dado blade, a table saw becomes a precise and efficient joint-making machine.

12

Workshop Projects