Woodworker's Journal 2006-30-Winter, страница 8

A Jig for All Reasons

By Chris Marshall

When it comes to improving safety and accuracy, making tasks repeatable or expanding tool versatility, nothing beats a good jig.

To a non-woodworker, a bin of scraps or coffee can full of odd hardware is probably fodder for next week's trash. But these sorts of tidbits are like gold nuggets to a woodworker— they're the stuff jigs are made of. While it's true that our woodworking machines are chock-full of helpful features, they only take us so far. Once you move beyond basic machine operations, jigs are virtually indispensable. Most projects involve at least one unusual or "advanced" operation that requires a bit of modified technique or machine use. When these instances come up, it's time to reach for a good jig.

Improving Accuracy and Repeatability

If you're just starting out as a woodworker, welcome to the world of jigs—you'll probably cobble together as

Repetitive tasks, like drilling shelf pin holes, are faster and easier to carry out with a jig than by measuring and marking each hole. Plus, the jig all but eliminates measurement errors.

Ten minutes of set-up time and two sticks of scrap can turn your table saw and standard blade into an effective shaper for making cove molding. Here's a job that's impossible to do on a router table.

many jigs as you do projects (maybe even more!). That's because jigs serve numerous purposes. For one, jigs improve tool accuracy. Try cutting a circle freehand with a router, and you'll learn quickly that without a jig to guide the tool, you won't have a fighting chance. Mount the router to a long piece of scrap, use a

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