Tapering Jig Part III - Complete

Tapering Jig Complete

Since my last entry, I spray painted the base of the jig flat black to improve the overall appearance, installed the aluminum t-tracks, and fabricated a pair of wooden hold-downs from some scrap maple I had in the shop. The only difficulty I encountered resulted from the fact that my newly purchased length of t-track was 1/8" thinner than the scraps I had on hand. I had cut the dadoes to fit the old track and needed to shim up the new track with strips of 1/8" masonite. It was a pretty minor setback, all things considered.

The photo at right shows how simple the jig is to use. The only layout required involves drawing the desired line of cut on the work piece. This is aligned with the left hand side of the jig, which rides along the saw blade. The work is then secured with the wooden hold-downs and the cut is made. I equipped the jig with multiple t-tracks to accommodate a wide range of work pieces.

Laying Out

Making the hold-downs began with sketching a suitable profile on small scraps of 1" hard maple. I used the band saw with a 1/8" blade to rough out the pieces, then refined the shapes a bit with a rasp. I left the surfaces mostly rough on the theory that they would grip better that way, and because I didn't have any desire to deal with sanding them at that point. With the shapes cut out, I used a marking gauge to strike a line down the center of each one, darkened the line with pencil, and marked the boundaries of the slot I planned to cut out.

Coping

Drilling

I used a 3/8" Forstner bit in my drill press to drill a hole at each end of the slot. The Forstner bit not only cuts an exceptionally clean hole, but starts without wandering on an angled surface. I used my drill press vise to safely secure the piece while drilling. With the holes drilled, I used a coping saw to remove the waste from the slot. The final image is a closeup of the hold-down in use.

Finished Hold-Down

The first application I have for the jig will be cutting out the template for the side pieces of the Shaker hanging shelf unit I plan to make next. I will be making the templates from 1/2" MDF, so I will not be risking damage to particularly valuable materials on the trial run. I'm anxious to give it a try...