Hi all,
I found a very simple but very effective jig for cutting thin strips on the table saw. The original jig was on BenchNotes.com. I tweaked the design a bit and built it yesterday. With this jig you can safely cut strips as thin as 1/64” and repeat the cut as often as needed. I’m so pleased with this jig I thought I’d put my version of this jig on the site for anyone who might want to build one. Here’s my version of the jig.
And here’s an exploded view of the jig done in SketchUP.
As you can see, this is a very simple jig and it’s very easy to put together. The sizes shown above are quite arbitrary. Only a few dimensions are really important. The size of the miter gage slot on my saw is ¾” wide x 3/8” deep and the dimensions given are for that size slot. If yours is different you’ll have to adjust the dimensions to fit. The only other important dimension is the length of the upper arm – it must at least equal the distance from your left side miter slot to the blade. Here’s some brief directions.
Using the jig
1.Loosen the wingnut and slide the upper arm until it just makes contact with a left-leaning (leaning toward the jig) tooth on your saw blade. Tighten the wingnut. Using the same thin pen, draw a mark on the upper arm directly above the indexing mark you made on the lower arm. Check the accuracy of this mark by loosening the wingnut, moving the upper arm some distance, and then realigning the mark on the upper arm with the index line on the lower arm. The front end of the upper arm should now be just touching that blade tooth.
2.Loosen the wingnut and move the upper arm away from the blade the distance of the strip you want to cut. For example, if you want to cut a ¼” strip of wood, move the upper arm backwards ¼”. Tighten the wingnut securly.
Final pointers
To make my jig more versatile, I added a small ruler onto the upper arm. I drew this ruler in a CAD program and glued it onto the upper arm. Now I don’t need to measure anything. I just line up the width of the strip I want with the index line on the lower arm and cut away. Just make sure the 0 line on the ruler is lined up with the original mark you made on the upper arm. The only disadvantage to this shows itself when you change blades on your table saw. If the kerf on the new blade is not the same size as the kerf on the old blade, your ruler will be off. You can still use the jig but you’ll have to do some trial cuts (which isn’t a bad idea even with the ruler) to get the proper strip width.
Here’s a closup of the ruler glued onto the jig.
That’s it. If you need to cut thin strips this jig will do the job – everytime. Hope somebody out there finds this useful.
Till next time,
Ernie
I found a very simple but very effective jig for cutting thin strips on the table saw. The original jig was on BenchNotes.com. I tweaked the design a bit and built it yesterday. With this jig you can safely cut strips as thin as 1/64” and repeat the cut as often as needed. I’m so pleased with this jig I thought I’d put my version of this jig on the site for anyone who might want to build one. Here’s my version of the jig.
And here’s an exploded view of the jig done in SketchUP.
As you can see, this is a very simple jig and it’s very easy to put together. The sizes shown above are quite arbitrary. Only a few dimensions are really important. The size of the miter gage slot on my saw is ¾” wide x 3/8” deep and the dimensions given are for that size slot. If yours is different you’ll have to adjust the dimensions to fit. The only other important dimension is the length of the upper arm – it must at least equal the distance from your left side miter slot to the blade. Here’s some brief directions.
- Prepare a blank ¾” square by 8” (size the width to fit snugly into your miter slot with no play – it doesn’t have to slide in the slot, just fit into it without beating it to death with a hammer.)
- Prepare a blank ¾” x 1” x 8” for the upper arm.
- On the top surface of the lower arm cut a 1” wide dado as deep as the depth of the miter gage slot in your tablesaw. This dado should be centered (roughly) in the lower arm.
- In the center of the dado drill a 5/16” hole.
- Cut a 1 ½” length of 5/16” threaded rod and epoxy it into the hole. (I had some 5/16” rod in the shop so I used it. ¼” would work just as well.)
- On the upper arm, cut a centered, 5/16” slot from one end. This slot should be about 5 ½” long. I did mine on the bandsaw – a router works just as well. Lightly sand the inside of the slot so that the threaded rod can slide easily through it.
- On the other end of the upper arm, cut a bevel so that only about ¼” of the front edge is full length.
- I added a round, rare earth magnet to the upper surface of the slotted end. When I’m done using the jig, I just hang it on the side of the saw.
- Place the upper arm into the dado in the lower arm and secure with a washer and wingnut.
- Using a fine tip pen, draw a centered index line as shown in the exploded plan above.
Using the jig
1.Loosen the wingnut and slide the upper arm until it just makes contact with a left-leaning (leaning toward the jig) tooth on your saw blade. Tighten the wingnut. Using the same thin pen, draw a mark on the upper arm directly above the indexing mark you made on the lower arm. Check the accuracy of this mark by loosening the wingnut, moving the upper arm some distance, and then realigning the mark on the upper arm with the index line on the lower arm. The front end of the upper arm should now be just touching that blade tooth.
2.Loosen the wingnut and move the upper arm away from the blade the distance of the strip you want to cut. For example, if you want to cut a ¼” strip of wood, move the upper arm backwards ¼”. Tighten the wingnut securly.
- Place your wood stock onto the saw and move the fence and wood until it just touches the front of the jig. Lock the fence in this position.
- Remove the jig from the table saw and cut your strip.
- To cut another identical strip, repeat step 3 above.
Final pointers
To make my jig more versatile, I added a small ruler onto the upper arm. I drew this ruler in a CAD program and glued it onto the upper arm. Now I don’t need to measure anything. I just line up the width of the strip I want with the index line on the lower arm and cut away. Just make sure the 0 line on the ruler is lined up with the original mark you made on the upper arm. The only disadvantage to this shows itself when you change blades on your table saw. If the kerf on the new blade is not the same size as the kerf on the old blade, your ruler will be off. You can still use the jig but you’ll have to do some trial cuts (which isn’t a bad idea even with the ruler) to get the proper strip width.
Here’s a closup of the ruler glued onto the jig.
That’s it. If you need to cut thin strips this jig will do the job – everytime. Hope somebody out there finds this useful.
Till next time,
Ernie
ccasion1 
