Taper jig

[mshel]

Saw a posting on making a taper jig so I thought I would scribble up a pic of what I use. Nothing fancy but it works. Actually I have a couple of types I use but this is what I used on my auction table legs. The basic taper jig is just a piece of 1/2" ply with a hardwood "spring" to hold the stock while cutting. In the pic, the dark color shows the cut line and the light color shows the cutoff. Depending on how many sides you are tapering, you may have to put a spacer between the leg and the jig at the front (end away from you) equal to the amount you took off in the previous pass). Sounds kinda complicated but it really isn't. The "spring" piece is split so it will flex and hold the leg tight. I put in one screw and then put the leg in place while I pushed the "spring" towards the leg then put in the other screw. This creates a "press fit" that is sufficient to hold the piece through the cut. This could be said to be a single use sled but with a little modification, it could be used again and and again.

MIke

 

[nelsone]

Looks like a good plan! I was looking through some of my Dad's FWW mags from the early 90's and they had something similar in one of them.

 

[cpowell]

Mike, let's see if I've got this right. If you were using that jig for a nightstand/table and wanted only the inside edges tapered then would you make a single shim to be placed at the top, lock the leg in place with the spring, make the cut, rotate 90 degrees, reinstall same shim, then make the final cut? Then repeat for other 3 legs?

That jig actually looks more efficient to use than the hinged aluminum jig I bought many years ago. Clamping to my aluminum jig is a PITA and shims must still be used depending on stock thickness and taper angle.

Chuck

 

[PeteM]

This one is basically the same idea but adds clamps:

 

[Joe Scharle]

I mentioned this Universal Table Saw Jig in the other thread but since some folks aren't familiar with it, I'll add these pix:

Mark a line for the taper


Set the line to the edge of the jig


Make the cut. The fence is still
set for the other legs, etc


Finished taper

 

[Henry W]

Re: Taper jig - Clamps on blocks on hardboard

The picture Pete posted above is basically what I use; it's nothing more than the same clamps mounted on blocks which I position as needed for stops for multiple pieces.

The base is 1/8" hardboard. It was available and I needed to maintain as much cutting depth as possible when I made a bench with tapered legs, 3" square. The base is maybe 6 or 7 inches wide and 36-40" long. The edge of the sled defines the cut position. This accomodates a wide range of material sizes, up to maybe 4 or 5" wide material. It ain't pretty, but works very well.

Two aspects I like:
- the material is firmly clamped to the base of the tapering sled,
- I can just slide the sled along the fence like a normal rip and get a reproducible taper.

Henry

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

I built a taper jig similar to the drawing PeteM posted above with the DeStaCo toggle clamps. I don't like it. I had to build a thick/high fence to mount the clamps so they could handle larger sized legs, and the toggles are a pain to adjust to the right size. The next one will be similar to the one Bladeburner posted, but with a little longer reach homemade rocker clamps and less T-track. I would also like to use quick release nuts on the rocker clamps to make it easier to adjust. They don't need to exert a lot of force.

Also, I use 3/8 X 3/4 cold rolled steel for the runners on all my jigs. It is much cheaper than the fancy runners that WW stores sell and more durable than hardwood. You may have to buy it in a 20' length but that will be enough for plenty of jigs. When I bought mine, the cost of 20' of cold rolled steel was about the same as 18" of typical runner you get at a WW store.

 

[Joe Scharle]

Alan, I use longer (6") bolts on the clamps for thicker stuff, and a fence extension for longer stuff. Are you using solid steel or tubular for runners?

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Alan, I use longer (6") bolts on the clamps for thicker stuff, and a fence extension for longer stuff. Are you using solid steel or tubular for runners?

Solid (cold rolled) steel.