"Sliding table" jig (picture heavy)

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Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
In a recent thread, Mike (Patlaw) asked that I post some pictures of a table saw jig I use to establish a straight edge on rough or bowed lumber. So, I decided to start a new thread.

This is a jig I made about 8-10 years ago and that has seen a lot of use. It is made of mostly readily on-hand materials and and only takes a moderate level of skill. As you can see, it is a bit crude, and there could be some improvements on it to make it easier to use (ex: t-tracks instead of holes for clamp adjustment, etc), but it works very well for some operations, like putting a straight edge on a saw-mill board, and cutting long or slim tapers like you would use for wedges, or tapered table legs.

The pictures in this post show the different views of the basic jig, as well as pictures of the home-made clamps that grab well for varying wood thickness. The holes are somewhat random, and should you build one, should be located based on the length and width of the stock you plan to use as well as the reach of whatever clamps you end up using. The clamps are of a design I saw in some woodworking magazine many years ago of which I do not remember the name. The actual jig design may have come from the same source, but "old-timers" has deleted it from my memory.

I used 3/8" diameter carriage bolts, so the through holes are 3/8", and the head recess is 1" (done with a forstner bit). The clamp knobs came from Klingspor's. I recessed the miter slot bar (mine is oak) in a shallow dado to ensure it remained straight. May not be necessary with a store-bought miter bar. The clamp bodies are made from laminated 3/4" ply. The rounded butt and tongue ends ensure a solid grab regardless of wood thickness. I also showed a rod set-up that I use in my table saw T-slot, so I can use these clamps on more than just the jig to hold feather boards, stop blocks, etc. Not having a welder, I just threaded holes in bar stock and used a jam nut to secure the threaded rod in place.

I hope the pictures are self--explanatory. They are also in my Gallery.

Jigtop.jpg

jigbottom.jpg

Jigadjustholes.jpg

Jigclamp.jpg

Clampvariations.jpg

Ttrackpost2.jpg

bladeset.jpg


I will post some pics of it in use in following posts.

Go
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
Here are some pictures of how it looks loaded and ready to go. They show a saw-mill edged board before and after, a wide board set-up, and a narrower board set for a long taper. On the long taper shots, you may notice I have put an auxiliary piece of wood to level the cut side and the drop side. This prevent a heavy piece of drop from fouling in the blade at the end of the cut. As you can see, this jig can be used with the splitter and guard in place. If using for multiple cuts, or if you would rather pull the jig back to load/unload, you will need to disable the anti-kickback pawls on your splitter if that is your set-up. With the weight of the jig, disabling the pawls is not a major safety issue.

As you can see, with the edge of the jig as the cut-line, you can remove just enough wood to straighten the board without wasting any.

Roughboard.jpg

trueupcut.jpg

trueedge.jpg

thintowin.jpg

Jigbigboard.jpg

Taperdropsetup.jpg

tapersetup.jpg


Hope this inspires someone to make their own, but with improvements or modern accessories.

Go

PS: My apologies for the couple of sideways pictures.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
Just realized that these pictures do not clearly show that the clamp just uses a standard carriage bolt with no modifications for attaching to the jig. The recess in the bottom of the jig is 1/4" deep to allow the head to clear the saw table.

My apologies.
 

Danny Batchelor

Danny
User
That bar stock/threaded rod thingy looks pretty handy. I had to make a couple trips between pics and verbiage before I realized how simple it was. Good idea!
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
For those who are planning to make one, here are a few construction tips:

1. Determine which miter slot you are making it for. Although you can use either one, I recommend you go with the one on the same side as the arbor shoulder for your blade (i.e. left side for left tilt; right side for right tilt). That way, if you change blade widths, it will not change the reference (cut) edge of the jig.

2. When initially positioning your miter slot runner, make the distance greater than from the slot to the blade (overlap the blade).

3. After temporarily attaching the runner, remove everything from the top of the saw table (drop the blade, and remove any splitter or riving knife that is above the table top) and test run the jig across the table top. You may need to tweak the runner to get smooth travel for the entire length of the jig.

4. After permanently installing the runner, and testing it, raise the blade and run the jig through to cut off the excess width. This will give a true cut line and is much easier than trying to measure it and getting it just right.

Go
 
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