Tapering Jig

[Claus]

I'm looking at http://www.finewoodworking.com/ and they have a short cover video on a simple tapering jig. But I don't understand the purpose of the rail and bracket to clamp it to the fence. (Sorry, you'll have to watch at least the first minute of the video to see what I mean). Am I missing something or can someone explain to me what that part is for? I can't imagine any force that would lift the jig or pull away from the fence while sawing.

Thanks,

-- Claus

 

[bobby g]

I'm looking at http://www.finewoodworking.com/ and they have a short cover video on a simple tapering jig. But I don't understand the purpose of the rail and bracket to clamp it to the fence. (Sorry, you'll have to watch at least the first minute of the video to see what I mean). Am I missing something or can someone explain to me what that part is for? I can't imagine any force that would lift the jig or pull away from the fence while sawing.

Thanks,

-- Claus

It's there to keep the jig in alignment with the fence. Without having to worry about that, one can get very repeatable results safely. My $.02. I like it! Thanks for posting it.

bobby g

 

[smallboat]

Before or after the cut when the jig and work are pulled back, the center of gravity could be off the table and cause it to flip up.
The rail and clamp serve to keep everything flat to the table even when its out of balance.

steve

 

[Henry W]

Both above answers are true - but having used a similar jig without such a feature, I can tell you that alignment with the fence is important. I have not had any incidents, but I do have to concentrate to keep the whole thing aligned. I would add this feature to me tapering jig, but I really should start over with a wider base and create a new one. The FWW version looks about my style..

Henry W

 

[bluedawg76]

the alternative would be to have the taper jig ride in the miter slot so you don't have to worry about the fence. imo, it's an easier setup using the miter slot but as always, there's more than one way to skin a cat!

 

[Mike Davis]

I have jigs that ride the miter slot and I sometimes have difficulty aligning the jig to the blade.

I like this solution and will use it on new jigs I make in the future.

 

[merrill77]

That works a lot like the ShopNotes tapering sled (from issue #33)...except that the ShopNotes sled doesn't require the second adjustment of the fence for cutting 4-sided tapers. Instead you mark the centerpoint of the foot and align that with a pin on the rear fence of the sled. I built it many years ago and have used it many times - it works great. The ShopNotes design rides the miter slot. I think I like the use of the fence on the FWW sled better. It has the advantage of allowing you to easily micro-adjust the cut without any accidentally changing the taper angle.

But - I would not want to give up the adjust-ability of the rear pin/fence that the ShopNotes tapering sled has. I also like the hold-down setup on the ShopNotes jig a little better, though for tapering, the FWW jig should do just as well. I use the ShopNotes sled for a number of other operations as well - like edge-jointing short boards and working with small parts. I think I've used it that way more often than I've used it for tapering legs -- very handy little sled!

If I was to build one from scratch today, I'd still build the ShopNotes sled, but I'd move the alignment bar from the bottom of the sled (miter slot) to the edge for use with the fence like the FWW sled.

 

[Joe Scharle]

I had a fence slider long ago, made from a mag plan. I didn't care for it too much as it was fussy to set next to the blade each time I used it. Simply one additional unnecessary setup step. I converted it to a miter slider and haven't looked back. I know of at least one woodworker who failed to lock down the fence properly and tapered his jig as well!

 

[CrealBilly]

I have a fence rider and put it in the top of the shop to collect dust... I personally like the simple miter slot rider I threw together which looks a lot like Chris's pictured here. Line up the marks on each end of the wood you want to taper - twist a couple of nuts down tight and push through the blade - freaking fool proof even for a guy like me...

 

[Jeff]

I've never made a tapering jig, but I really like the design features of this one. Safe, easily adjusted, and it appears highly accurate and repeatable. May have to make one just for the fun of it and give it a try.

The video is a good introduction and the .PDF companion article by Steve Latta clearly elaborates the design subtleties to ensure that the jig rides smoothly and true without slop/wiggle. :icon_cheers No danger of it tipping before or after the cut so no fancy footwork or handwork needed.