Project Information
This is the newest addition to my collection of jigs. I seen a few videos and looked at tons of designs and came up with this. I wanted something that is adjustable so no matter what size I set my dado blade I can set the jig to accommodate it.
The key (what I call the piece that fits into the dado cut to align the next cut) was made out of an old small square my employer was going to throw away (the handle broke… making it not a square anymore…lol). I cut, ground, filed, drilled, and cursed both pieces until I got it where I wanted it. The inside (closest to the blade) part of the key is adjustable to match the thickness of the dado cut. You can see in picture #4 the adjustment for it.
I used a small section of T-Track I picked up on sale from Rockler to make the right side of the base movable then tighten down when the desired distance from the blade is achieved. What I found works is I measure the cut of the dado. I then multiply by two, then measure from the edge of the inside key to the edge of my cut line on the left base. Seems to work pretty good so far.
I used hard board on the face of the fence to make it easier to replace the middle section when it gets wore out. You can see on the first pic how the fence has 3 pieces on the fence. Two are there to stay… The middle is replaceable.
I did have to make a few changes… First I used my miter slide that came with my table saw as I have seen on many other similar jigs. It didn't work out to well for me. It tend to move around making it hard to make perfect cuts. So I made a miter slide out of red oak scraps I had around the shop and that fixed that. No movement at all in the jig now.
The only other thing I think I will do is figure out a way to make the left side of the base easier to adjust. It isn't hard now, but I have to bump and tap it to get minute movement. I have something in mind, but ran out of time to give it a try… Maybe later….lol
Thanks for checking out my jig.
The key (what I call the piece that fits into the dado cut to align the next cut) was made out of an old small square my employer was going to throw away (the handle broke… making it not a square anymore…lol). I cut, ground, filed, drilled, and cursed both pieces until I got it where I wanted it. The inside (closest to the blade) part of the key is adjustable to match the thickness of the dado cut. You can see in picture #4 the adjustment for it.
I used a small section of T-Track I picked up on sale from Rockler to make the right side of the base movable then tighten down when the desired distance from the blade is achieved. What I found works is I measure the cut of the dado. I then multiply by two, then measure from the edge of the inside key to the edge of my cut line on the left base. Seems to work pretty good so far.
I used hard board on the face of the fence to make it easier to replace the middle section when it gets wore out. You can see on the first pic how the fence has 3 pieces on the fence. Two are there to stay… The middle is replaceable.
I did have to make a few changes… First I used my miter slide that came with my table saw as I have seen on many other similar jigs. It didn't work out to well for me. It tend to move around making it hard to make perfect cuts. So I made a miter slide out of red oak scraps I had around the shop and that fixed that. No movement at all in the jig now.
The only other thing I think I will do is figure out a way to make the left side of the base easier to adjust. It isn't hard now, but I have to bump and tap it to get minute movement. I have something in mind, but ran out of time to give it a try… Maybe later….lol
Thanks for checking out my jig.