Jigs from scrap - crosscut sled, spline, taper, clamp rack

These are a few jigs I made from scrap. Nothing special. Just thought I’d add to the store of information here.

The spline jig is very simple and pretty much self-explanatory. Just runs alongside the fence.

As much effort as I put into getting the cross-cut sled fence perfectly square when gluing it up, it was slightly off. So I use a few pieces of blue tape at appropriate locations to get it perfectly square.

The clamp rack is made from mdf scraps. Not the strongest, but after a couple years it still isn’t going anywhere. I have precious little wall space in my shop, and this takes up almost no space and stores all my clamps – about 18 – with room for more. French cleat holds it in place.

The taper jig is very simple and extremely precise. The runner screwed to the bottom of the plywood is intentionally cut narrower than the miter slot on the table saw by about 1/16”. Glue and screw to a sheet of plywood. Trim the plywood on the cut side by applying pressure towards the blade. Lay out on the piece to receive the taper where the cuts are to be made, and position on the piece on the sled so the cut marks line up with the edge of the sled. Add support blocks to hold the piece in place (these can be repositioned for other projects. Make the cut applying pressure to the right towards the blade, and and apply pressure to the left after the cut when pulling the piece to keep the sled away from the blade. The narrow runner allows you to pull back without contacting the blade. Here’s the Fine Woodworking video I followed in making this jig, if my explanation is unclear. http://www.finewoodworking.com/Workshop/WorkshopArticle.aspx?id=27102.