# Long but narrow taper



## mds4752 (Sep 20, 2013)

If you needed to put a 1/4" taper on a narrow but long board (2 1/2" x 36") and your only power tool choices were your Dewalt contractors portable table saw or your router, which tool would you pick? And what kind of jig would you use?

It comes out to a 1/8" taper along each side a board that's 36" long-which seems pretty thin to me.

I've also considered getting a spokeshave or tuning up a hand plane and try that too. Maybe strike the lines and just using a hand plane is the way to go???

Any advice is appreciated!


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## vikingcape (Jan 3, 2013)

You could affix that piece to a piece of similar length plywood, screw two pieces of scrap that hold the line of the taper that you want cut (one on the side of the piece, one on the end), and run that along the fence of your table saw. It should do the trick. Check out Jordsworkshop podcast on youtube, he shows how to do it. Better than I can explain it. Or look up plans for a tapering jig, it's a useful tool to have around


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

You could hand plane it faster than you could build a jig to do it on a table saw.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Easy job with a jointer.


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## mds4752 (Sep 20, 2013)

Thanks for the rec's everyone.

crank48, if I had a jointer, that would have been my first choice!!

I guess I should have mentioned the number of boards I need to do also. There are only 7 boards, so I need to taper just 14 edges. So, a hand plane might be best. My only issue is that I've only got 2-1 is a small old Stanley #220 (block plane) and the other is an old wooden coffin style. I just bought them both and am still getting them sharpened / tuned up. The coffin one cuts pretty good and I think I'll give it a shot.

Kaleb the Swede-I'll check out that website and see what the jig looks like. I've got an idea in mind of what it is, but I'm anxious to seeit.

Thanks again all-I really enjoy this site!


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

If you have a bunch of old "Shop Notes" magazines, there was an article in there about 18 months ago, give or take a few months, about making a shop built jointer from a router. It was a super article, but maybe more work than justified by this one project. On the other hand, if you make boxes or cutting boards or often need to joint something less than 2" wide, this is one way to go.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

Clamp on a straight edge and use a pattern router bit.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

You can also make a taper jig…. or buy one. Sears sells
one that's not expensive.

A simple pair of fixed taper jigs can be made from two 
straight boards of consistent width. Attach a 1/8" 
spacer to the end of one and a 1/4" spacer to the
second. Then attach a stop for the board and cut the
tapers on the table saw. If you want you can screw
the jig to a piece of ply underneath and tape your
workpiece to it. In this can each side of the 
board can serve as a jig, with a 1/8" spacer on one
side and the 1/4" spacer on the other. The base
of the jig (say 1/4" hardboard) runs against the fence.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I cut a taper similar to that a few days ago. I needed a filler strip that was 1/4 inch on the thick end and tapered to nothing over the 31 inch length. I used a piece of plywood about 6 inches wide and screwed my piece of poplar to it on each end (away from the blade). I measured carefully, then set my table saw fence so the sled would ride against it. It worked great. The result was a slender, tapered piece of wood that fit my opening perfectly.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)




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## toddl1962 (Feb 12, 2013)

Hmmm. I would use my hand router, bottom bearing bit and position each side of the board along a straight edge on my bench and route the waste off. I have a piece of heavy duty angle aluminum mounted to the edge of my workbench specifically for straightening edges with my router. For my setup this would be the quickest way. This is assuming the wood is not real thick (at least not thicker than the router bit would handle).


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

I'd clamp a board to it and run the router down the board. If you can screw a board to it, you could set the taper on the extra board screwed to it and gun it down the fence of the table saw!


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## mds4752 (Sep 20, 2013)

Thanks for all the great suggestions everybody.

I ended up using the hand plane because:
1) I only had a limited # of boards to taper (7; total of 14 edges)
2) The wood was very manageable - 4/4 cypress, so very soft and thin
3) It's a piece of outdoor furniture so high level of precision wasn't a requirement
4) I was looking for an excuse to sharpen up my hand planing skills

I used my Stanley #220 and that thing was awesome. With only needing to shave a strip from 0" - 1/8", it wasn't a real problem-even for a novice like me. In fact, I enjoyed using it so much I went out to ebay and bid on some additional Stanleys (#4, #5, #7).

Thanks again for all the input: I really appreciate it. And I will definitely find the need for another taper somewhere down the road where a hand plane won't be the quickest / easiest.


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