# Table saw bow-ties (dutchman keys)



## GregTP (Oct 26, 2015)

After trying my hand at cutting bow ties on the band saw and being disappointed by the lack of precision and the need to clean up the cut I tried my hand at making a jig for the table saw.

The substrate is a piece of oak I had lying around, roughly 20 inches long by 6" wide. Also in the scrap bin, a piece of oak 3/4" wide by 1/2" thick by about 25 inches long. When finished, the assembly was clamped into my cross cut sled.










I started by marking a square line across the width of the oak board about 3 inches from one end which represented the saw kerf, then using a bevel gauge I marked out the angle I wanted for the bow tie. Once the lines were in place I cut the thin oak strips to size and glued and tagged them in with a pin nailer. This jig was set up to cut a 3" bow tie at roughly a 1:8 angle.

Using it was pretty simple but did require a few steps. Insert your stock (cut to final width and thickness, in my case 1.5 inches wide and 3/4" thick), make the first cut, then flip the face over and make the second cut. 


















Then you have to cross cut the piece to final length. I hadnt considered this prior to starting and didnt want to unclamp the jig so I put another strip of the 1/2" oak along the bottom of the jig (flush with the base of my cross cut sled) and used it to make the cross cuts. If I had thought of this before hand I would have made it a bit more stable but it did a great job anyway.









To finish the bow tie I used double sided tape to stick it in place and made the final two cuts. I would point out that I traced the outline of the stock on the jig prior to making any cuts so you have a reference for the final pass. Because the blade enters at the exact corner of the stock, the final cut is missing the blade thickness and cant rest down in the corner like the first three. 









This jig took about 20 minutes to think up and build, and although its no Mathias Wendell creation, it got the job done just fine without any clean up afterward.


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## conifur (Apr 1, 2015)

Like you tag, on my Shop Smith forum it most likely get you band.
Great job on the bow tie jig. What do you use/do to cut the mating piece?


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## GregTP (Oct 26, 2015)

Haha, thanks. I haven't gotten any grief about it yet.

I used a 1/4" straight bit in my router to hog out most of the waste then went up to the line with a chisel. I drilled one 1/2 entry hole with a forstner bit to get the router started rather than plunging it and risk a slip. I used a marking knife to trace the outline which was nice so the chisel edge has something to actually register in rather than just eyeballing the line. I also used some double sided tape to stick the butterfly to the table while i was marking so it didnt shift.

I also took a red sharpie and marked about an 1/8th of an inch all the way around the inside of the marked line to make it easier to see when I was routing.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

That TS technique gives me the chills. Be careful.


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## GregTP (Oct 26, 2015)

Pintodeluxe, your instincts are pretty good. the first few passes I was a little nervous about it but it proved to be pretty easy. I did use clamps to hold the stock in place before the cross cut and the tape help better than expected for the final cuts.

the only real nerve wracking part was when the waste popped out after the final cuts. I suppose it could get trapped between the stock and the blade but all 8 of the pieces just popped out and landed safely a few inches away from the blade.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Your signature is offensive to me and I'm sure others.
I think you'll get blocked by some people so if you're planning to stick around you probably ought to change it.


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## GregTP (Oct 26, 2015)

There you go


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