Workshop Woodworking Jigs

I use a shop-made splitter that is built into my throat opening insert. It also has the advantage of being a zero-clearance insert, narrow pieces can not fall down between the blade and the opening in the insert. Here is how I made mine.

Recently, I was building the Cottage-style dresser featured in the June 2002 issue of Workbench. To dress-up the drawer fronts, I wanted to use small strips of half-round molding. The trick was trying to position the strips on each false drawer front so that they aligned from one drawer to the next.

A plunge router is great for cutting mortises on the edge of a workpiece. The only trick is getting it centered. Here is a handy auxiliary base that will center the bit automatically, and it works with workpieces of just about any thickness.

One of the trickiest parts about working with crown molding is cutting accurate compound miters. But I found that attaching this slant-front fence to the miter gauge makes it much easier.

The easiest way to achieve 4 perfect mitres is with a simple jig on the table saw. It takes only about 30 minutes to make.

The miter shooting board helps you trim perfect-fitting miters with a hand plane. Here are two hand-plane jigs for gap-free corners.

I like to make my own wing nuts for jigs and other shop projects. But after making a few by hand, I came up with a jig to safely cut them on the table saw, as in the photo ... inches

I am going to go out onto a limb and say we have just come up with the definitive best miter gluing and assembly jigs yet.

I had to round over some small strips for cockbeading to wrap some doors and drawers and remembered this tip that I read somewhere in a magazine. Because I was using the bottom of a multiprofile bit I wanted something to keep my big fat fingers safe.

This page contains plans for the frame-miter table saw sled I use for cutting frame-mitered ring segments. I use sleds for cutting segments because they can quickly cut perfect segments that require almost no sanding.

Cutting large holes or circular recesses usually involves buying large, expensive drill bits. And if you could not find the right size, you were simply out of luck. But with this router circle jig, a plunge router, and a long, 1/2 inches-dia. bit, you will be able to easily rout recesses and holes as small as a half-inch, as large as 4 inches, or anywhere in between.

After cutting a snug-fitting mortise for a butt hinge, you have one more challenge to face. You still have to drill the pilot holes for the screws. It sounds easy, but I often have trouble centering the pilot holes so that the hinge is held squarely in the mortise.

I have been using my hand-held router a lot lately. For one project, I had to rout some stopped dadoes. With this kind of cut, an edge guide is almost a necessity. And although most router manufacturers offer an edge guide as an accessory, it is really no trouble at all to build your own. As you can see in the photo, it is just a replacement base made of hardboard with an adjustable hardwood fence.

Build the circular saw crosscut jig shown on the right with just a few tools using scraps laying around your shop!

Gluing up a frame and panel door so it ends up perfectly square can be tricky. ...To prevent this, I built the simple jig shown in the photo [at this link].

When I decided to build a set of kitchen cabinets, I had to make and assemble about three dozen raised panel doors. Instead of using pipe or bar clamps for this task, I came up with my own clamping jig.

I recently built a large entertainment center that needed several identical slots cut in it for cord and cable access. Cutting them was not difficult. But getting them all identical, with clean edges was another story. To do this, I used a handheld router and a pattern bit guided by a shop-made template.

When setting the rip fence on my table saw, I used to check the distance between the fence and my saw blade with a tape measure. But trying to hold the end of the tape against the rip fence and adjust it at the same time took more coordination than I could muster. So instead, I made a simple set-up gauge.

Use it with your sander to get the perfect results you want in seconds.

Here are plans for the compound miter sled that I use for making 12-sided 50-degree compound-mitered segmented rings.

You do not need a jointer to get a straight, square edge on a board. An L-shaped auxiliary fence makes it easy to joint a board on a table saw (see Photo at this link).

Instead of purchasing a special clamping jig, I use simple shop-made gluing cleats to help assemble mitered frames.They allow me to get a tight joints with just ordinary clamps.

All of the popular woodworking magazines have run articles on building your own. The bottom line is anyone can build a fixed fence crosscut fixture in a few hours or less.

This table saw jig is made for cutting thin strips of wood. I have found that this strip cutter jig does the job more accurately and safely for thin strips than using a push stick or by moving the rip fence after every cut.

In the meantime, one jig that I have repeatedly heard is very useful as an upgrade to table saw owners is a Cutoff Box. I have also heard this referred to as a Sliding Cutoff Table or other variations on those words.

A simple jig for holding shelves for finishing. It allows you to work on both sides at once. DXF Format

Instead of running out and buying additional clamps, I made two helpers right in my shop. Now I can use them anytime I need help squaring up a large project.

The keys to this technique are the overhanging edge of the scarf joint that allows you to clean up the top and bottom surfaces ahead of time...

This is a link to a Google 3D SketchUp drawing for a tablesaw jig. You will need the SketchUp software to download this drawing and its freely available online. We do not provide support for this software. Not all drawings have the measurements displayed but you can use the measurement tool in SketchUp to easily and accurately determine the dimensions of each lumber part. Most drawings do not have instructions, its assumed you can build it based on the completed drawing provided.

Whenever I make picture frames, I like to use a clamping jig to keep the assembled frame flat and square during the gluing stage.