Dowel jig has perfect cuts pegged

I needed a number of same-length dowelsfor a recent project. To keep my handsaway from the tablesaw blade while cuttingthese, I made a dowel-cutting sled thatallows me to make multiple cuts ofidentical lengths safely and accurately.

First, I cut a 1/4" slot 1/4" deep across thesled that safely holds dowels from 1/4" to7/18" in diameter. Next, I attached a 1x2clamping fence to the sled as shown, andclamped it to my miter gauge so that thedistance between the right-hand edge ofthe sled and the saw blade equaled thelength of the dowel I wanted.

To make multiple dowels, I slide thedowel stock so that it's flush with the edgeof the jig, make the cut, and then back thesled out of the blade. Sliding the dowelstock to the end of the sled again safelyejects the cut-off dowel and readies thenext cut. You can cut additional kerfs in thesled, if you like, for different lengths ofdowels as needed.

— David Ramsey, Cleveland, Tenn.