A table saw is one of most versatile tools in the workshop. The power of a table saw becomes apparent when it is paired with a correct jig. If a person do not use a jig when cutting wood, they are limited to making straight cut.
If a person attempts to make freehand cut with a table saw, there is a risk of ruining valuable stock of wood or creating an accident. If a person uses a well-designed jig to perform the same task over and over, the jig will place the person’s hand at a safe distance from the spinning blade. Over time, a person can create their collection of jigs so that projects that were once daunting become routine task that a person can complete without fear.
The greatest benefit of these jigs is that a person can create most of them in a single afternoon using scrap wood that they already own. The jigs dont need to be complicated or expensive to provide the benefits mentioned above. All that is necessary is for a person to understand the jig that will solve their particular problem.
The following list contains the different types of jigs that woodworkers use, ranging from the most common to the more specialized tools. Crosscut sleds are the first type of jig that a person should build. This jig will remain on a table saw for the majority of a saw’s life.
Essential Table Saw Jigs For Every Woodworker
1. Crosscut Sleds
To create a crosscut sled, a person simply makes a flat base for the jig that will sit within the miter slot of the saw. The sled will have a fence on one end of the sled and a sacrificial slot that is cut into the base of the sled. By securing a workpiece to the sled and fence, a person can make smooth cut in the wood.
Furthermore, a crosscut sled allows a person to cut small piece of wood without having to balance them on the saw. This prevents injuries cause by kickbacks from the saw. Once a person has built a crosscut sled, they will likely find that the factory gauge that comes with the saw is less reliable.
2. Tapering Jig
The tapering jig is helpful for task that require angled cuts in the workpiece. The simplest form of this jig is a hinged board with an adjustable stop. The workpiece rests on the saw’s fence and is against the angled board.
A person can adjust the angle to the desired measurement with a miter gauge and then lock it in place. The tapering jig makes it easy for a person to make identical angled cut throughout the day. Although a person could use a hand plane to make these angled cuts, it would be more exhausting then using a tapering jig.
Furthermore, a plane is less precise than a jig. Using the tapering jig will keep a person’s hand away from the spinning saw blade. Sleds for cutting box joint or finger joint use the precision of a crosscut sled.
3. Finger Joint Sled
To create one of these jigs, a person makes a notch on one piece of wood and then makes a slot on another piece of wood. A person then places the notched piece into the slot so that it can be secured in place to make the cut. The cut will feature a joint that interlocks with the other piece of wood.
These types of joint can be made with the same ease as a hand cut, but a person does not have to cut the wood to make the joint. A finger joint sled is a jig that will make a person feel efficient once built, and it is simple enough for a beginner to build in a weekend.
4. Tenoning Jig
The tenoning jig is a tall sled that hold a board in an upright position.
A commercial tenoning jig features clamp to hold the workpiece in place between the two steel faces of the jig. A person can also build a tenoning jig out of two large boards of plywood. When cutting tenons for cabinet leg or other project part, a person must ensure that the workpiece does not wobble during the cut.
Any wobble will render the tenon unable to fit into the mortise that is being cut for it. A well-built tenoning jig will secure the workpiece in place and show the end grain of the wood to the saw blade to ensure the tenons have flat edge. A dado jig is a tool that makes it easier and safer to cut wide groove.
5. Dado Jig
The dado jig features an auxiliary fence that is clamped to the rip fence of the saw. A sacrificial face is cut into the dado jig. A dado jig allows a person to set the desired width of the groove that will be cut.
Then, the workpiece will be against the sacrificial face of the dado jig. This jig will create a crisp cut in the workpiece because the sacrificial face prevents the workpiece from being ripped out of the saw. Furthermore, the fence will not move during the cut.
6. Featherboards
Featherboards are a tool that is much simpler than the other jigs described above. In fact, it is so simple that some may not even consider it to be a jig. Featherboards are a piece of wood featuring angled finger.
These fingers will press against the workpiece and allow it to be held against the fence or pressed against the table. The fingers of the featherboard will flex in one direction but will not flex in the opposite direction. This prevents the workpiece from being ripped out of the saw.
Furthermore, a person can make their featherboards out of hardwood. The alternative is to buy plastic featherboard. When a person places a featherboard in front of the saw and another behind the fence, they will notice a difference in the quality of the cut.
7. Box Joint and Dovetail Jigs
The box joint jig and the dovetail jig are similar tool. They share most of the same components but feature a different indexing geometry. The dovetail jig features angled template on the saw that will allow the cut pieces of wood to feature a 1-to-7 or 1-to-8 slope.
Although it will take more time to set up the dovetail jig than a basic box joint jig, the benefit of the dovetail jig will be worth it for the structural strength of the joint and the classic look of the joint. A trick that is often missed when building a dovetail jig is to first cut all of the tail on one piece of wood. Then, use those tail to cut the pin on the other piece of wood.
Once a person becomes familiar with this process, it becomes second nature to build dovetail joint. A spline-cutting jig will allow a person to build more design possibility. This jig makes it easy to cut a narrow slot into one of the mitered frame of a saw.
8. Spline Cutting Jig
After the slot is cut into the miter, a person can glue a thin spline of another type of wood into that slot. The spline-cutting jig will ensure that the slot is cut in such a way that the splines will line up evenly around the frame. Not only will the addition of the spline add strength to the frame, but it can also add additional design element to a project to make it a showpiece.
9. Raised Panel Jig
A raised-panel jig allows a person to cut raised panel of wood that are either straight or arched. This jig features an auxiliary fence that is tall enough and features a profiled cutter opening. This raised-panel jig will hold the raised panel of wood vertical and even with the saw table.
With multiple pass with the saw, a person can cut the raised panel to perfect specification. A raised-panel jig will allow the saw to make crisp bevel in the raised panel that will meet the rest of the field of the project at a clean inside corner. These raised panels are one of the reason that the door on traditional wooden cabinets are high quality.
This jig is a more specialized jig than the others on this list. Yet once a person has cut several set of raised panels of wood with this jig, they will never use flat piece of plywood for cabinet doors again. Beyond the benefits that each of these jigs will provide a woodworker, there are additional benefit to the process of building these jigs.
A person that builds these jigs will eventually train themselves to think like a woodworker toolmaker. Furthermore, by building these jigs, a person will become aware of any potential problem with the workpiece before it is cut. Each of these jig begin as a solution to a specific problem within the woodworking world.
Yet each of them will, over time, become a part of the person’s workflow. The first time a person successfully use a jig to make a difficult cut in their workpiece, the satisfaction that they feel will be the same as if they were a machinist using an appropriately designed jig. A person should start their jig collection with a crosscut sled.
After building a crosscut sled, the types of project that they will undertake on their workbench will dictate the type of jig that they should build next. Over time, a person will have their collection of shop-made jig. These shop-made jigs will make a table saw work well for their project and keep their fingers safe from the saw.
While the saw will continue to spin with the saw chain, a person will be in complete control of the table saw.
