DIY - Small Segment Jig

Really good! I'll have to make one of those, nice and simple!

John

Thanks, John. I haven't seen one quite like it on the web, but I was certainly impressed when the first 12 wedges went together. Total cost was: $3.60 for a clamp (on hand) and some scraps. (And a few days of mulling it over in the back of my mind...)

If you cut too far on one boss or the other when aligning the mitre, it may be shimmed back up with HD fabric or vinyl tape. This would be done so that the top mounting screw registers properly - the clearances on my holes are pretty tight.

FWIW,

Greg G.

Couldn't you have made the screw hole a slot in the angle piece? Then it wouldn't matter so much if you took off too much plus it would likely be easier to make up other angle jigs that fit the sled too. (Unless I don't quite understand the way the parts of the jig work together.)

Outstanding, simple idea, Greg - KISS is always the best policy, right enough. My late Dad used to say an hour making a jig is never wasted. I can never understand workshops that don't even have a crosscut box. Thanks for the pictures - one picture worth 1000 words and all that...

I had something similar of my own (probably still have if I can find it - that kind of workshop) - made for my router table rather than the saw. But rather than two 'feet' to align it with, I put in a couple of brass woodscrews - half a turn either way trimmed up the angle. Kept meaning to replace the woodscrews with threaded inserts, but of course never ever got around to it.

On the topic of jigs, can anyone point me towards plans for shop-made hold-down toggle clamps - wooden ones would do? I've made and used various screw-down devices, with wing-nuts, etc, but toggle clamps are just that much more convenient for jigs. Larger ones are expensive enough here in the UK to have me moving them from one jig to another - bit of a nuisance.

John

Greg,

I can't get the links to come up with anything. What am I doing wrong?

TomNie

You're top-posting, Tom. But seriously, I don't know what you could be doing wrong. You appear to be using Outhouse/IE, so it _should_ work fine. Could have been the phase of the moon. These are links to .JPG photos, not web pages - perhaps something in your browser configuration has gone awry?

I you still can't see them, and want to, I could post them to a.b.p.w.

FWIW,

Greg G.

Yes, Owen, but it's not in my nature to do such things... A slot implies an imperfection that must be compensated for. Once it's aligned, it never gets moved again. I'm not B&D.

(I drill the hole AFTER aligning the angle to within a degree. And I used the original as a drill template for subsequent plates.)

See later post for an additional jig example.

FWIW,

Greg G.

I hope it's of some use to someone out there...

As mentioned in the post, I considered using a setscrew for fine-tuning, but it just wasn't worth the effort. I also considered putting a wire strap hooked to the saw fence to eliminate the possibility of chopping completely through the jig fence, but, again, it wasn't worth the effort. You just have to remember NOT to shove it completely through the saw.

That is one thing that struck me about the jigs I had seen on the Internet - they all used narrow.stock for the jig 'fence' - and after it gets chopped through a few time with a saw blade, they are weakened and would be subject to flexing.

Can't really help you there, but the metal hold-down clamps I used on this were only $4 US each. Got them at Highland Hardware.

Greg G.

Thanks Greg for posting your sled/jig. The two "feet" for adjusting the angle is really quite clever - and simple - is this technique your own or have you seen it with other jigs?

And this one is for 18 segment rings - or 10 degrees. Took about a half-hour to build - again, made from scrap.

This is the assembled jig, ready for work:

Greg G.

Thanks! I hope this idea helps someone else out there...

I've not seen it before, and was the result of pondering different ways to keep the supports as far apart as possible (for stability.)

I had a regular-old-regular 1"x4" fence type jig on the old saw, but never really liked it - the fence was too flexible and easy to chop in half if you weren't paying close attention. (Yeah, I know - don't use a saw if you're not paying attention...) I got that idea from Kevin Neelley's web site. His comment was that he raised the blade height to max to avoid cutting the fence as deeply - not the best solution in my paranoid mind. With this solution, you only have to clear the gullets of the blade. I haven't done testing to determine which style results in a cleaner cut, however.

The fence would also distort very slightly with changes in humidity. Hopefully, this 'slab' fence will eliminate that problem. I'm starting to think I should have made it taller, however. I guess I could laminate another layer on the edge for better support of tall items... we'll see...

Personally, I like this idea better - so far.

Greg G.

Over here, they each seem to cost the equivalent of about $10-$12 your money. Fair enough if you only want one or two, but if you want a couple for every new jig it's a dent in a small fixed pension.

Looks as though I might have to take one to pieces and try to replicate it.

Thanks again for the jig - sometimes all we need to brighten the week is a new idea. SWMBO reckons I make more jigs and tools than anything else - looking around the workshop, she may be right... I even been known to use some of them .

John

Greg,

Now that I've I'm thought of as dumb I might as well prove the theory.

What's "top-posting"?

And I've tried

TomNie

Sorry, I'm just a tease - figured the 'Highland' part might mess with your head a little... It's just down the road a bit from me.

I, too, made the mistake of manufacturing far more jigs for the last saw than I actually USED. Huge upright door panel insert cutting sleds, four widths of box joints, mitre spline jigs, etc.

About all I use are the crosscut box, these things, and the 1/2" and

Greg G.

Tom, I'm sure you'll get _plenty_ of response on this - don your Nomex flame suit - quickly...

But top posting is the habit of placing your response above the previous text. Usenet convention and Netiquette maintains that this is improper for numerous reasons - regardless of Gate's and Company's desire to FUBAR Usenet with Outhouse Express.

Most of these threads end up archived, and it makes it easier to read a thread if the response follows the quoted text, or is interspersed within - with proper quote delimiters. Like this...

Aw, shoot, guys. He figured it out. Snipe hunt's over.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus... I mean a web site. I run my own servers, and it is, in fact, a valid site. Are you using XP perchance? The evilest software bloat to ever appear on the market...

Check your settings in the XP firewall feature or your hardware router settings. Or go to a Command Prompt and ping my domain. This should give you some idea if your machine is FUBAR'd. There is a slim possibility that your ISP blocks it, but I doubt it. If I knew your IP address and browser type, I could check my server logs to see if anything is wrong at this end.

Hmm. let's see. You're on Charter, and you appear to be in Georgia or North Florida. I can't any reason see why there would be a problem.

If you have access to an anonymizer, try browsing to the site from there instead.

Shoot, I'll just post the pictures to your attention in: alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking

FWIW,

Greg G.

Hello Greg,

Very nice design. I would like to share it with my More Woodturning readers. May I have permission to publish you text and photos in More Woodturning? You may respond to the following e-mail address: . I'm working on the January issue now and would like to include your story in that issue.

Thank you in advance for granting permission.

Fred Holder

Sweet. I notice though that the way you have the stop positioned that the cut off segment is trapped between it and the sawblade. Do you stop the saw each cut, before backing the jig up? I'd think the segment would have a tendency to get caught by the teeth of the saw blade and flung around or get chewed up.

Have you tried it the other way?

...Kevin

Hi, Kevin,

The cut segment is retained by the hold-down clamp. Without it, what you envision would most certainly occur.

I've not had a problem, and there is little way to accomplish the task otherwise. It is critical that the stop block be where it is, so that each piece is _exactly_ the same dimension, with no readjusting of the stop block required for each individual segment ring.

I only cut far enough to sever the segment, and the sled is fully retracted without turning off the saw. I remove the wedge, and proceed to cut another segment. One start of the saw is all I need to cut the entire ring. Of course, you must keep your hands well clear of the blade, which is _not_ exposed within the sled platform when fully retracted. The sled must fit the mitre slots snuggly, so that no movement of the sled occurs.

FWIW,

Greg G.