Thread: M&T jig

and the final three pics..

Forgive the blurry last one..

i know the wood you see is pretty dinged up, but i wasnt going for fine joinery on the test run... its just structural pine.

i was just stoked that you could hear a little pop when you pul the two pieces apart...

Cheers

Joe

Great job.. looks like a lot of thought and effort went into it. I'm glad it's working for you.. now you get to think of all the mods and finessing you can do to it. Have fun

Instead of rounding the corner with the chisel, maybe some 1/4 circle blocks in the corner. By my calcualtions the corners would have a radius of 1/2 the router base + the width of the bit.

i.e. a 6" base and 1/2" bit = 3 1/2"

So cut your mortise then remove your little blocks and add the round corners in each corner.

Thats true Brian...

Once i get the clamping sorted out i'll have to give it a go. I want to make some 1/4" auxilary fences as well as i also have a 1/4" spiral bit.

I'll let you know how it goes when i get round to it...

Cheers

joe

Good stuff Joe - looking forward to seeing it in person.

Brian, strangely enough the corner blocks don't quite work like that.

Main problem being the transition from fence to block being both smooth and durable.

Takes some fiddling, but it can be done to about 90% without going waaay too far.


How do I know this you may ask?

Because I already made one. Here it is.


I didn't elaborate at the time since I was too busy using the thing, and since I did all the joints it's collected dust.


I'll wrestle it back out again and give it another going over sooner or later, and sort out some of the small bugs it has. I did some double MTs with it, and they were off by a few mm here and there and some other slight hiccuperry.


Joe, I wish I'd made mine as simple as yours first time out.

hey schtoo... I didnt see your on the forums.. It looks like we had the same basic idea.

Your clamping mechanism is something that i might (read will) use as i stil havent sorted that out yet.. the quick grip clamps arent good enough i dont think...

anyway..i shopuld be working rather than looking at these forums so i'll leave it there for now.

see ya

joe

The clamps are just cheap plastic things made to go into a workmate. Drill some 3/4" holes and they poke through. I found I needed at least two to hold things in place with no slippage.

The stops underneath are the real life savers though. Set them up, and everything turns out the same every time, and changing workpieces becomes a 5 second operation rather than a 1 minute chore. Doesn't sound like much, but if you are punching out over 100 joints on a piece, there is plenty of time saved.

Joe, you can get those clamps at Bunnings (I work there ).

I bought some a while back, real useful they are, sitting in drawer somewhere...


Cheers..................Sean

thanks Scooter. I thought i saw them at my local bunnings (hoppers crossing) a while ago, but when i was making the jig i went looking and couldnt see anything.. I might have to go to a different store.

I'm heading to geelong tomorrow so i'll drop by if i have the time.

Cheers

Joe

JOe, would be interested if you find those clamps and how much they are

Brian,

I was in Bunnings Geelong today and no luck unfortunately..

I'f i do find them i'll let you know.

Cheers

Joe

That's great FTJE,

Coulda saved m'self the cost of a Leigh FMT.
With regard to the clamps for holding the tenon at below the cutting face centre, could you use the Lee Valley Hold downs. They really hold well, but are pretty long.

Regards,

Rob

thanks Rob,

i envy you your Leigh FMT thats for sure... though if you want to swap i certainly wont complain (heehee)

as for the clamps, yes, i could use the lee valley (veritas) ones.. but id hazard a guess and say the carba tec bench hold dows would do nicely.. added to that is the fact that they are $80 cheaper...

although.. all of that veritas stuff if is pretty tempting

anyway, one can always dream