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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    Melbourne
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    42
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    126

    Default Milling Jig for a tablesaw - My first jig

    Hi guys,

    This was my first attempt at making a jig, so be nice... I'm sure it's got some flaws!

    I wanted to trim down some old redgum posts I pulled out of my garden using my Makita table saw. I'm lucky enough to have a CNC router at work, albeit a signmakers one, not an industrial one. But it's good enough to cut 18mm ply clean and quick and I can draw up my plan in Adobe Illustrator and machine straight from that.

    Here is the plan, no measurements, but i'm happy to provide the file to anyone that wants it.

    MillJig.png

    The plates at each end are made in two parts, the thicker backing is 18mm ply, the same as the body, the thinner faceplate is 6mm ply which I drilled and countersunk from the back and then screwed in 20mm wood screw to create a grip plate. Then I screwed and glued the grip plate to the backing plates.

    The plate on the left side of the jig is fixed in place, the one on the right floats in a Rockler T-Track to adjust based on the length of the lumber you're working on.

    It will take any shape piece of timber up to a maximum of 450x150x150mm.

    When I cut the redgum in the pics, I did the thickest cut first, I went to just over half way in 5 passes at increasing depths, then flipped the jig over and cut the other way to finish it off. Once that edge was cut through I unlocked the floating end, rolled the log 90º so the flat (freshly cut) edge was sitting against the bottom plate of the jig, clamped it in place again with the floating end. Then made 5 passes to cut this edge right through without flipping the jig.

    The end result is two dressed edges with a clean 90º angle that you can run against the fence/table to do the remaining two edges.

    IMG_2403.jpgIMG_2409.JPGIMG_2404.jpgIMG_2407.JPG

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
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    Default

    Good work - especially for a first jig.

    The 5 passes must be a bit tedious but I guess you don't plan on doing this all that often.

    One minor downside I can see with the design is the object being milled sits on a piece of 18mm thick ply so there is an immediate 18 mm loss of depth in cutting.
    It should be possible to make the jig strong enough by using brackets or similar so that the wood being cut is held down at TS table level.

    Back in 2007 I made up this jig for a TS.
    It slides in the T-track of the table and in theory this can deal with a piece of timber up to 900 long.
    O'd point to the thread but the pics have all gone

    TSresawriga.jpg

    I used it a few times before I made one for my BS - this one is really nice to use.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
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    Default

    Thanks for the feedback!

    The 5 passes was/is pretty painful, I was being overly cautious as the redgum post was very hard, and i'm only using a little Makita MLT100 table saw... I didn't want to work it too hard.

    You're right about the 18mm being lost cutting depth, I could possibly run the T-track on the back plate instead, and then use a thinner material on the top and bottom, maybe just an aluminium composite panel, or 3mm polycarbonate sheet (which I can source from work for free).

    If I had a larger table, and the metal working skils, a jig like yours would be brilliant! I felt I needed to keep mine in a full housing so I could flip the jig (and the clamped log) over to allow me to cut the full thickness of the log from the top and the bottom without having to reposition the log in the jig... My saw is only a 255mm and I needed to cut through 150mm of material.

  5. #4
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wynterplace View Post
    I felt I needed to keep mine in a full housing so I could flip the jig (and the clamped log) over to allow me to cut the full thickness of the log from the top and the bottom without having to reposition the log in the jig... My saw is only a 255mm and I needed to cut through 150mm of material.
    Good point - I didn't think of that.

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