need ideas for a piece holddown jig

[chylld]

heyas,

i've nearly finished designing my current project and am about to start construction. the parts that have me worried are some narrow strips of 6mm thick mdf, most about 50mm wide but some as narrow as 20mm. given that i only have a router (w/ flush-cutting bit etc.) and a jigsaw, what are the best ways for me to do this, without purchasing any new tools? (hence why i'm posting this in the jigs section)

the best way that i can think of at the moment is to mark out all the lines, rough cut about 2-3mm shy with the jigsaw, double-stick tape the piece to my workbench with the marked line right on the edge of the workbench, and use the flush-cutting bit in the router to bring the edge to the line.

the downside of this method is the tediousness of having to rinse/repeat for every single edge! also removing and reapplying tape would quickly become bothersome too, i imagine (i did a similar thing before using clamps through huge gaping holes in my old workbench, but that one's been retired now)

thanks in advance!

[Arthur]

Have you thought about sandwiching the pieces between 2 wade boards and using the lower board as the guide fence for your trimmer piece.

Whilst doing that you can use one of the other thin pieces as a temporary spacer at the back pf the wide boards to maintain uniform thickness.

The two wide boards can be secured to a takble or whatever and away you go.

I don't know if that is any help.

Arthur :)

[Jack E]

Given your serious lack of tools if there are not too many thin strips I would have them cut by the place you purchase the MDF from.

Failing that you could use Arthurs idea of sandwiching but try to do as many pieces as your flush cutting bit can handle at once (probably only two given that it is 6mm MDF). This will cut down on set up and working time.

Cheers, Jack

[Arthur]

hey, my spelling is atrocious is it not? or are they typos

Arthur

[Arthur]

remember: necessity is the mother of invention.

there has been many times in my life where i could not afford or find the right tool for the job and have improvised with a home made jig.

I wonder how many items we use in everyday day life have been improved improvisations

Arthur

[Jack E]

I wonder how many items we use in everyday day life have been improved improvisations

All of them :)

[chylld]

thanks for the quick replies guys! i just got back from my workshop and i was trying out various techniques, and to my surprise the double-stick tape held onto the wood perfectly, even when i took off 5mm with the router bit! :) i also realised that since i have a new 'workbench' (dining table from ikea, $129, 1350x740) i can simply line up lots of pieces along the edges and hit 3-5 pieces in one pass.