jig1 noun : a device used to maintain mechanically the correct positional relationship between a piece of work and the tool or between parts of work during assembly.
I guess if a woodworker had a best friend, it would be one of his jigs.
Taper Jig
For my woodworking, I made a simple taper jig as my first jig. I wanted to give some character to the legs of my first blanket chest, instead of leaving them square. I used a scrap piece of 3/4" cherry with dimensions of 7 x 30 inches. I ran the board through the table saw to square it up. Then I marked the angle I wanted on the leg and aligned it with the edge of the plywood. I glued a block next to the leg with CA glue. This would keep the leg steady as I cut it and also let me make consistent cuts.
I used the taper jig to cut all the boards for the legs, then I put the legs together.
Low-cost Crosscut Sled
This is probably my favorite jig. I use this one on most all projects. It's simple and only took a few minutes to build. One side is a 90° angle, and the other side is cut to a 45° angle. I had originally built a full-size sled but, it was too cumbersome and heavy to use. I cut a piece of 3/4-inch plywood to the size I wanted. I then added my runner, which I made of hardwood. The back fence is 3 pieces of 3/4-inch plywood glued together and attached to the base plate with 3 screws.
To make sure the sled was square to the blade, I first ran the plywood base through the saw. Using my square, I then attached the fence to the base. After confirming that the base was square to the fence, I then moved the sled to the slot on the opposite side of the blade. I adjusted the blade unit it was at a 45° angle and cut the sled to match the blade angle.
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