Table Saw Thin Strip Spacing Jig
Seems like I've been making lots of jigs lately. This is a jig for repetitively cutting thin strips on the table saw, like what you'd need for making something bentwood. I know that most people use a bandsaw for this, but I actually get a smoother gluing surface cutting them on my table saw. The big danger in cutting such strips on the table saw is getting the strip trapped between the blade and the fence. With this setup, the thin strip being cut off is on the outboard side (to the right in the photo or the left when you're standing behind the saw). The jig makes it possible to repetitively position the fence for every cut, so as to get strips of a consistent thickness. As you can see in the photos, the jig is nothing more than a hinged piece of plywood, with a strip of wood that goes into the miter gauge slot to locate it. The real business end is the screw sticking up from the smaller, hinged part. This goes into a threaded insert allowing for precise adjustment. The nut acts as a locknut, so that vibration won't cause it to turn. To use the jig, set it in the miter slot, then adjust the screw so that the space between the screw head and the saw blade (the edge of the carbide teeth, no the plate) is the desired thickness. Lock the nut, so it can't move. Then place a piece of the material to be cut between that screw head and the fence, locking in the fence at that distance. With the thickness set, flip the hinged portion of the jig up, so that the board doesn't get caught between the jig and the fence, causing kickback. Then make your cut, cutting off a thin strip. Now, here's the great part. You can take the offcut, set it between the gauge and the fence again, readjusting the fence. before repeating the cut. This will render another piece, cut off to the exact same thickness. Cut as many as you need, readjusting every time, but don't allow the piece you're cutting off of to get too small, or it will chatter in the blade and might get caught in it.