- Read Time: 5 mins
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It's nice once in a while to get away from the square designs we so often make in woodworking, with something a bit softer, like circle and ovals, Recently one of my subscribers "Phil" asked if there was an easy way of making ovals. He didn't say what he needed them for, but I thought this would be a good time to show one way of making ovals that I have used in the past ... many, many years ago.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/hwOGAEr536g
What's nice about this jig is that you can adjust how you want the ovals to look, do you want them almost round looking or do you want them much taller than they are wide? All these things can be done by making adjustments to the jig or the re-sizing the jig it'self.
- Read Time: 5 mins
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Thanks to one of my subscribers Fred, who sent me a picture of what this jig looks like, I thought it was a neat idea so decided to make one for myself. Like many things in woodworking there are often many ways to accomplish the same thing and I have made designs in doors like this in the past and there are pros and cons to each method but this looked like a fun little project ... so here goes ...
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/_PdtkqFz5X0
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/GzUgJ66dyWk
The first thing I decided to do was to make it out of clear plastic. This base needs to be very accurate in order to go around the whole inside of the frame and still end up in the same place for the cuts and that is another reason I preferred plastic. Hardboard would work fine and be easier to work with but plastic is a bit sturdier for a job like this ...
- Read Time: 6 mins
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Cutting Mitres on the table saw is not trick ... getting them accurate is a bit more challenging, especially if you are doing things like picture frames. I seem to make most of my angle cuts on the table saw at 45 degrees, which by chance is the same angle as picture frame sides, so this jig will do double duty for me.
The one thing I should add here in terms of making picture frames, getting the 45-degree angle is only half the battle, the other thing that is crucial in making picture frames is that each opposing side of the fame needs to be EXACTLY the same length or the corners will never line up.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/3czW9oJS1Kc
This jig will make accurate 45-degree angles, and if you want to make picture frames you can use the stoppers to make sure the horizontal pieces and the vertical pieces, however long they are, can be cut at exactly the same length.
- Read Time: 6 mins
- Hits: 28382
Jigsaws have been around for a long time and most workshops have one but most don't get a lot of use, except those times when you really need something that only a jigsaw can do. I always try to get the most from my tools and when Mark sent me a not about making a patterning jig for a jigsaw, I thought it would be a good idea to see if this would be one way of getting more use from a jigsaw.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/ZBVm3zzoIE0
Like many jigs, I started off at the table saw after I selected my wood, which in this case was high quality 1/4" plywood that I could use as the base plate and the first thing I needed to cut was some strips that I could use to capture the jigsaw base plate to the 1/4" plywood material ...