Thin Strip Ripping Tapered Plys on the Table Saw

[Bryan Cramer]

I currently cut lamination plys for certain narrow bent lamination work on the table saw with a thin rip jig from Rockler. I would like to make a lamination that tapers in both with and thickness so I would need tapered plys in order to not cut into them making the taper. The with taper is easy to make on the band saw after it's bent. Would anybody have a suggestion for a jig that cuts tapered plys with the table saw? As an example they might taper from 1/16" to 1/8" or maybe 3/16" and be 2" tall. I like the table saw because it's fast and leaves a ready to glue surface for this narrow work. I know I can make a sled for a thickness sander but that would take too long and add another step.



For those who don't know the idea behind this principle is the off cut is the ply you keep and you move the fence over for each cut instead of trapping the thin strip.
The table saw I have is a cabinet saw. I'm almost thinking of some carriage with indexing pins that would swing the stock to the taper and then back to straight for the next cut.

Any ideas? I do have a band saw but not a sliding table saw.

[Bradley Gray]

I cut inside tapered legs by screwing guide blocks to a plywood sled and tapered pieces like you describe fall off.

I always run the legs thru the thickness sander on a sled after. It is probably quicker and safer if you just start with the thickness sander sled.

[Jerry Miner]

I think you could use your thin rip jig with a simple taper jig (a piece of ply with a tapered notch)-- and flip the work piece after each rip (Make the jig with 1/2 the desired taper)

Taper 12-19-17 [2].jpg

[Bryan Cramer]

Hmmmm..... Thanks for the idea. Sometimes simpler is better. The jig might have to index of the thick end to keep the tapered part from wedging.

[Prashun Patel]

Here's a jig that would prevent having to reset the fence. A couple caveats:

Ripping thin can be scary and a kickback risk.

If your pieces are long, I probably would not use this method because you really cannot hold the cut piece; you are relying on the sled to hold it, so it is critical that you guide the sled straight and true. The longer the piece, the harder that becomes.

The heel/cleat will be small; it will be cut off by your blade and will only be the width of the thinnest part of your taper. To improve the registration, you can make this part of the sled thicker than 2" such that the blade will not completely sever a thicker cleat.

[Al Launier]

Good ideas above. I like Jerry's concept and, as you most likely already are doing, would add the use of a splitter like a Micro Jig splitter. Further, if concerned about kickback, you could clamp a wooden board (overhang) from the fence which covers the blade area & some of the downstream length of the cut to minimize a kickback should that happen.

I think, if this isn't what Prashun was thinking of, his idea could be expanded so that:

• The jig tapered area that accepts the workpiece actually covers & bears down on the workpiece to move it along the fence during the cut.
• The hook would not be necessary.
• The left hand would assist in this after the workpiece has passed the blade.
• This would be a sacrificial jig as each succeeding pass would cut slightly into it.

PS: The thin rip jig that Rockler sells is a very useful tool and is very easy to make if you like to make your own jigs.

[Charles Lent]

My thin strip ripping jig is much like Prashun described and it works very well for continuous thickness ripping, but I think if your strips needed were the same length or shorter than this jig you could modify the jig enough to make it rip tapered width strips, You could possibly add overhanging hold down pieces to the jig above the strip being ripped to hold it down as it's being cut. A feather board on the saw fence could also be added to hold the jig down. My concern is that if you continue to cut multiple tapered strips from the same board you may end up getting tapered strips with the grain no longer running straight in them, resulting in weaker and weaker strips as you continue making these tapered strips this way. Have you considered making a kind of shooting board with a taper and then tapering the fixed width strips to a taper with a hand plane after they are cut? The grain orientation would remain straight if you did it this way.

Charley

[Jerry Miner]

My concern is that if you continue to cut multiple tapered strips from the same board you may end up getting tapered strips with the grain no longer running straight in them...Charley

That's why it's a good idea to flip the work piece end-for-end after each cut-- you can keep the grain running straight.