Cutting a square hole

[Erik Frederiksen]

I'm cutting out these notches in the legs of a future small table to hold a turntable and amp with a Bosch jig saw and although it sort of works, it would be nice to be a little more precise without spending a fortune.

The material is 4/4 Ash. Any ideas for a better way to cut these out?

[Dick Strauss]

how about a mortiser?

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Not spending much, a drill the size of the hole and a sharp chisel and mallet. Lots of bruises and colorful metaphors.

[Doug Shepard]

Tenon ing jig (even a cheap shopmade one) and TS and dado blade.

[glenn bradley]

I do my square peg holes (up to 3/8") by drilling the hole 1/64" smaller than desired and using a square mortise bit (http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-16-Mortising-Chisel/H2544) and a hammer. I clamp a saddle square (http://www.veritastools.com/Products/Page.aspx?p=84) across the surface to use as a guide to keep me aligned.

[Al Sherred]

I would like to know What Turntable, and What Amp

[Erik Frederiksen]

Thanks for the ideas, I'm going to try them. I suppose I should try them on scraps first to get the hang of it before having at the legs (which is not what I did with the jigsaw, but I'm familiar with that saw).

Al, the turntable is made by Rega and I love it, the amp is my wife's, it's a Philips and I'd like to replace it soon with a two channel tube amp which I've heard does a better job with analog sound.

[Dan Gill]

A tenoning jig would do the notch at the end of the piece, but not the square hole in the middle. Mortising chisel, or drill and chisel.

[Ed Sallee]

I would forgo drilling square holes and laminate the wood, creating the desired holes.

[Bruce Page]

I would forgo drilling square holes and laminate the wood, creating the desired holes.

There's one in every crowd.:rolleyes::D

Seriously, if you go the chisel route make sure to use a scrap backer board to avoid blowout.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

dril a hole and use a chisel.
It's really quite easy

To get the sides straight and true all you gotta do is have a piece of wood about two or so inches thick on one side maybe more on the other and jointed up so you have one cornet that's square.

Lay that square corner on your work clamp is so that it is dead on the line for your final chisel cuts ( you will have roughed out put first leaving only a scosh to remove in the end) then lay your chisel against the flat guide block and let 'er rip.

Use the same trick for tapered mortises where you'll be driving a wedge in from the other end of the tenon. Only saw your guide block to the angle if the sides you want in your mortise.