buying jigs vs. making jigs

[markus shaffer]

i just got a job a couple days ago where i need to cut several large ovals. my somewhat dense memory reminded me of seeing a router jig specifically for cutting ovals somewhere along the way. after looking through a few catalogs, i found one in the Woodhaven catalog. looking at it, i thought to myself, "i can make one of those." with a little more digging, i found plans for one too. but this job needs to be done pretty quickly and adding the cost of the Woodhaven jig with overnight shipping would be fine with the customer. the time involved making that jig could potentially take longer than if i just ordered the Woodhaven one not to mention that I would have something machined and ready to go where a shop-made jig sometimes needs a lot of fine tuning and practice to get it to work properly. in general, i don't end up with alot of free time to make jigs. i'm wondering if a lot of others here use shop-made or commercial jigs. realistically, i need a larger table on my bandsaw and drill press, but i have put off buying both from someone like Woodhaven or Rockler specifically because i know i could make them for much less. it's just a matter of time which i never have enough of. i suppose while i'm on the subject, does anyone have any Woodhaven products to report on. their products look pretty nice in the catalog, but i've been deceived by nice catalog photos in the past.

-Markus

[Jim Stastny]

If at all possible I make my own jigs. It just adds a little more satisfaction to the whole experience. However, if I were in yur situation, especially with such a willing client, I certainly would go ahead a get the commercially made one.

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Personally, I enjoy making fixtures and jigs. It is rewarding when you are finished, and many times, you can customize the project along the way, or find an improvement or two that makes the jig better for your intended use. I had been considering buying a Box Joint Jig for some time, and I ran across the Box Joint Jig in Shop Notes Magazine. After buiding this jig, which was relatively simple, I couldn't imagine anything working any better. After setting the adjustment, it cuts beautiful box joints, and the price was much less than any commercial jig. I built mine out of Oak leftovers I had laying around, and it is awesome. I do own several store bought fixtures/jigs, but for the most part, if I can build it, and it will be as effective as I need it to be, I will take the time to build it myself. I always learn a thing or two in the process, which is a bonus. As far as an Oval Cutting Jig, I have seen many plans for those over the years, and they are very simple to build................in a couple of hours or less you should be able to knock one out that will serve you for many years. ;)

[Bruce Page]

Markus,
A lot of WW’s live to make jigs, I’m kind of in the middle. I’ll make a jig if I think I can build it better or add features to a design. If I am in a hurry or really like the design, I’ll just order it. A good case in point is the Woodsmith box-joint jig that I bought a while back – I liked their design, and I was in a hurry so I bought it.

I have the Woodhaven crosscut table and their router fence setup on my Unisaw, In my opinion they are both top quality. When I received the router fence, there was a small crack in one of the lower fences, I sent them an email and had a new one in a few days – no questions asked.

It’s the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time. -- Tallulah Bankhead

[Keith Outten]

Markus,

I prefer to make my own jigs and fixtures, it is probably as rewarding as the project. Since you use them for years the satisfaction of building your own fixtures is returned each time you use them. I agree that often time is an issue and it is practical to purchase commercial jigs and fixtures.

[Dave Avery]

Markus,

I mostly buy.... I'd rather be making furniture.... and I'm not that good at making jigs. I think of jigs as non-mechanical tools. In my experience, +/- 128 is usually good enough in most furniture applications, not nearly good enough for jigs and tooling. If I had someone willing to fund a new jig, I wouldn't be asking whether or not to build. Dave.

[Garrett Lambert]

Here's a Jig tip I'm about to publish on the WoodCentral Articles&Reviews site that might help

An oval is an elongated circle with flat sides. An ellipse, on the other hand, is a constant curve with no flats.

However, if it's an ellipse you need to make, construct a trammel, a quick project. (The trammel is an interesting device because it translates linear motion into oval motion.)

Here's how:

1) cut a square out of 3/4" material. Size isn't important but if you want to draw really big ellipses, make the square about 18" a side.

2) mark the centres of 2 adjacent sides and from those marks rout 2 dovetails so that they intersect at 90 degrees.

3) machine a dovetail slider out of hardwood, undersized just enough to slip easily in the slots. Cut it into 2 lengths about a third as long as the side of your square.

4) cut a hardwood "handle" about 1/2" wide x 1/8" thick and as long as the longest radius you want to draw.

5) drill a screw hole in the top centre of each of the sliders, and set each one in the centre of each groove.

6) drill a hole in the end of the handle and screw it to one of the sliders. Lay it on top of the other slider and drill and screw it to that one, too.

You're done.

As you rotate, any point on the "handle" describes an ellipse. You can drill holes in the handle and use a pencil to draw the ellipse on a workpiece. Or, of course, you can make a "handle" that will screw to your router's baseplate, and cut the ellipses directly.

Little trammels made from exotic hardwood about 5" on a side with a short handle and knob make great gag gifts as "Bulls--t Grinder". Rotating the handle makes the slides move back and forth past each other and they're hard to put down.

Cheers, Garrett

[Jim Becker]

I personally prefer to make those jigs that I can and especially those that I plan to use for a repeat of a project in the future. Examples are fixed tapering jigs for a particular table and a jig to route the dovetails in the base of a Shaker-style candle stand. Occasionally, however, I find it more useful to buy something, especially when it saves precious time or has appeal in versatility. An example of that is the router accessories I bought from http://www.MicroFence.com ...thank's to Bill Hylton's competent demonstrations. :D

Building jigs is important because it helps build skills and keep money in your pocket, however, and if you can, you should.

[Ed Falis]

Jim,

I've had an eye on that MicroFence edge guide for a while now. What's you informal review of it?

- Ed

[Jim Becker]

Originally posted by Ed Falis
I've had an eye on that MicroFence edge guide for a while now. What's you informal review of it?


I've only used it on one project so far...a Shaker round stand...but it's an incredibly high quality product. The designers intend this tool to go beyond the obvious and its real value is the incredible precision you have the option of using. This will be particularly valuable when using it for inlay work and the like where you want to keep very close tolerances or in joinery for small projects where dados and the like will be highly visible. Any gaps in that respect will be seen no matter how careful you might be in your finishing techniques.

The key feature is the adjustment system. It's very precise and you can use a caliper to exactly match the width of your cut to the width of what you need to inlay, etc. This is exactly what Bill and Rich demonstrate live at the shows.

That being said, it is not an inexpensive addition to your tool arsenal! But with the various available attachments, it's got a lot of versatility and easy to use. Further, one simple adapter is all you need to adopt it to any router. When I originally bought my system, I only had the PC 7529 (shown in the picture) to use as a hand-held router, so I got the kit with the appropriate adapter for that tool. When I recently acquired my DW618K, I had them send me the adapter for that router and now have the option of using Microfence with both routers, depending on my needs.

I'll be doing a "formal" review of this tool on my site at some point...it's just a matter of finding some of that elusive "copious free time" that I hear so much about! But the bottom line is that I'm glad I bought this product.

[Ed Falis]

Thanks, Jim,

- Ed