The Perfect Taper Jig... Eureka!

[John Thompson]

For 38 years I searched for a perfect taper jig. You would think it would be simple but... I found it was not. I have looked at many designs and built around eight of them thinking "this may be the one"? But none was not quite what I considered perfect. What I consider perfect is a jig that can handle up to 12" wide and 4" thick stock. One that has extremely positive hold down on the stock.. one that keeps hands well away from the blade.. one that delivers precise cuts with no chance of slip up by the jig coming off the fence.

I just never found one that does all the above. Some met several of the requirements but always fell short of my full expectations. Even the little, cheap aluminum ones will work but.. at the expense of the jig moving off the fence or slipping on the rear stop as you guide it and ruining a piece of good stock. Maybe even one you have already cut mortises in. And they are extremely dangerous IMO as your hand is the hold-down and it comes dangerously close to the blade when tapering 2" stock, etc. Not my personal cup of tea.

On a short trip to P'tree WW I saw the Dubby from In-line Industries. I was impressed as Dave there allowed me to take it out of the box and examine it. It was about as close to perfect as I have ever seen with the exception it rides on a miter bar which might provide a slight amount of slop. And with various thicknesses you have to unscrew the bar and move the position to another pre-drilled spot which would take several minutes. But.. this was close to perfect in my mind.

Then I saw the price of $119 and went into mild shock as I cannot justify that price even though my need for tapers will increase with project plans in the next year. So.. do I continue to cut them on my jointer (which is not my favorite thing to do) or build it to meet my criteria and eliminate the need to move the miter bar as most items I had on hand?

The world has access to the Dubby taper jig... now I have my "Dummy taper jig" as even a dummy like myself cannot make a mistake with this jig. .004 run-out on leading edge to blade.. positive hold down.. hands 16" away from blade with no chance of the jig coming off the fence. You simply push it when set up. As I see it..... perfect for a Dummy! :>)

Sarge..

[Ron Bontz]

That's pretty slick. I'll remember this one.

[Vince Shriver]

Slick jig. One question: why is there a dado running the length of the vertical part that rides against the saw fence, just below the three knobs?

[Greg Cole]

Sarge,
Very nice. Looks to be a good'un.

Greg

[Mitchell Andrus]

Nicely done.

[Brian Effinger]

Great idea, Sarge. I made a taper sled a few years ago to make the back slats of an adirondack chair. It had those types of hold-downs, but it was not adjustable, and nowhere as nice. I may have to steal, I mean borrow ;) , that idea.
The only thing I would worry about is the saw blade shaving a small amount off the side if the fence wasn't in just the right spot.
Great job.

Brian

[John Thompson]

Thanks Ron.. Vince.. Greg.. Mitchell and Brian.. I'm pleased with it compared to others I have seen and built.

Vince.. I had all the components on hand to build this thing as I keep T track.. UHMW.. knobs.. etc. in inventory as when I decide to build a jig I just build it and don't like having to run for components. The MDF.. ply.. doug fir.. SYP.. and hickory were all just scraps.

But... that doesn't answer your question about the groove on the vertical slide for the TS fence. A dado was cut there to accept the piece that goes over the TS fence front face. I was going to use a dado and glue it in. But after I cut it and attached the vertical to the main body of the jig.. I decided to make the vertical adjustable so no matter how high or low I adjusted my TS fence.. I could loosen the 3 bols on the front and move the vertical up and down. If I had glued it that would be the position locked in and you could not take the jig off and use in on someone else's TS with a different height fence. Ajustment on the fly to put it in more simple terms. :)

Brain... I finalized the leading edge of the jig by making it slightly wider than I wanted.. then without stock loaded I ran the front edge through the blade to square it and give me ground zero of blade touching leading edge. I also intentionally did it with my half fence off using the long fence and.. with the fence distance indicator pointer stroking 13 7/8".

But there is no gaurantee that is could rub if the TS fence attachment had any slop at all. It originally had about .012 slop until I add two piece of self adhesive slick tape to shim the area inside that rides the fence. I now have about .003 play and that about as close as a country boy is goint to get. Technically there is .003 slop but you aren't going to be effected with that litte.

So... I know by setting my fence indicator to 13 7/8" I am at ground zero with jig leading edge and outside tip of saw blade tooth. But check it twice and cut once. Once I am on target with the indicator.. I run the leading edge through the blade on a dry run with the saw off to make sure the front outside tooth front is just slighty making contact. ;)

Sarge..