Finding the right DIY miter bars for jigs has been something of my own white whale over the past few years. I've tried everything: UHMW, aluminum, hardwood, store bought, homemade. Never been quite happy with things though. So I set down my requirements:
1) Affordable
2) Stable (I have a garage shop in a place with significant humidity swings)
3) Easy to work
4) Adjustable
5) Ideally re-usable
So I read all the threads I could find on it, and came up with my solution which I am happy to say worked better than I could imagine. Just thought I'd share it here for others who have been on a similar hunt. Stability and re-usability knocked out hardwood. I liked the aluminum bars, and made a few with bar stock from McMaster. However the width isn't exactly right, leading to an annoying process of trying to grind them to the right size. UHMW is stable and cheap, but it deforms and isn't necessarily adjustable. What I really wanted was something like the Rockler adjustable miter bars...but I didn't want to pay $30/each.
My solution ended up being: A $5 scrap of Corian from the local cabinet shop and some nylon set screws. As it turns out, the Corian cuts just fine with a 60-tooth blade, and is easily drilled and tapped for the set screws. Result:10 adjustable miter bars for a total cost of $12.
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