i've been trying to do more with woodworking than simple home repairs and i've seen the term used quite a bit and while i have an idea what it is, i'm not 100% sure how to use it.
it's a jig. i have an idea that this is similar to a template but i cannot seem to find any sites that explain what jigs are and how they work so that i can fully understand.
yes...i know it's stupid for me to think this way but i can't figure out why someone would spend a chunk of time making a jig to drill a hole, for instance.
please pardon my ignorance...i really want to learn. oh and my first real project? building a headboard for my queensize bed.
Actually more similar to a fixture, but to the average wooddorker, jig, fixture, and template all have blurred definitions. I'm not exactly clear myself on the difference, although it's been explained to me several times, but suffice to say that, as you've surmised, it's a thing that's fashioned to either make a process more precise, or to enable one to readily make multiple copies or accurately duplicate a process multiple times.
To drill one hole might not be effective use of your time, but very often you have to drill several similar holes (for example) and that's where the time effort in fashioning a jig/fixture/templlate becomes worthwhile. It's like painting. Everything about painting is in the prep. Perhaps 5% of the job is actually slathering on product. Everything else is setup.
To make the operation safer, less likely to damage the workpiece, faster, and repeatable with precision.
If you're installing pulls on a kitchen-full of cabinets, making a jig might take you five minutes and save you twenty in installation time in addition to the other benefits listed above. Next job, there's no jig-making time - it's all pure time profit. That's why you'll see walls full of hanging jigs and templates in a woodworking shop.
And to answer your last question, you might want to build such a device to drill a hole perfectly perpendicular, in a place that can't be accessed by your drill press. A perfectly square guide hole in a piece of scrap, that you use to keep your hand-held drill square is about as simple as jigs get. But maybe a better example is if you wanted to drill 20 holes 15" from an edge, at 1 13/16" spacing. You could measure and mark the center of each hole, center punch, then drill. If I were to do that, I'm sure at least one of my spacings would be off by 1/8" (as would all subsequent ones), and if by luck I got all the spacings right, my punch or drill would hit a hard ring in the wood and drift slightly. A jig to guide the drill and space the hole relative to the edge and the previously drilled hole would be much faster and more precise, even given the minimal time to build it.
And while the definition Leon gave covers the bulk of jigs, I also think of aids for hand tool work as jigs. Examples include shooting boards, sharpening jigs, etc.
To get a good feel for what jigs can do, check out Den Vaughn's site:
I don't know anyone who makes the distinction, but according to Ken Vaughn's site, "A jig guides the tool to the work, for example, a dovetail jig. A fixture guides the work to the tool, for example, a table saw sled. Most woodworkers make no such distinction and call everything a jig, and so do I."
Well, suppose you have to make sure the hole is exactly perpendicular. If you had to drill two holes, and use a dowel with glue to connect them (a dowel joint).
If those holes aren't perpendicular, you cannot get two pieces of wood to join together.
If you tried using a hand-held drill to do this, you have to be very careful. It's possible, but errors are likely.
I have a $10 tool I used to drill perpendicular holes. If you have a drill press, or you can accurately make a jig ( a block of wood with a hole drilled at 90 degrees), then you can also make sure your holes will be accurate.
It's really a matter of reducing errors when doing repetitious actions by spending a little more timme up front.
If you have to do a step 10 times, and you can same time, reduce error, and reduce aggrevation by preparation beforehand, then you make a jig.
Short answer, just go into any good woodworkers shop.
The jigs are what is hanging all over the place from the walls, ceilings and any other usable storage space.
If you are going to do anything simple, you probably could get by without building a jig. Anything complicated or repetitous, can be greatly enhanced with jigs. Gutair makers, for instance, use lots of jigs. They spend an enormous amount of time building those jigs. But it would be almost impossible to build a gutair without them.
An example would be to drill holes in several pieces, quickly and accurately..
I use a simple jig for my biscuit jointer when I do things like drawer sides, etc.. Just makes it easier and faster than measuring, marking and lining up each slot..
"Jig" one of those words like "love", that mean different things to different folks.. Some consider a temporary fence on a band saw a jig, some don't..
I consider the pocket hole guides to be jigs, so I guess being built in your shop isn't required to qualify for the title jig?
If all else fails, it's a dance you do in a Irish pub after several adult beverages..
Jigs are also used for very large items. Laying out the pieces for roof trusses: So they all come out identical, and nobody needs to check the angles: you cut all the bits to length, put them on the jig where they are held in place by delimiters and whack your nailplates on. That's one production line example; in fact I've built jigs like that on a couple of building sites myself.
And to make runs of items: Chair making. You usually don't make one chair. You might want to make a set of 6. So you make one jig for a certain piece or joint, then use that to make [bits for] 6 identical chairs with a lot more accuracy and considerable time savings, because you don't have to mark and measure each individual piece (twice at least- remember: measure twice, cut once). So ...
"it's an entirely different thing all together" "but quit calling me shirley" (Airplane quotes)
anyhow...kvaughan's site does help clear it up somewhat. i guess that i get thrown by the design of some of them that i see on tv or on mr vaughan's site. for instance that large sled for his table saw. i don't see how you could set a large piece of wood on that thing and not cut this jig in half with the woodstock.
i see the cut on the far side of this jig where he's already pushed too far once and knicked it pretty good.
i'm sorry...i must sound like an idiot. let me explain...i don't see a corresponding cut on the near side (what i gather is the pushing side) so i can't see how this would allow you to cut the piece completely. it would seem that the cut would leave 1/4-1/2 inch still attached unless there is a matching cut on the near side that this camera shot does not show.
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get things by watching someone do them and i then i replicate it. but this is throwing me..and the reason i'm asking about this is that the headboard plan my friend's uncle gave me calls for a jig that i don't have and i can't see how to make it to make the holes to hold the cutouts on the receiving posts (i think that's called mortise and tenons??)....if so..there is one jig for the mortise and one for the tenons and i have no plans nor can find any online to do this.
That's what the big block there is for -- to cover the blade when it passes the vertical fence...
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There are any number of articles in FWW and other magazines on using routers to cut mortises and tenon w/ jigs for both.
All it takes is a guide edge for the router to run along and a stop at each end to control the length. Ideally, if the mortise is to be centered in the work one makes the jig self-centering, but one can also use the trick of cutting the same distance from each face and then size the tenon to fit the mortise.
One basically needs to consider what one is trying to accomplish and figure out how would be an expedient way to do that rather than simply trying to copy somebody else's every step. Learning by watching is good up to a point, but...
There are three fairly closely related terms involved and I'm going to give you my understanding of what they mean. This in no way attempts to define each of the items - this is simply how I use the terms.
A TEMPLATE is made of an item whose shape needs to be transferred to another place for cutting. Think of a sink TEMPLATE. It is usually a one off.
A JIG is a short term FIXTURE that allows you to repeat things like cuts and drilling points. A JIG is not made as well as a FIXTURE because it is specific to the current job, rather than being something that is relevant to many different jobs.
A FIXTURE is a JIG that can be used over multiple jobs. An example of a FIXTURE would be one that gave you a PATTERN for how to drill cabinet doors a certain distance from the top and the bottom, and a certain distance in from the edge. In my usage of the term it would also clamp you in so that your drilling would be more accurate.
All FIXTURES are JIGS but not all JIGS are FIXTURES.
You've had a lot of explanations as to what people think jigs are. I think you're getting the general idea.
I don't know how complex the headboard is that you're planning on, but it sounds like it has more than just a simple construction to it.
I started out a few years ago with some ideas of what I wanted to build, and how quickly I wanted to get there. I am, like you, an amateur with no formal training. I like it that way but it has its disadvantages. For one thing, things that look simple, invariably aren't.
I learn something new each project I tackle. One of the first things I learned was that early one, complex projects were a good way to ruin some good wood and frustrate me to the point where I didn't want this hobby any more. Learning, and accepting, what my talents _could_ do was likely the most important lesson. I havne't thrown a hammer at a project in a long time because of that lesson.
What I'm getting at is that it's a good plan to start small, gather some skills together and use them to grow in project size/ complexity. Take a long look at your headboard and ask yourself if the complexity is a bit daunting. If not, go for it, but if it is, try something smaller first. Plenty of plans on the Web for smaller projects. Hell, even a birdhouse demands a few skills that are easily developed and never forgotten.....food for thought.
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