Re: Newbie - Jig Recommendations

[FDA]

Robert,

You may like to read our review on Robert Wearing's book - "Making Woodworking Aids and Devices"

be what you are after?

-- Regards,

Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews

5 Reviews:

- Ryobi AP13 Planer/Thicknesser

- BeadLOCK Loose Tenon Joinery System

- Hyphone Air Tool Kit & Impact Wrench

- Veritas Basic Grinding Set

- Book: Making Workbenches

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Hi All, > > I've decided to take the plunge and get into woodworking. My wife wants me > to create furniture for her. I just wanted a hobby where I could actually > create something with my hands. I write software for a living, so all my > creations there are "virtual". It'll be nice to create something a bit more > permanent. > > Anyway, I've purchased some of the basics (Table saw, Band saw, router > table, etc). I think it was last season I saw Norm on New Yankee Workshop do > a multipart episode where he created some basic jigs for the shop. Seems > like an ideal place to begin for me, as I'll be needing some of that stuff > for the projects my wife wants me to do. > > Can anyone recommend books or websites for this sort of thing? > > Thanks, > > Robert > >

[Paul Andersen]

Check out your local woodworking store (Rockler, Woodcraft, Wood Workers Store, and so on), they have books. The Woodworkers book club is a possibility, they have a website (URL not handy at the moment). Search Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and others.

Don't get too carried away. Jigs are nice but it is probably best to build them as you need them. Unless you know you will be doing some particular operations, why would you want to build a jig to do it? Use the books as guides and get ideas from them.

See if you can find a community education woodworking class. Think about safety ALL THE TIME (it gets hard to write code with eight fingers). Look for other woodworkers, talk to them and adapt their opinions to your 'specialization'.

By the way, nice furniture is hard to make. Start out with some shop storage and/or small projects. Be patient, in programming, haste creates bugs, in woodworking, it creates toothpicks.

Woodchip

[tnfkajs]

Ditto - my situation exactly.

I think many Jigs are built as needed - or largely within the context of a project. But I can think of one that is universal: crosscut sled. The ability to cut stock that's square and of repeatable size is paramount.

Google for crosscut sled will lead to a plethora of links! {"Google" is now a verb?}

[Ken Vaughn]

I show around 50 jigs on my website. Some (like my tenon jig) are very old, but work well enough that I haven't felt the need to remake them -- as I recently did with my old box joint (finger joint) jig. Others were made in the past few years -- most are my interpretation of common jigs (crosscut sled, taper sled, drill press table, etc). A few fall into the category of shop made tools -- sure wish I had a photo of that neat shop made horizontal drilling machine I tore down after I quit using dowel joints because I bought a plate jointer.

[D K Woods]

I'll second that -- I found "The Table Saw Book" at the local library and found it excellent.

david

[tnfkajs]

The other day, when the cuts were coming out short - I found my self flipping the on/off switch on the table saw and trying the cut again.

Old habits die hard.

[Gnube]

Well just be careful with that thing and make sure you don't let IT give YOU the 3 finger salute! ;O)

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

[Mike Dembroge]

I'll second the recommendation to think about Safety. Learn about kickback and other types of mishaps that can occur. In your search, you'll learn about splitters, anti-kickback pawls and other devices that are out there to help you. But, understanding what can go wrong beforehand is, IMO, the best way to prevent accidents.

Welcome & good luck,

Mike Dembroge