wedges/shims

[Steve B]

I want to make a couple of dozen OAK shim/wedges just like those cheap pine packs you pick up for door shimming. These need to stay hard, and bear with a little pounding. They will be disposable.

I have seen a device that worked with, or replaced a fence on a table saw, and it had adjustable angles. For cutting larger triangular pieces.

Where can I look to find such an item or instructions? I want to keep it cheap, safe to use, and be able to make repeatable finished shims.

Finished shim would be 1.5" w, and 8" long, or about the same as common softwood shims.

Steve

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------------------------ This is not a job for a table saw IMHO.

Rather you want either a hand power planer or a router with a 1" straight bit.

Mount a piece of 1/2" x 6" x 24" ply to the router base with a couple of 3/4" x 3/4" 6" cleats to limit lateral movement.

Build a "U" shaped shoe that has sloped sides to match desired taper, say 8:1 or 12:1.

[Lew Hodgett]

Opps, hit to quick.

-----------------------------------------------------

============================================== Rest of info.

Clamp shoe in vice and part into shoe.

Cut taper then cross cut to length with a chop saw.

I used a power planer to make about 100 ,16:1 scarf's in 5/8" x 1-1/2" x 24 ft splines which when glued together made 72' long splines for a boat mold I built.

Have fun.

Lew

[nailshooter41]

Steve - this is a true 2 minute drill. Lay a 2X4 flat across your table/sawhorses and saw away with your circular saw.

Every time I hand doors, shim cabinets, adjust siding/trims and the multitude of other tasks that need or can benefit from a wedge shaped shim, I cut them with my circular saw.

I cut the first shim at an angle from about 1/4" to nothing, about 8" long. The next cut is straight, giving you another wedge. Alternate your angles back and forth with a straight cut. When you finish across the width of the board, it should have several shims that are ready to trim off the board as the thicker side will remain. Cut those and you are finished.

No kidding.. give it a try. It is honestly about 2 minutes to get 25 wedges. Also, when I need different sizes, I just vary the width of cut as I go and have a handful of 1/4", 3/8", and a couple of 1/2". You can cut as many as you want, the size and length you want in seconds out of 2X4 scrap..

Robert

[dadiOH]

1. make some pieces 8" long and as wide as possible

1. set miter gauge so that you'll get pieces 1 1/2" wide

2. rip off both sides

1. set miter gauge to give you a normal cross cut

2. rip off both sides

1. goto #2

[Doug Miller]

"Steve B" wrote in news:kgepid$70q$ [e-mail]:

Not really very safe for cutting skinny triangular pieces, though....

Got a bandsaw? That's how I make mine, with this simple jig:

Approximate dimensions: Front to back 8-1/4" Left to right at the end with the stop: 4-3/4" Left to right at the other end: 5-1/16"

There's nothing magic about the specific dimensions, I just happened to have a piece of scrap 5-1/16 x 8-1/4" when I made this. The only really important dimensions are the length (needs to be approximately the same length as the length of shims you want to make) and the difference in width between the front and rear ends (needs to be about 1/4" to

5/16" to get the proper taper on an 8" shim).

Yep.

[G.W.Ross]

are the length

make) and the

5/16" to get the

That's a keeper. I ripped off the picture. Thanks!

[Lee Michaels]

"Doug Miller" wrote

I like it. I particularly like the complete instructions written on the jig itself. Nothing to remember or get confused about. It is all there, in plain view. I have written things on jigs before, but not in that complete detail. Good job there Doug.

[Larry W]