Monday, November 12, 2012

The compound evolution of jigs

This is a simple enough jig in theory. The idea is to center a domino in the middle of a louver that will be part of a radiator cover. The mortise is centered in the stock thickness thanks to the Domino Plate that Ron Wenner made. (A search on this blog + Ron's name will take you to those entries)

Width-wise, the block that cradles each louver is cut to fit exactly (+/- a couple of thousandths of an inch) between the locating paddles on the Domino. To make that happen, each side piece was ripped on the table saw with the micro-adjuster that I made.

They say that practice makes perfect, and that it will get you to Carnegie hall. In this case, jigs made to allow me to be more precise have led to other jigs that I couldn't have made otherwise. Skills build on skills, tools and jigs build off of what came before, and today, I can do things that I literally wouldn't have been able to do a few years ago.

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