Edge Band / Thin Strip jig

Anyone that makes their own shop cabinets knows that plywood is the way to go.  I usually make them out of either " baltic birch or oak cabinet grade ply.  When the veneer on either of those gets nicked at the edge, it isn't long before there's a big chunk peeling off and it begins to look pretty bad.  The easy way to keep it from getting nicked and start peeling is to band the edges.

I've never had much (or any) luck with the peel and stick veneer, and I've never used the iron on veneer.  I would imagine it's pretty good, but I've seen it peel on cheap office furniture.  So, for my shop cabinets, I resort to cutting my own thin strips to band the edges of my plywood. 

Cutting " thin strips on a table saw poses a couple of problems.  The pawls on the blade guard are outside of the cut so the blade guard has to come off.  That being the case, one can't shoot that thin of a strip between the blade and the fence... it's sure to become a missle when it kicks back.  The option is to cut the strip with the meaty part of the board between the fence and blade to keep it under control, but that leads to resetting the fence after every cut.  It's not hard, but it's a pain and it leads to very small errors that have to be fixed.  So, that's the way I did it until...

I came across an article in the December 2006 issue of Workbench magazine for a jig to rip thin stips.  This jig lets one cut thin strips of a user defined thickness quickly, accurately, repeatably, and safely.  The one on the left is almost a duplicate of the one in the plans excepting a slight variance in dimensions and the replacable heel and pressure block.  After taking some measurements, I was able to get and extra 1" in length and I widened it by " to a total width of 4".  Still, for safety's sake, one should either take measurements on the saw and make it to fit or use the plans from the article.

This is a great little jig, and it works well for anything up to about 20".  Even with the length limitation, it gets plenty of use.  However, anything longer and this jig has "issues."  So, I needed a way to vary the theme to facilitate cutting longer strips.

The fix for the length limitation was the jig on the right.  Final assembly gives it the same basic setup, but to give it an adequate measure of safety, its use varies a tad. 

To same myself a little typing, I'll be referring these jigs as tsj1 and tsj2; tsj1 (thin strip jig 1) is the one with the handle, and tsj2 is the jig for cutting long strips.

I won't be offering my "normal" dimensional cut list on either of these jigs... that's covered quite well in the linked article above, and you need to either use the measurments listed or take some careful measurments to customize it to your table saw.  However, one still needs to read that section to get a couple of safety tips on materials to use...

Materials and Cut List --

We've already compromised an important safety feature of your table saw by removing the blade guard.  To build that measure of safety back into the jigs, we overlap the thin strip cutoff and "trap" it under the jig until we've finished the cut.  However,...

To me, mass equals safety.  To the extent that I can move something at all, the more it weighs, the more I feel I can predict its reaction to a given amount of force.  Having said that, I used red oak to make the base instead of soft or plywood.  It just "feels" a little better.

Most importantly though, use BRASS wood screws.  The article calls for them in the construction view detail, but offers no reasoning for it.  The reasoning is very simple... if your initial fence setup is wrong, the blade could possibly cut into the screws and will cut through the brass, and all you you suffer is a torn up jig.  On the other hand, if you hit steel screws, the best you could hope for is tearing up a $100.00 blade.  With the blade guard missing, you don't want to think about the worst that can happen.

Also, use the shortest woodscrews you can to assemble the jigs with reliable mechanical connections.  Depending on how deeply the countersinks for the woodscrews are cut, either 1" or 1" BRASS woodscrews should work quite well.

TSJ1 Assembly --

Both of these jigs are assembled without any glue.  That way, I can cut a new heel, spacer, or handle on a whim.  One of the best features of either jig is that one can cut thin strips of any size in two different planes, width and thickness.  I always cut my edge strips to ", thick, but by simply changing the bottom spacer, I could easily cut " thick strips out of " or " stock if I were to laminate some ply.  You can cut and label several bases if your case calls for it.

Second, I didn't use the pressure block with the replaceable heel.  Since I always cut my strips to ", I won't need to replace the heel too often.  If I "blow" a heel, I aways keep some thin oak stock around the shop and I can cut a new heel out of that as quickly as I can cut a new "replaceable" heel as originally called for.  If you vary the thickness of your strips fairly often, you may want to stick with the original plans.

In the case of tsj1, I can't blame the push stick on this jig... I've made several over time.  I have a " plywood pattern that I make copies from.  Considering the nature of this beast, I did cut " groove into the base and fit the push stick in it.  The push stick is then screwed from the bottom of the base instead of the top as is shown in the construction detail.

I don't have a jointer, but I have a router and a flush trim bit.  Accordingly, I always joint edges that will serve as a reference to the fence as was the case here.  After jointing the edges of both, the base and the spacer, I put them on the flattest surface I own (my table saw) so I could clamp the edges flush before pre-drilling for the screws.  Of course, every time I started to clamp them together, something would shift.  Pretty soon, I got aggrivated and just screwed them together with the spacer a little proud of the base, and re-jointed the edge of the spacer to the base to flush them up.  This, in turn, introduced a slight error on the other side.  To fix that, simply set the fence to 2" and set the blade height to the height of the spacer and trim it to the correct width.  To do it this way guarantees an exact fit according to the dimensions listed, but you'll have to start with a spacer that's a little wider than 2".

TSJ2 Assembly --

The other thin strip jig (tsj2) is a slightly different animal.  It's built using the same principals of alignment, offset, and function, but its assembly is considerably different.  I started off with a 20" x 4" oak plank that will eventually clamp to the fence when the jig is completed.  The picture at left (with the screw holes in it) shows this stick. 

Start by cutting a " groove about " deep in this board.  If you're going to use " stock for your thin strips, make this groove at least " above the edge of the board.  Otherwise, make sure it's at least as wide as the spacer boards you intend to use.  On the opposite side, mark the center line of the groove and lay out some marks to pre-drill a couple of holes.

Insert a " stick in this groove and temporarily clamp it in place.  Now, drill those holes and screw it togetther.  Refer to the picture at right to see it.  As the wide board is the one that gets clamped to the table saw fence, the one that just got screwed into the groove now becomes the base board for the jig.  Make sure it's wide enough to give you that margin of safety for running boards against it when the bottom spacer is installed.

Lay a spacer against the base board and mark it.  Now flip the jig on its side and trim it.  Now that that's done, it's time to attach the bottom spacer.

Pre-drill and screw the spacer to the base board.  Initially, the spacer needs to be at least as wide as the base board.  Otherwise, it could tip over and kick back on you.  Once it's attached, set the fence to 2" and trim the spacer.

The long strip jig is now ready to use.  Simply set your fence to 2" and clamp the jig to it.  Now, run your boards to cut your " thin strips.  Insure you read the safety precautions first.  Enjoy.

Some Use and Critical Safety Concerns --

First and foremost, using either jig requires both hands.  In the case of tsj1, one hand guides the jig and the other hand guides and holds the board.  Using tsj2, the jig is clamped to the fence, but both hands are on the cut board to guide and drive the board through the blade.  In either case, never, Never, NEVER, NEVER cut thin strips from a board that requires you to put your fingers under the base of the jig.  You could pull back bloody nubs instead of fingers, and all that blood will surely ruin the look of your freshly cut thin strips.

Second, if you're only going to cut strips of one or a couple of thicknesses, this jig is fine.  But, what gives either of these jigs their margin of safety is the way they trap the strip under the jig until you're finished cutting them.  If you're going to vary the thickness of the strips you cut often, either make a few jigs and mark them to account for the various thicknesses or don't use them at all.  If cutting several thicknesses sufficiently close, and thus kerfs into the base, the strip may not be supported correctly and could concievably tilt into the blade causing a dangerous kickback.

Third, in the case of tsj2, there is no heel.  Although it's highly improbable, I suppose it is possible that the strip could catch the blade and shoot back through the opening in the back.  Just stand to the side a little to make sure it doesn't shoot back into your body.

Finally, and also in the case of tsj2, it mounts over the blade and clamps to the fence.  With the power off, start by lowering the blade all the way down and clamp the jig in place.  Turn the saw on and slowly raise the blade until the saw blade teeth are buried into a kerf in the base.  You may even want to raise the blade a skosh higher and then back it back down to make sure it doesn't bind in the base.  Never turn the saw on until you check and account for the blade fitting correctly into the kerf.