slot jig???

Matt Dane

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6
Any suggestions toward making a jig that would allow me to make an inch long slot every one inch along the edge of a board? I'm trying to make a 6' tall measuring stick to watch my son grow.
thanks!
 
Look at a box joint jig.

Basically a board attached to your table saw miter gage. Has a tongue that sticks out. In your case 1" wide and 1" from the edge of the dado blade. But it against it, make the first cut then place the dado slot on the tongue and just keep cutting.
 
Yeah that would work. I hadn't thought about using the TS for this. I started with router table and ran out of measurement after 16". How about a jig that uses a router.

Thanks for your guidance!
 
Why not set up a box joint jig similar to those for a table saw so that you can run it on your router table? If you don't have a miter gauge slot you can add on with a couple of pieces of 1/2" mdf screwed or clamped to the table with a gap to form the slot.
 
I think we're all assuming by 1" slots, you meant something like this:

Notched 2x4 800.jpg

Is that sort of what you had in mind?

use the table without the fence?
Dunno if you are referring to the table saw or the router table, but there are a lot of occasions where you need to take the fence off a table saw. If you're crosscutting anything longer than the distance from your blade to the fence, you'd need to take the fence off. In its place, you use a miter gauge or a sled. (Its not wise to "freehand" wood into a table saw blade.)

The same ideas would apply if you were using a router table. You still need something like a miter gauge to hold the stock steady, but there are times when you wouldn't want the fence in the way.

In either case, for something like you're talking about, your miter gauge/box joint jig would hold the work steady as you pass it through the blade or router bit.

And oh yeah...welcome to the forum. :wave: Keep the questions coming, and feel free to offer answers, too. :thumb:
 
Nope not like the picture...sorry. I led you in the wrong direction, although that's not a bad idea.

I'm trying to take a 1x6x6' and make it appear to have slots like a ruler so the slots are on the face of the board not the edge. Currently, I have 72 slots cut on the face they are about an inch long and 1/8" deep. I've cut the each foot mark to 3 inches long. The slots are not perfect and I'm looking for an idea on a jig for the router that would allow me to move the bit and inch over a 6' board. The RT worked good for about the 1st 15" but then I ran out of slide on the LS17.

SOrry I was clear on this.
 
Something like this?

43884441.jpg
 
...The RT worked good for about the 1st 15" but then I ran out of slide on the LS17.

SOrry I was clear on this.
No apologies necessary. ;)

Do you have a miter slot on your router table? If so, then you could probably use a variant of a box joint jig to get the even 1" spacing between the slots. The jig would have a pin (or peg...something the same width as the slots you are cutting) 1" away from the router bit, and you could simply cut the first slot, slide the board over an inch and stick the pin in the first slot, then cut the second slot. Then slide the board over another inch, and put the pin in the second slot to cut the third. Rinse and repeat until you get to the end of the board. You just use the most recent slot to index the board for the next cut.
 
Well I'll go against the grain here. For something this long I don't think I'd go with a pin and step over. If you are off by 1/32 inch you will have a cumulative error of 1 inch every 32 inches. Even with 1/64 you would be off well over an inch in 6 feet. For something like this I would just use a measuring device and cut at each line. You might have some error from mark to mark but you would be as close at the 6-foot point as you would be at the 2-foot point.

I think the best way to go would be with a cross cut sled. I would use a stop and cut longer every foot.


Garry
 
I would make a plywood template 1 foot long, for use with a handheld router and guide bushing. I'd mark the board accurately every foot. Then I'd clamp the template to the board at each foot mark, and rout the set of grooves needed.

Among other things, this makes the rounded ends of the grooves simple, and lets you make the grooves different lengths for the foot mark, the 6 inch mark, and the other inch marks, if you want.
 
I think I'd keep it real simple & route fancy edges of some kind & then groove the length of a 6'6" stick & in lay a peal & stick tape measure into the groove. Make the stick wide enough to write notes on one side with a fine point sharpie so you could write dates & ages special events like birthdays etc.

The dates & events & ages are more important then all the fancy complicated routed sticks you could ever make & make sure to take pictures to go with the measurements & events.
 
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