Sunday, July 29, 2007

Fixing Frames

Along the way I had about four frame parts that needed recutting, so this weekend, since the weather cooperated, I recut them.


I have a batten of plywood that I cut with the jigsaw, this is exactly the width of the distance between the side of the jigsaw base and the blade. By lining this up with my cut line, and clamping a guide beside it...

I can then run the jigsaw along this guide and get a perfect cut every time. This has the benefit that the entire base of the jigsaw is supported for the cut. Using the Jig I use to use... Old JigSaw Guide only one side was supported, and cuts were not always square.

One thing to bear in mind while you are congratulating yourself on a perfect cut, is that a Bosch Jigsaw is powerful enough to cut through the bench as well as the oak, and you won't notice it slowing down, or working any harder. If it can slash through 1" White Oak, then an extra half inch of Black and Decker workbench is nothing.

2 comments:

Darren said...

Oopsie!

I like the idea of the jig. I've got some old (read:vintage 1950) kitchen cabinates that are on the wall I'm having knocked. I'd like to keep as much of them as possible and your trick with the jig is rather timely.

Keep up the good work.

Rational Root said...

To cut the batten the exact size, clamp a peice of ply against a straight edge that sticks up above the ply. Run the jigsaw along the edge, and hey presto, your batten is EXACTLY the right width.