yorkie
Member
Has anyone ever made a jig for cutting grooves in a blank lengthwise?
Pinstriping
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hewunch
Member
I just used my rip fence on my Table saw... but I was using a square blank.
yorkie
Member
On a serious note you could still use the table saw hypothetically (I've never tried this), but you would have to make the blank an octogon (for eight pin strips) first. Then it would just be a matter of rotating the blank and cutting your groove.
yorkie
Member
That's not a bad idea.
I could set the blade at a 45 or 60 degree angle to cut off the edges and still keep the blank square, and then I would have eight flat surfaces to work with. Hmmm.
I could set the blade at a 45 or 60 degree angle to cut off the edges and still keep the blank square, and then I would have eight flat surfaces to work with. Hmmm.
BKelley
Member
The Pen Wizard should work.
Ben
Ben
Or.... with the blank square do the 4 cuts on the sides. Then tilt the blade to 45deg and then do the cuts into the corners of the still square blank:wink:
glycerine
Member
If this is more than a one-time thing, you should look into an indexing wheel and a rotary tool attachment...
yorkie
Member
leehljp
Member Liaison
I made one that can be seen here.
The first blank was not totally centered. The second one was perfect. But a couple of weeks later, numbers 3, 4, 5 were impossible to get perfect. So I gave up. I have made a jig that still needs some modifications to perfect it, however, I think the pen wizard would do better. I have one but haven't had the time to work on a method of cutting the groves.
The first blank was not totally centered. The second one was perfect. But a couple of weeks later, numbers 3, 4, 5 were impossible to get perfect. So I gave up. I have made a jig that still needs some modifications to perfect it, however, I think the pen wizard would do better. I have one but haven't had the time to work on a method of cutting the groves.
soligen
Member
If you have a table saw, I don't think you need any fancy jig.
start with an accurately squared blank.
Rip it in half
Glue together with pin stripe material in between. I made a simple gluing form from MDF - its a block with a 90 deg fence. I use wax paper to protect it from glue. The form is for clamping so you can maintain at least 2 true surfaces during glue up.
Re-square the blank if necessary.
Repeat with blank turned 90 degrees.
The pin stripe material makes a X that tells you where your centers go for turning round.
Minor errors in alignment of the centers can be reduced by making the blank long and cutting it after turning round.
Once round. I drill on the lathe.
4 stripes is pretty easy because even if you glue up is off a bit, as long as your centers go into the X on the end, you are good.
For 8 stripes, start with a big blank. Once you have 4, knock the corners off at 45 deg to make a new square that is rotated for the next set of cuts. Accuracy is much more critical here.
An advanage to this approach is that your pin stripe width is not dictated by saw kerf or bit width
start with an accurately squared blank.
Rip it in half
Glue together with pin stripe material in between. I made a simple gluing form from MDF - its a block with a 90 deg fence. I use wax paper to protect it from glue. The form is for clamping so you can maintain at least 2 true surfaces during glue up.
Re-square the blank if necessary.
Repeat with blank turned 90 degrees.
The pin stripe material makes a X that tells you where your centers go for turning round.
Minor errors in alignment of the centers can be reduced by making the blank long and cutting it after turning round.
Once round. I drill on the lathe.
4 stripes is pretty easy because even if you glue up is off a bit, as long as your centers go into the X on the end, you are good.
For 8 stripes, start with a big blank. Once you have 4, knock the corners off at 45 deg to make a new square that is rotated for the next set of cuts. Accuracy is much more critical here.
An advanage to this approach is that your pin stripe width is not dictated by saw kerf or bit width
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