The Jig is Up

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jttheclockman

jttheclockman

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Here is a request on my behave to Jeff and this thread is also a good place for others to chime in and voice their pleasure about adding a catagory or subcatagory to another main catagory if that works better, titled "Jigs to make things easier". Or some other working title. I am seeing more members joining the segmenting journey into blank making and always thought about this topic. There are many people here always willing to share ideas and helpful tips when it comes to making not only pens but other things as well. That is why I am not zeroing in on just segmenting jigs. I know people here get a little wonky when it comes to starting another forum or catagory but I believe we walked down that road long ago and that is old thinking. We already have many different catagorys and sub catagorys so why not another? It would make finding these jigs so much easier. yes there are articles in the library but this will include ones that never make the library because like me I am not good at writing articles. There are many woodworking jigs that can apply to other aspects of turning as well. Then when a question comes up we do not have to do such an intense search to find these jigs. They can be in a seperate place and the person can be directed to that place and it would be easier for them to search.

Thoughts and would like to hear from Jeff. Thanks.
 
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Sounds like a good idea to me. That being said I have no idea what is involved to make it happen and whether it would be a big effort or a small one.
 
Interesting idea, John. Where would you recommend we put that forum? Under an existing forum, or standing alone?

Would you be interested in moderating it? Keeping discussions on track, etc?
 
jeff said:
Interesting idea, John. Where would you recommend we put that forum? Under an existing forum, or standing alone?

Would you be interested in moderating it? Keeping discussions on track, etc?
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Hello Jeff. First not sure about the place to put it because as I mentioned there have been jigs shown here that do not represent segmenting alone. Examples casting. Seen jigs made for casting blanks. Seen jigs made for cutting blanks and not segmented oriented. Seen jigs made for making vessels and other turning projects such as birdhouse ornaments. I know I have shown jigs for making billiardball clocks. I am sure there are more examples too. So I guess I am saying a stand alone topic.

As to your second part I would have to talk to you via PM.
 
To Join the thread; There is a capability in our software to add a "Tag" to a message. You can have multiple tags on a message and the tags are easy to create and update. Example; a Segmenting Jig could have tags of "Segmenting" and "Jigs". You can search for tags in the advanced search and the software will suggest likely tags if you start typing a few characters.

This is a message on using tags. I didn't want to pollute this thread.
 
OK, let's discuss... I think this is a good idea. I propose "Jigs, Fixtures, & Shop Aids" nested under "Shops, Tools, & Equipment"

I added "Shop Aids" as it seems logical to include helpful shop things that aren't technically a jig or fixture. A sandpaper dispenser, or a tool rack might fall under that. Should I include the "Shop Aids" or not?

Should we allow only home-made things, or are commercial items allowed? I want to avoid someone posting endless links to commercially available items, but there are many cases where there are helpful things available commercially.

@jttheclockman thanks for the suggestion.
 
jeff said:
OK, let's discuss... I think this is a good idea. I propose "Jigs, Fixtures, & Shop Aids" nested under "Shops, Tools, & Equipment"

I added "Shop Aids" as it seems logical to include helpful shop things that aren't technically a jig or fixture. A sandpaper dispenser, or a tool rack might fall under that. Should I include the "Shop Aids" or not?

Should we allow only home-made things, or are commercial items allowed? I want to avoid someone posting endless links to commercially available items, but there are many cases where there are helpful things available commercially.

@jttheclockman thanks for the suggestion.
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I agree that the idea is a good one, and pretty much everything that Jeff and others proposed above. I like "Jigs, Fixtures, and Shop Aids" as the title.

So many jigs that people build these days are also found as commercial products. I see no issue with posting links to commercial products that solve the OP's problem or match a given jig/fixture/shop-aid. Some people may not have the tooling or skills or time (or willingness to invest the effort) to build the jig and would want to know about alternate solutions that they can buy off the shelf.

When I post a link to a commercial product, I often include a statement about building your own, if appropriate. Example statement that I might write: "This product does a good job, but I think it is overpriced for what you get. Many people prefer to build their own. It's easy. Here are examples of home-built versions." ... stuff like that.

Most of the time, I expect that threads will be more along topics related to "Look at this jig I made and how it can help you make (better) pens." Some may be, "I need a jig to do xyz."

My 2 cents worth.
 
I like that as working title also Jeff. That does encompass many things outside pen making and that was my point when posting the idea. Jigs are used in all aspects of woodworking to make things easy. Now as far as weather hand made or commercial, you can get into the tools topic then. Because they can be listed as tools. I would like this to be about jigs and things we made to help with a problem. We may include the use of commercial tools such as routers or other tools included within the jig. Sleds are ever so popular and yes they make many commercially made ones but ones that we make ourselves is what I would like to see here. Maybe jigs for holding things as we glue things or for drilling or cutting. The list is endless. That is why the words Shop Aids works well in the title. I too would like to hear more thoughts on this. Thanks Jeff for taking a look at this.
 
To stick my oar in. I think there are loads of eg sled jigs out there both commercial and handmade. There are pros and cons of each design and one may suit a certain task a member wants to do more than another does. the ability to explore them all in one place would be fantastic.

there are some excellent plans eg Cullens ones for extruding jigs which is another field altogether. Again some may wish to explore this others might want a commercial approach.

However if the section is easy to find and navigate, using tags or whatever , then that improves the ease of use to us all. There's some awe inspiring knowledge on this site and anything that improves access to it is to be welcomed.
 
jeff said:
I've created the new forum:

*NEW* Jigs, Fixtures, & Shop Aids

www.penturners.org

To improve visibility initially, I've put it at the same level as the other forums in the penturning category. Later, we can nest it under the Shops, Tools, and Equipment forum if that makes the most sense.
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Like it where you placed it. Makes easy to find. Hope people take advantage of this tool.
 
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