Tapering jig

For a couple of recent projects, I’ve needed to rip cut longer pieces at an angle. I’ve done this by hand for some short pieces but it’s quite tiring to hand saw long rip cuts multiple times. One solution is to make a tapering jig for the table saw.

I ordered two quick grip/release clamps online and found a suitably thick piece of mdf in my scrap wood collection. I measured and this to a suitable length to hold a longer workpiece and then ripped it to the required width for the clamps to sit near the middle.

It took a bit of adjusting to position the clamps in the right place so they would be correctly positioned to hold a workpiece, but also to make sure that the red rubber handles didn’t stick over the edge of the jig where they would interfere with trying to push the jig along the table saw fence. Once I had them suitably positioned, I screwed the clamps into place using some short screws and then glued on a block at the end of the jig as a handle, adding screws into the underside countersunk into the mdf.

This was a very quick and simple jig to make but makes it a lot easier to make angled cuts now – I simply clamp the workpiece into the jig at the required angle and then run the jig against the table saw fence. This pushes the workpiece through the blade at the required angle, while keeping the workpiece securely held and my fingers well clear of the blade. Another useful addition to the workshop! 🔨