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DIY saddle square
Had a little free time today, it cooled off some, so I spent about 30 minutes in the shop to make a DIY saddle square.
You can buy these from Lee Valley for around $20 and they have been very useful.
As I have noted before these are useful for transferring lines around the sides and even to the other side of boards. Its especially useful when the boards have rounded edges like 2x4s often do and not a sharp square corner to mark.
I figure I can make one from scrap wood for next to nothing.
And I did.
The secret is that if its your measuring and marking tool for working it must be as accurate as you can make it.
The actual dimensions are not all that critical. this one is about 1-7/8" wide and about 4-1/4" long.
The important things are:
When ripping the two sides of the jig to make the end piece flush, make sure that the side of the jig is flush against the rip fence.
One way to do this is to offset the end piece a little short of the edge of the jig so it does not keep the edge of the top piece from contacting the rip fence the whole length!
Beveled the tops and ends for appearance sake, but not the marking edge.
The bad thing is I was screwing around with the brand and thought I practiced on some scrap to get it square and flat, but I didn't do a good enough job.
You can buy these from Lee Valley for around $20 and they have been very useful.
As I have noted before these are useful for transferring lines around the sides and even to the other side of boards. Its especially useful when the boards have rounded edges like 2x4s often do and not a sharp square corner to mark.
I figure I can make one from scrap wood for next to nothing.
And I did.
The secret is that if its your measuring and marking tool for working it must be as accurate as you can make it.
The actual dimensions are not all that critical. this one is about 1-7/8" wide and about 4-1/4" long.
The important things are:
- Get the end piece perfectly square to the long direction of the top.
- Then use the table saw to trim one side of the jig so that the end and the top are cut flush by cutting both. Then flip and do the other side.
When ripping the two sides of the jig to make the end piece flush, make sure that the side of the jig is flush against the rip fence.
One way to do this is to offset the end piece a little short of the edge of the jig so it does not keep the edge of the top piece from contacting the rip fence the whole length!
Beveled the tops and ends for appearance sake, but not the marking edge.
The bad thing is I was screwing around with the brand and thought I practiced on some scrap to get it square and flat, but I didn't do a good enough job.
Loring in Katy, TX USA