Tenon Jig Storage

[pelligrini]

I picked up a CI tenon jig quite a while back and I've found it cumbersome to store. I had it on some open shelves in various places, but it took up a bunch of space and was difficult to move around. This quick wall mounting bracket I did last night gives it a stable, easily accessed storage place.

I finally freed up some wall space by removing a 36" wide shelf unit and removing a bunch of non-woodworking items from my shop. It had to go as my new sharpening/sanding cart needed a place to tuck away. I quickly running out of floor space.

The bracket is just a 2x4 with pocket holes on the ends into the wall studs. Some maple scraps hold the miter bar in place bearing on top of the 2x4. I cut a couple quick mortises so the discs for the miter bar won't be taking any of the load.

How do you guys deal with cumbersome jigs?

[LCHIEN]

mostly they pile up taking space.

On DIY jigs, Do most of you build "permanent" jigs that you keep forever, or do you build a "quickie, one time" jig that you disassemble and reuse the parts of after you are done with the project it was built for?

[toolguy1000]

pelligrini...that's a good idea for what is a bulky, awkwardly shaped tool. a few additional pics would be appreciated so i can copy the idea. and, BTW, that appears to be one annoyingly neat, clean and organized shop you have.

[pelligrini]

Hehe, that wall is clean and organized because all of those shelves came out and shifted down 33". The bottom drawer unit (re purposed waterbed base) moved down the same distance too. 18 sq ft of shelving was removed from the shop. When your shop is 10x12 to the outside of the studs 18 sq ft is a lot. Finding a proper place for the stuff was a challenge, and still is. There's now 5 boxes of electrical, plumbing and misc. stuff in the garage and 4 boxes of cutoffs & scraps on the back porch. I was also drinking some the previous two weekends, lots of time to clean when you don't allow yourself to play with power or cutting tools.

Here's a couple more shots of the holder. It's a really simple construction; a 2x4 to fit between the studs (already had one the proper length or I would have used a 1x4). 4 pocket holes were put into the face on the ends (5 if you include the first one that was drilled with the guide set for 3/4" material). You can see two holes just peeking out from the maple bracket on the left. The maple brackets are about 4 1/4" long fastened to the face of the 2x4 with a couple screws. I spaced them about an inch wider than the base of the jig so I didn't have to have that heavy thing perfectly aligned to hang. I chiseled a couple mortises after I marked the max locations of where the discs on the miter bar might end up.

It's a pretty solid holder, the base of the jig is flush against the face of the 2x4 and the full length of the miter bar bears along the top. There's two 2 1/2" pocket screws fastening the 2x4 to the studs. If one is lucky enough to have an insulated, sheathed shop, they could just fasten it to the wall from the front.

[Ed62]

That's a nice solution to a common problem. The jigs I've made typically just hang around somewhere when I'm done using them until I get tired of looking at the dust collectors, then I either get rid of them or put them in another place to collect some new dust.

Ed

[toolguy1000]

what keeps the tenoning jig's miter bar from slipping off the top of the 2x4?

[LCHIEN]

what keeps the tenoning jig's miter bar from slipping off the top of the 2x4?

The maple blocks that rise about an inch over the 2x4, looks like to me.

[pelligrini]

what keeps the tenoning jig's miter bar from slipping off the top of the 2x4?

Yep, Loring pegged it.

I might make something nicer looking in the future. (I keep telling myself it's just shop furniture). More than likely I'll find something else that deserves all that wall space before then though.

I'm thinking I'm going to look at hanging that jig from the rafters. It's not like I use it all that much right now. I'll probably start using it a lot more if I put that recent set of Narex mortise chisels to proper use. The wall is good enough for now...

[pelligrini]

On DIY jigs, Do most of you build "permanent" jigs that you keep forever, or do you build a "quickie, one time" jig that you disassemble and reuse the parts of after you are done with the project it was built for?

Most of mine have been quickie jigs. They get disassembled over time as parts get put into play for other ideas. I'll also build them rough to test out the design too. I've always planned to go back and make a decent permanent jig, but that doesn't happen all that often.

With my limited space I try to consider where a permanent jig will go once it is made. I wish I would have thought longer on that multifunction crosscut sled I did recently. The miter bar sticking out in the middle has proven to be problematic. It about got quickly disassembled (into bits) last weekend when I ripped my jeans on the extended runner. I still have a good scrape and bruise on my thigh. I'm glad I didn't make the thing 60" long or I would probably be singing falsetto. The new setup on that wall has provided a better place for it. The bar doesn't stick out beyond the sander cart.