# 5 Minute taper jig



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I needed to taper some legs I'm putting on a night stand and I wanted to keep it simple so I came up with this method which only took about 5 minutes to do. I took a scrap of plywood and screwed a butt stop on it and two side stops. The tapers I laid out set flush with the outer edge of the ply. To use it you just set the fence so that the ply is just about to kiss the side of the blade. To cut the first set of tapers only required one setup since two could be done face up and the other two face down. On the second taper I had to do with the fence on one side of the blade and then move the stops to the other edge of the plywood and do that side on the opposite side of the blade. It only takes two or 3 minutes to move the stops.

If you are only doing a one off then this is way better than setting up a board with moveable stops and DeStaco clamps and then trying to find room to store it.


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## gmercer_48083 (Jul 18, 2012)

I use a similar set up...but added hold downs.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I have them but they take time to install and I found I didn't need them. By going into the saw in the direction shown I could push the leg and the plywood at the same time. If I was doing a really long taper I might have used them as that would eventually have my hand too close to the blade without them.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Charles - mine was more like 10 minutes to make - similar to one Norm Abrams used on the NYW years ago - adjustable for angle and no need for holddowns as you just push the jig and the work piece through at the same time.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

In principle that's the same as this one I bought from Sears years ago: https://www.sears.com/craftsman-taper-jig/p-00903233000P which I find a royal PITA to set up. I see yours uses a sacrificial push plate which is a good idea because you don't want to hit the jig with the metal one I have. But all the jigs I've seen to date start cutting where the taper runs out instead of at the base end like the one I made. Plus setting the start and end to the edge of the plywood solved figuring out where the start and end points would be. One of the problems with the steel jig I have is that every time I adjust one end I also change the other end. Since the plywood is set to the edge of the blade all I have to do is set start and finish on the edge of the plywood.


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

I made one like Vince, but now I use my jointer.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I've used my jointer too Larry and if you lay out the taper you can work to the layout lines and do a pretty good job from leg to leg since they only have to look alike and not actually be alike but I found this jig was much faster in the long run.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Larry, I've used my jointer as well. I set a stop (or starting point) on the infield table, then lower the leg onto the blades and push it through. I use layout lines on two faces and set the pieces side by side to ensure consistency in the thickness


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