# Maple vs Oak



## CGL (Jan 14, 2012)

Good evening from Texas. On most jig plans I have noticed that they call for maple. Would it be OK to use oak instead? I just wonder why most plans call for maple. Thanks, Chris


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

Oak is fine for whiskey barrels but not for jigs use MDF..

==



CGL said:


> Good evening from Texas. On most jig plans I have noticed that they call for maple. Would it be OK to use oak instead? I just wonder why most plans call for maple. Thanks, Chris


----------



## WayneMahler (May 17, 2012)

I'll go with Bj on this. I use mdf for jigs. I have also used quality ply n the past. Both work well, but mdf is less money.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

CGL said:


> Good evening from Texas. On most jig plans I have noticed that they call for maple. Would it be OK to use oak instead? I just wonder why most plans call for maple. Thanks, Chris


the wood's stability...


----------



## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> the wood's stability...


+1 with all actually. 

With Stick, in that (compared to oak) Maple is hard and dense, more stable. Less sensitive to moisture changes. With use as a part of a tool, being hard and dense, it flexes less and wears less.

With Bob and others, mdf doesn't wear that well and it flexes, but it is just a jig and if you aren't using it everyday, who may never wear it out anyways. MDF is inexpensive. Ply is also inexpensive. wears better than mdf, but mdf is cheaper.

MDF is also consistently flat, smooth and the same thickness through it's length. It is easily and consistent to machine (although the adhesives and dense fiber wears down bits faster than wood. Then there's the dust.) Those things are advantages when using it for jigs. And again- MDF is inexpensive.


----------



## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Perhaps the mdf vs hardwood isn't that simple? If one were looking for thin or small dimension slides and/or runners, or material for knobs, a fine grained hardwood would beat mdf on all qualities that matter. Fair to say that we all have chunks of scrap hardwood piling up in our shops? Perfect way to get some value from them.
Not just Maple either; Poplar, Alder, or Birch would also be great choices for those parts.


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Being a maker of MANY jigs MDF is the best,you get it 1/4",3/8" 1/2",3/4",1",1 1/4" right out of the rack and it is always flat,most of the time you don't need to buy a 4' x 8' they always have smaller ones and cut offs in the rack and it's always for just a song..hard woods don't like to stay true the norm. they want to go back to being a tree like they say you take the wood out of a tree but you can't take the tree out of the wood.

Plywood is the pits for most jigs  but I will say Marine plywood works well BUT it's not cheap..the best has 13 layers ,birch plywood is OK sometimes if you can find the 13 layer type for 3/4" thick stock but it's hard to find..

==


==


----------



## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

Hard maple is one of the most stable woods in the world, stable enough to use for making many metal working jigs and fixtures. Old pattern makers and toolmakers love it.


----------



## OPG3 (Jan 9, 2011)

Chris, Of the choices between oak and maple, Maple for the reasons others have listed above; is quite likely your best choice. Either of those - or many other woods will also work. Jigs, fixtures, etc often are best made with MDF for the reasons also listed above. A word of caution when working with MDF (that I haven't seen mentioned) is that fasteners work best in the *faces* of MDF, _ends and edges_ do not take fasteners easily - it can be done, but is often more trouble than if you simply used solid real wood to begin with.



> they want to go back to being a tree like they say you take the wood out of a tree but you can't take the tree out of the wood.


BJ: Is there any musical accompaniment to go along with that song? If I were into tattoos, that one could be cool! I am more into scars than tattoos, If I ever did get a tattoo, it would probably get ruined by a cut!..and what's worse than a misspelled tattoo?

Otis Guillebeau from Auburn, Georgia


----------



## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> Perhaps the mdf vs hardwood isn't that simple? If one were looking for thin or small dimension slides and/or runners, or material for knobs, a fine grained hardwood would beat mdf on all qualities that matter.


Agreed, Dan. If you are going to make a jig out of wood then that timber needs to be hardwood and fine grained to ensure flat surfaces (especially end grain), so open pore, coarse grained timbers like oak are really a no-no. But left in an unheated or at best a sporadically heated garage or shed (especially in a damp p[lace such as where I live) they do tend to warp relatively quickly

As to plywood it has all kinds of issues IMHO. You can get voids in it, the surface often isn't flat (from my experience of CNC machining loads of it) and it has this annoying tendency to move (warp) when you cut into it for recesses, openings (again, from CNC experience - the movement is cuased by the cutting destressing the material). Some plywoods are better than others, so a lot of Chinese hardwood plywood I've seen and used is utter rubbish as a jig material whilst aircraft-quality Baltic birch is very stable and very flat. It's also _very_ expensive, almost as expensive as Tufnol (cloth re-inforced phenolic plastic - which incidentally never comes dead flat, either, but isn't bad).

That means for short run or one-off jigs I use MDF. Cheap, readily available, good range of thicknesses, absolutely flat and easy to work. All it needs is sealing with wax or lacquer to keep the damp out. For long term use I try to get hold of Tufnol (phenolic plastics) or HPL (high pressure laminate) HPL is the material used for products such as changing room dividers, public toilet (bathroom) stall walls/doors, etc and is used by a number of manufacturers to produce manufactured jigs such as this and this (both from Trend). Both materials are ideal and in my line of work I get offcuts of HPL from time to time off the fitters of that stuff

Regards

Phil


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

My choice is plywood for jigs, two pieces of 1/2" plywood glued together, for a final thickness of 1". Works very well for me. I tried MDF once, but didn't like the sawdust at all, so went back to plywood.


----------



## IC31 (Nov 16, 2012)

Good discussion as I have used whatever I have in my 'extras' box for a jig, from sappy pine, plywood to a couple of exotics left over from something. Mind you, most of these were one-off contraptions and usually consigned back to the 'extras' or the fireplace when done with. I do like maple best though and what my company used for sand mold cores as well as for many other uses.


----------

