# Table Saw Ripping Jig



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Whenever I buy rough lumber, one of the first things I do is rip a straight edge. I usually buy 4/4 rough 1x6 or 1x8 in length's up to 16 feet. The lumber yard will cut them down to a length I can carry in my truck.

So, with boards under 6 feet long, I rip a straight edge first before taking to the jointer or planer.

I have been using a temporary jig until today.

Take a look at the pics. The jig is a plywood sled with a stop at the rear. On top of it, I ripped a couple of 1 1/8 inch wide pieces of 3/8 inch Baltic birch and sandwiched some T track in between. I glued and stapled the two pieces and screwed the T track to the sled.

I cut a couple of blocks and attached a small clamp to each one. Then I attached a toggle clamp which holds the rough stock in place. This system works well. I have ripped quiet a bit of maple and poplar with out problems popping up.

The good part about this sled is the toggle clamps can be positioned to secure just about any length that needs to be cut from short to 6 feet plus.

This is simple to make. If you wish, you could modify it to make a taper cutting jig. I really don't need to do any of that at the moment, but ripping I do need to do. I still have more cabinets to build (face frames, doors and drawer fronts).

No excuses! Get out there in your shop and make one! 
You can thank me later. 

Mike


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Mike that's a really interesting setup . You are sliding the sled against the fence correct, that way because the wood stud is clamped down to the sled it creates a better guide ?


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

RainMan1 said:


> Mike that's a really interesting setup . You are sliding the sled against the fence correct, that way because the wood stud is clamped down to the sled it creates a better guide ?


Yes, I use the fence. That way you can adjust the width. No miter gauge runner used.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Well looks like yet another winter project. Your going to keep me in my overdraft yet lol


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## twallace (Jan 15, 2012)

Mike,
I do the same, it is just that I do not use the toggle clamps which is really needed when I have ill mannered boards. Once again , another fine episode from "MT Stringer workshop".
Is there an episode on arch cabinet doors with muntins as in the french doors? also a louvre jig?

your workshop fan
tom


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Nice Jig Mike. N


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Mike.......it's always a pleasure to see your inventions. And the great photographs make the process much more understandable.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

twallace said:


> Mike,
> I do the same, it is just that I do not use the toggle clamps which is really needed when I have ill mannered boards. Once again , another fine episode from "MT Stringer workshop".
> Is there an episode on arch cabinet doors with muntins as in the french doors? also a louvre jig?
> 
> ...


Thanks.
Sorry Tom but there won't be an episode of making arched raised panel doors. :-( Although I have seen it done on You Tube.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I am just trying to give back for all that I have learned here.

Mike


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

JUst a thought. Since the toggle clamps hold the board being ripped in position, you don't necessarily have to have it butted against the side of the sled. You can move it a little to get a better rip from your board.

Just practice and be careful.
Mike


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

MT Stringer said:


> On top of it, I ripped a couple of 1 1/8 inch wide pieces of 3/8 inch Baltic birch and sandwiched some T track in between. I glued and stapled the two pieces and screwed the T track to the sled.
> Mike


A nice, simple solution to adding T track without a hassle. Thanks for the tip.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

I use a very similar jig with my table saw although my toggle clamps are fixed in place. I find it very annoying to have to keep adjusting the toggle clamps due to the difference in thickness of the timber. Have you managed to get around this problem or like me do you just put up with it?


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

mailee said:


> I use a very similar jig with my table saw although my toggle clamps are fixed in place. I find it very annoying to have to keep adjusting the toggle clamps due to the difference in thickness of the timber. Have you managed to get around this problem or like me do you just put up with it?


I bought a couple of adjustable toggle clamp bolts from woodcraft but I can find them on their web site. They have a spring under a knob that can easily be loosened/tightened to adjust the position of the bolt. They were on the clearance table. Now I wish I had bought several more.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

MT Stringer said:


> JUst a thought. Since the toggle clamps hold the board being ripped in position, you don't necessarily have to have it butted against the side of the sled. You can move it a little to get a better rip from your board.
> 
> Just practice and be careful.
> Mike


Ok I was assuming that's what you were doing . I figured if the wood is pinned down hard enough you could shift the wood to the angle you prefer for the most parallel cut .
I have to find these hold down clamps now . Hopefully amazon.ca or LeeValley has them . 

I wonder if these are the same? 

http://www.amazon.ca/POWERTEC-20301...&qid=1404946416&sr=8-3&keywords=toggle+clamps


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Rick; that won't quick-adjust for thickness. You'd need to grab a wrench.
Ideally it'd work something like a wood vise, where you just slide it to the approximate thickness then a quick turn or pull and the clamp pressure is applied.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

That style won't 'quick-adjust', Rick. You need a wrench.
Maybe something more like these?
Bessey® Auto-Adjust Toggle Clamps - Lee Valley Tools


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

And make sure the toggle clamp lock in the vertical position. Otherwise, if you use one that you press the handle to lock, it may hit the fence. Not good.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Good idea, Mike.

That would save some time on the jointer.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> Good idea, Mike.
> 
> That would save some time on the jointer.


Yes sir.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I guess that one in the link is disqualified...


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## matermark (Nov 28, 2011)

Nice job!

Looking at the layout, I was wondering what happens with narrower stock...

Maybe if you used a couple short pieces of T-track going in a direction perpendicular to the saw blade, you could slide the longer rail closer to the saw blade for narrow stock... you can also use it as a taper jig by using clamps in the T-track at different distances from the fence.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

matermark said:


> Nice job!
> 
> Looking at the layout, I was wondering what happens with narrower stock...
> 
> Maybe if you used a couple short pieces of T-track going in a direction perpendicular to the saw blade, you could slide the longer rail closer to the saw blade for narrow stock... you can also use it as a taper jig by using clamps in the T-track at different distances from the fence.


Thanks Mark. I have seen other sleds with the features you mentioned.

This thing was so easy to build and does just what it is designed for. I have been buying 4/4 rough stock to make face frames for the cabinets I have been building. No need for anything else, just rip a straight edge.

There is 4 inches of bed. That works with boards out to 8 inches. I won't be buying anything wider. The price jumps for boards over ten inches wide.

For now, anything less than four inches just isn't in the plan.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Well, I had to break out the ripping sled today. Several of the 4/4 rough birch boards were bowed. I laid out the pieces I needed and cross cut the ten footers to less than four feet each. Instead of having some boards that sorta resemble a banana, they now have one straight side.

From there I took them to the jointer and flattened one side, and then run the straight edge across the cutters to true it up.

I have a 24 tooth rip blade in the table saw, and ripping the boards was easy peasy. I really like the way the toggle clamps can be easily repositioned along the "T" track. I think I may have out done myself. :dance3:


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

RainMan1 said:


> Ok I was assuming that's what you were doing . I figured if the wood is pinned down hard enough you could shift the wood to the angle you prefer for the most parallel cut .
> I have to find these hold down clamps now . Hopefully amazon.ca or LeeValley has them .
> 
> I wonder if these are the same?
> ...


I have similar clamps, Rick.

I just replaced the top nuts with wing nuts.....


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## jnbrown (Apr 14, 2013)

How about these instead of the toggle clamps?

Hold Down Clamp for T-Track, 5-1/2"L x 1-1/8"W - Rockler Woodworking Tools


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

The rockler hold downs work ok but the advantage of the toggle clamps is that they are quick and have a "positive lever action" - when they engage, you know they are engaged. If you have any joint pain, the toggles are a lot easier to use, too. Lots of different choices in toggle clamps. I agree they a little bit of a pain to adjust. Once adjusted, though they are easy.

While we are at it, the same thing goes for the cam levers MT is using. Those look to be from rockler. I'm in the process of switching over to using cams where ever possible. $10 for a pair is a reasonable price to avoid having to screw down knobs and feel my finger ache for hours.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

PhilBa said:


> The rockler hold downs work ok but the advantage of the toggle clamps is that they are quick and have a "positive lever action" - when they engage, you know they are engaged. If you have any joint pain, the toggles are a lot easier to use, too. Lots of different choices in toggle clamps. I agree they a little bit of a pain to adjust. Once adjusted, though they are easy.
> 
> While we are at it, the same thing goes for the cam levers MT is using. Those look to be from rockler. I'm in the process of switching over to using cams where ever possible. $10 for a pair is a reasonable price to avoid having to screw down knobs and feel my finger ache for hours.


Thanks Phil. Everything I used to make the sled just so happened to be in my jig hardware box. I had previously purchased the cams on sale at Rockler during one of my visits to the store. The toggle clamps came from Harbor Freight.

The whole setup is easy to adjust for whatever is being ripped. This is especially nice when ripping several pieces that are not the same width. As the boards come from the lumber yard, they vary in width and length. It is easy to clamp a piece in place, bump the fence to align the blade with the sled/board, lock it, and make the cut.

This jig is turning out to be a really nice helper to have around the shop. 

I might add that I place the bowed edge that is convex against the sled and rip off just enough to give me a straight edge on the outer edge that is bowed outward. That way there is no tendency for the workpiece to shift while being cut.

Mike


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## wbrisett (Feb 12, 2011)

This jig is nearly identical to one I made for doing the same thing since most of my lumber these days comes rough cut from the mill.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

I have to make a jig very much like this in the next few weeks and I will make two of them, one for the table saw and one also for the band saw, why, to straighten and square rough sawn timber, we all mostly have thickness planners but they cannot flatten, straighten or square wood so you need a jointer for that and at the moment I don't have the space for a jointer, I have a new band saw so I can use a jig like this to straighten a long piece by cutting off waste to leave a straight face but that cannot square it that well, the table saw can do a reasonable job by straightening one face then flipping it 90degs and then doing the same to that face and remember to only take off the minimum amount as you will still want to skim that sawn face ion the planner, then you have two straight adjoining edges, the thickness planner can do the rest and then you do have square and straight wood. N


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## matermark (Nov 28, 2011)

I know this is an old thread but if people are still looking for Toggle Clamps, be sure to check ebay--I bought a PAIR last year for like $3-$4/pr, INCLUDING DELIVERY. It usually takes 10-20 days to receive them, so order early enough. There are many different versions, both in clamping pressure as well as handle position when in the clamping state. Some the handles are vertical when applied, others are horizontal. Most dealers include in their ad a blueprint of the dimensions both open & closed.

Hope this helps!


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