Doing a little Jig..... arf...

Ok time to get started on the sides, this will be a long update as it covers 2 days worth of work!! sorry..

SketchUp the wanted result for the sides and then the measurements the cuts and the angles for the wood i'm going to use, some 70xx X 45mm timber which will be planed and sanded smooth before painting..

I also need to build a jig, which is a set of blocks to hold the sides in to do some of the cuts that will end up as 45 degree angles, these are easy enough to do at the ends of wood but not along the length of a peice of wood, the answer is to turn the wood and hold it at a 45degree angle, now your 45degree cut becomes a 45 degree plus 45 degree = 90 degree, ie straight down!! this is then propped above the mitre saw and clamped into position and then sawed..

So here's the mockup...



Got the first cut done and used the router with a 12mm staight bit to cut the groove down the middle of the 70mm side..

Top view..

Side view..

Next i need to build my compound mitre saw out of the box to get my jig bits built..

The plans..

The saw built on the kitchen table!!

Top view..

Now i set the guides to angle the saw to 45 degrees on both sides, this is easy to do, just a hex key unlocked, the guides rotated and then tightened again..

Turned guides and re-locked..

Both guides at 45 degrees..

wood placed and locked into position, i'll cut 2 grooves into it and then cut it down the middle to get 2 pieces the same..

First cut made and wood rotated to make second cut, see how it cuts down and inwards at a 45 degree angle!!

second cut made, now i have a V shaped cut made in the wood...

Wood is rotated again and moved along to the other end..

First cut isnt important, but is roughtly the same length from the end of the wood as the first..

Now the important bit, to get a V cut the second time, the exact same as the first I MUST measure the size of my first cut, i measure from the 2 cuts i made the first time and mark the wood with the same distance as before, now i know where to make my second cut!!

Measured and marked..

Second cut made and finished, note the locking bit holding the wood, this was tricky as it held the wood behind the blade, with little to hold by hand in front of the blade, not something i'd recommend, but no injuries!

Top view of saw holding the piece with 2 cuts made, now to saw down the middle..

Mitre angle returned to 90 degrees and wood clamped to cut right down the middle..

and cutting..!

Now i have 2 pieces of wood with 45 degree grooves in them, both cut down the same distance..

Now i take my side piece and clamp it into these jig bits, they now hold the wood at 34 degrees..

Now as you can see, i can quarter turn my wood and place it into these 2 45 degree cuts and then clamp it into place to hold it right into the grooves..

I marked the wood at 7mm from the cut of the groove down the middle, now i can saw down this line with a straight down 90 degree cut, i dont have to hold the saw at 45 degrees or tilt a jig saw!!

Top view..

So thats it for today, i will get the contraption back into the mitre saw tomorrow and show how i can now make the cut and angle the edges of that side piece so they slope from the top and bottom towards the middle and that trench..

I've learned a lot today about mitreing and angles, i'm glad my brain works and that i thought of building a jig instead of doing an angled jigsaw cut along the length which would have been sooooo imprecise..

Back soon..