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Start with the template for the bracing layout. One for each model.



Make a block with the x angle cut into it accurately.



Use it on the mitre guage.



Fetch 'Stick With Purposeful Lump' and clip onto mitre guage.



Align it so the blade passes through the same spot every time (yes, took a while to grock that).



Choose your spacer, made by smart people by measuring, and by trial and error by people like me. Masking tape shims are your friend.



Butt your braces against Purposeful Lump and take a cut. My mitre gauge has slop in the channel, so I make sure to always press obliquely to the left so it runs at a constant distance.

Add spacer and take second pass. Then take out the spacer and nudge the braces a bit so the blade hits the center of the notch so the height is constant.



Zippetty do dah, perfectly angled press fit x joint!



Clip spacers back onto the Purposeful Lump and stow for next time.

Takes a bit of time to make the templates and angle block for each model, but saves futzing about every time you make your x's...short term loss for long term gain.

Dang, now I need a table saw.

You know that you're now going to have to file for trademarks on " Super Simple Speedy Sunday X Brace Notching System" and "Purposeful Lump".

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I don't mind sharing....

I find my tablesaw very useful. It's a Bosch job site style, retails these days for around 600$. We also bought a second DeWalt one about a year ago for 300$, and it's awesome too.

Only if you really want one.

The same idea will work on a router table. I use a similar sort of fixture for making lattices on a router table.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

I know my tablesaw sees a lot of use. Enough to buy one for each end of the shop...

Nice!

This will do the trick too:
http://www.bridgecitytools.com/default/ ... maker.html


Regards,


Edzard

Good job, but why don't you have a length of birch ply permanently screwed on to the miter gauge to act as a cross-cut fence?

Nicely done. You might consider an Incra fence. It can be adjusted to fit the table saw channel without slop and is also more easily set for the angles.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Here's an adjustable "X"notch jig that does not require power tools -- just a razor saw.

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/Xb ... guide.html

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Thanks for sharing that, Ed. If I can make one suggestion, though - make a zero clearance insert for each of your table saws! You'll get cleaner cuts on the bottom side of the wood, and off cuts won't get caught or ping back at you! Great terminology, as well. Now all I have to do is find a mitre gauge for my 1" mitre slot.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Great idea. You can take the slop out of your miter gauge by pinging the sides with a spring punch.


Ken Jones
Mountain Song Guitars

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Good job, but why don't you have a length of birch ply permanently screwed on to the miter gauge to act as a cross-cut fence?

Haven't found the need as of yet...

I have one for a different gadget that I'm workiing on, maybe I'll give it a try. The slop in the runner is real easy to account for by making sure the bar runs against the edge...

make a zero clearance insert for each of your table saws! You'll get cleaner cuts on the bottom side of the wood, and off cuts won't get caught or ping back at you!

I have them for some tasks, like when using the fretsaw blade for cutting purflings...

Tablesaw good

Thats pretty much how I do it, I've just been creeping up on the width but the spacer is a nice addition

This is one of the jobs that is very satisfying with a fine toothed back saw and a chisel - a great skill to have. Kind of like learning to grind and sharpen your edge tools without a jig. Much quicker than locating the jig, setting it up, etc.

And Ken's little jig is a nice addition.

Ed

Maybe a dumb question, but the spacer needs to be the exact thickness of the braces, correct? And.. the depth of the cut is right at half the height of the brace(s). This looks much better than my hammer and flat screwdriver method.

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Kurt Thomas

"There's a first time for everything even if you do it by mistake."

I'd like to hear Ed's take on this also, I like a tight press fit, thumb and finger tight so mine would be a few thousandths under. And yes on 1/2 the height.

I personally go a little past halfway as there is still the bottom radius to be shaped. So about .010 extra, which leaves you a bit of wiggle room to put in your radius.

The combined width of your blade and spacer should be the width of your brace., minus a few thou for a tight press fit. I think...I made mine via trial and error...

You can also cut them just a little tight and sand a few thou off the sides of the brace with a hard sanding block to fine tune a squeek fit.
I've used a router jig I copied from Charlie Hoffman for the last 10 years but I like this saw thing, lots quicker to set up.
Thanks!

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Good stuff Ed. I like the way you think.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

The way I think is to make things as simple and easily repeatable as possible with the minimal amount of thought required so I don't have to stand there and go, 'Hmm, how's that go again?'...

No kidding! I was standing there looking at this really cool sweet jig that I made going, "Hmm....I wonder what this is for..." I'm going to start writing more notes on them.

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Pat

Slick! But my table saw is currently a fancy base for my home made drum sander and buffer. It takes more time to change back to table saw mode than it does to use my razor saw. But I love the simplicity and repeatability of the setup!

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Tony Thatcher
Bozeman, Montana

Now I use a dado blade instead of a regular blade and spacer.

I use my Laguna bandsaw for basically all my straight cuts now, so the tablesaw has he dado in full time and is used for only two jobs, x brace joints and truss rod slots which use the same blade.

I cut the x's now just a hair thick and then sand them to about .005 oversized on the drum sander for a nice tight fit.