Jigs And More Jigs
December 23, 2024 9:12 AM Subscribe
Please enjoy the soothing precision of the Top 100 Woodworking Tools Hacks from Yasuhiro TV.
Pleasantly, you can download plans in metric or imperial for all of them in the comments below the video.
Pleasantly, you can download plans in metric or imperial for all of them in the comments below the video.
These are great, but I did lol a bit at the ones that amount to "with nothing but an expensive specialized tool for accurately drilling holes (i.e. a drill press) you can build a cheap tool for accurately drilling holes".*
Also numbers 15-23 aka "how to absolutely abuse the shit out of your electric drill."
* I know, the point of the jig is that it's often easier to bring a jig and a portable drill to the work than to maneuver the work onto a drill press.
posted by jedicus at 9:41 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
Also numbers 15-23 aka "how to absolutely abuse the shit out of your electric drill."
* I know, the point of the jig is that it's often easier to bring a jig and a portable drill to the work than to maneuver the work onto a drill press.
posted by jedicus at 9:41 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
step 1: be insanely skilled woodworker...
posted by glonous keming at 9:44 AM on December 23 [3 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 9:44 AM on December 23 [3 favorites]
While the producer is using battery operated drills the plug in style are essentially free on the used market. I had a milk crate full from my parents place that I literally was unable to give away.
There are also numerous YouTube videos on converting a hand held into a drill press.
Even then unless you like building tools it probably isn't worth it considering you can buy 8" drill presses from Princess Auto for C$100 or Habor Freight for US$80. Are they going to be the most accurate thing in the world? No. But they'll get you started and you can increase effective accuracy with technique.
And all the drill powered stuff could also be built with a set of pillow blocks, a pair of pulleys (which you can also make out of plywood) and the reclaimed motor of your choice. Drills just deliver high torque variable speed in a nice compact package.
posted by Mitheral at 10:05 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
There are also numerous YouTube videos on converting a hand held into a drill press.
Even then unless you like building tools it probably isn't worth it considering you can buy 8" drill presses from Princess Auto for C$100 or Habor Freight for US$80. Are they going to be the most accurate thing in the world? No. But they'll get you started and you can increase effective accuracy with technique.
And all the drill powered stuff could also be built with a set of pillow blocks, a pair of pulleys (which you can also make out of plywood) and the reclaimed motor of your choice. Drills just deliver high torque variable speed in a nice compact package.
posted by Mitheral at 10:05 AM on December 23 [2 favorites]
I love watching this stuff, but after observing DH, some of this is a problem to which there is already a solution easily available, or there are other, easier, ways of doing things. Still cool though, and I showed him some things I thought he might find interesting.
DH was a 'woodbutcher' for years as a civilian for the USAF building high-tolerance protective shipping containers for six-figure airplane parts and determining transport methods to get them where they needed to go. As the saying goes, whatever he does around here with wood, it ain't much for pretty, but it's hella stout.
At home he was mechanic for all our vehicles and rebuilt numerous engines and transmissions. He hated to buy one-off tools like steering wheel pullers so he improvised (although he probably would have eventually saved more than enough time to recoup the cost, LOL) but it was the principle of the thing.
He's in the process of building a bathroom on the east side of the house. Floor, framing, electrical, plumbing, the works. What pisses him off is waiting for the inspectors to move forward with what needs done next. I can't wait till it gets to my jobs--the finish work--flooring, painting, tiling, etc. NOT!
posted by BlueHorse at 10:35 AM on December 23 [3 favorites]
DH was a 'woodbutcher' for years as a civilian for the USAF building high-tolerance protective shipping containers for six-figure airplane parts and determining transport methods to get them where they needed to go. As the saying goes, whatever he does around here with wood, it ain't much for pretty, but it's hella stout.
At home he was mechanic for all our vehicles and rebuilt numerous engines and transmissions. He hated to buy one-off tools like steering wheel pullers so he improvised (although he probably would have eventually saved more than enough time to recoup the cost, LOL) but it was the principle of the thing.
He's in the process of building a bathroom on the east side of the house. Floor, framing, electrical, plumbing, the works. What pisses him off is waiting for the inspectors to move forward with what needs done next. I can't wait till it gets to my jobs--the finish work--flooring, painting, tiling, etc. NOT!
posted by BlueHorse at 10:35 AM on December 23 [3 favorites]
The drill abuse is interesting, but I doubt your run-of-the-mill cordless drill is going to last long doing stuff that blocks air movement through the motor or runs them continuously. I wonder how hot those get after running for 15 minutes straight?
posted by tmt at 11:08 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
posted by tmt at 11:08 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I am in awe of how this person's mind works in developing these solutions.
I know their studio/shop is meticulously clean. I'm sure their jig-store and material / parts racks must look much the same level of planning and organisation.
posted by many-things at 11:50 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I know their studio/shop is meticulously clean. I'm sure their jig-store and material / parts racks must look much the same level of planning and organisation.
posted by many-things at 11:50 AM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I was enamored with videos like these when I first started woodworking. Later on I realized they were just not for me. Although I love the process of making something, the end result for me is really the payoff. Something I can share with other people. If I there is a commercial jig available that will help me finish a piece, unless it is just ridiculously more expensive than making one, I will buy it. Another advantage is that commercial jigs are generally more customizable than home-built jigs.
Where the skill in building jigs like these is really important is if you are selling your work and need to make a number of the same items. The ability to make jigs like these in that case sets you way ahead of your competition, and will save you thousands of dollars. I think about this any time someone says to me 'you should sell those', and it makes it easy for me to say 'nah'.
posted by Quonab at 12:09 PM on December 23 [3 favorites]
Where the skill in building jigs like these is really important is if you are selling your work and need to make a number of the same items. The ability to make jigs like these in that case sets you way ahead of your competition, and will save you thousands of dollars. I think about this any time someone says to me 'you should sell those', and it makes it easy for me to say 'nah'.
posted by Quonab at 12:09 PM on December 23 [3 favorites]
Did any other Project Binky fans find themselves saying "make the noise..." along with the green checkmarks?
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:30 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:30 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I often find myself screwing 3d printed parts into threaded inserts set in wood, and I had a hard time making the mounting holes consistently, until I realized I can also 3d print a little drilling jig. If you aren't expecting to use it a million times, you don't really need the metal liner they put in most of their drilling jigs - the sides of the flutes aren't really effective cutting surfaces anyway.
I have not made jigs on the drill press. But if you just want to simply drill perpendicular holes you can buy a jig with lots of hole sizes, and grooves for centering on a couple sizes of wood (which should also work good on tubes/pipes) for $10.
posted by aubilenon at 2:18 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
I have not made jigs on the drill press. But if you just want to simply drill perpendicular holes you can buy a jig with lots of hole sizes, and grooves for centering on a couple sizes of wood (which should also work good on tubes/pipes) for $10.
posted by aubilenon at 2:18 PM on December 23 [1 favorite]
His wood is so much nicer than anything I can get.
posted by aramaic at 5:04 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by aramaic at 5:04 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
I've grown tired of dust, so I've been trying to replace everything with tools that create minimal amounts of it.
So far this has mostly meant a smoothing plane instead of sandpaper, and a combination plane instead of a saw.
I would not generally recommend it. It has required patience for fiddly adjustments, patience for sharpening, and patience for everything taking longer. But the dramatic reduction in dust (and noise) has been nice.
So maybe call it a woodworking anti-hack.
posted by clawsoon at 8:44 PM on December 23 [3 favorites]
So far this has mostly meant a smoothing plane instead of sandpaper, and a combination plane instead of a saw.
I would not generally recommend it. It has required patience for fiddly adjustments, patience for sharpening, and patience for everything taking longer. But the dramatic reduction in dust (and noise) has been nice.
So maybe call it a woodworking anti-hack.
posted by clawsoon at 8:44 PM on December 23 [3 favorites]
Thank you for this video. I love jigs, although the contributors in this thread have already discussed their downsides. What I love most is the brilliant application of simple mechanical principles into so many permutations. Making jigs exposes you much better to all the problems of alignment, dimensions and vectors before building your actual project.
posted by SnowRottie at 8:51 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
posted by SnowRottie at 8:51 PM on December 23 [2 favorites]
I would not generally recommend it.
I should clarify.
Using a well-tuned smoothing plane instead of sandpaper is a joy that everybody who does stuff with wood should try at some point in their life. The way that it glides through the wood, the way that the delicate, paper-thin shaving comes off, the way that the chatoyance glistens as you move the wood around in the light... it's great.
Using a combination plane instead of a saw is a dumb idea which, apropos of the video, requires the use of too many jig-like contrivances for my liking.
posted by clawsoon at 8:32 AM on December 24 [1 favorite]
I should clarify.
Using a well-tuned smoothing plane instead of sandpaper is a joy that everybody who does stuff with wood should try at some point in their life. The way that it glides through the wood, the way that the delicate, paper-thin shaving comes off, the way that the chatoyance glistens as you move the wood around in the light... it's great.
Using a combination plane instead of a saw is a dumb idea which, apropos of the video, requires the use of too many jig-like contrivances for my liking.
posted by clawsoon at 8:32 AM on December 24 [1 favorite]
clawsoon, I have a powered jointer and planer on flip-top tables in my garage, but those tables stay flopped at all times since I got my Stanley #8. It takes 10x as long to use, but it feels like pure serotonin release the whole time. I built a Roubo bench this year and used only hand planes to flatten the top. Heavenly. Right now I get the most use out of my #5, I still haven't mastered the smoothing plane. That's on the to-learn list once I actually finish some pieces for inside the house.
posted by agentofselection at 9:57 AM on December 24 [2 favorites]
posted by agentofselection at 9:57 AM on December 24 [2 favorites]
I also love videos like this, applicability notwithstanding.
If you enjoyed this you might like this guy (JSK-koubou) - that's a link just to the jig/tool videos, but there are some other playlists.
"with nothing but an expensive specialized tool for accurately drilling holes (i.e. a drill press) you can"...
That really is a shortcoming of this whole genre - people are working with an expensive and extensive tool collection to begin with. Anyone know of videos that are more like "starting with the most basic of tools and materials, here's how you can bootstrap"?
posted by trig at 2:39 PM on December 24
If you enjoyed this you might like this guy (JSK-koubou) - that's a link just to the jig/tool videos, but there are some other playlists.
"with nothing but an expensive specialized tool for accurately drilling holes (i.e. a drill press) you can"...
That really is a shortcoming of this whole genre - people are working with an expensive and extensive tool collection to begin with. Anyone know of videos that are more like "starting with the most basic of tools and materials, here's how you can bootstrap"?
posted by trig at 2:39 PM on December 24
Maybe some of the track saw-like jigs are actually useful though. But if I try to think of all this as useful things for anyone to actually to do, I get mad too. Framing these as "hacks" does start me off in that direction. But like c'mon - making a lathe out of hardwood and a drill is not a hack that you do because you need to turn something and you don't have a lathe but you do have the cutting tools for a lathe. Obviously this person has a fully outfitted shop. It's an aesthetic exercise about working within weird self-imposed constraints. And watching it in that light is a lot more fun and less annoying.
posted by aubilenon at 3:33 PM on December 24
posted by aubilenon at 3:33 PM on December 24
trig - not videos but two books I have used a lot that don't entirely rely on a gleaming stack of costly tools:
John Carroll's Working alone: tips & techniques for solo building. Taunton, 1999. Really good for simple jigs and ways of working without needing others. Simple pencil rough sketches reinforce the idea that these are good-enough solutions.
Workshop : methods of work: The best tips from 25 years of Fine woodworking.
Not quite 'a house with only an axe' approaches but plenty of wood-only ideas.
posted by unearthed at 4:11 PM on December 24 [1 favorite]
John Carroll's Working alone: tips & techniques for solo building. Taunton, 1999. Really good for simple jigs and ways of working without needing others. Simple pencil rough sketches reinforce the idea that these are good-enough solutions.
Workshop : methods of work: The best tips from 25 years of Fine woodworking.
Not quite 'a house with only an axe' approaches but plenty of wood-only ideas.
posted by unearthed at 4:11 PM on December 24 [1 favorite]
Aw dang, I want this but for quilting. I'm getting sucked in to the woodworking ones just s fascinating techniques, but if it was something I could actually use... but who am I kidding, I wouldn't.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:39 PM on December 24
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:39 PM on December 24
You can spend an infinite amount on tools. Jigs can help you focus your acquisitions. Start a simple project with very basic tools. When you hit an operation that needs a new tool or a jig, go with the jig. It will take an unreasonable amount of time to use the jig. If you decide to do another project, then you buy that tool you did without for the first one. If you never do another project that needs the tool that you build the jig for, then you saved money and space. Another solution is to choose your projects according to the tools you already have. A friend of mine built many furniture pieces with just a chop saw, power drill and self-driving screws. You only need many tools when you want something different than rustic furniture.
posted by SnowRottie at 9:04 PM on December 25 [1 favorite]
posted by SnowRottie at 9:04 PM on December 25 [1 favorite]
Somewhat on topic, I recently ran into a Youtube blacksmith who basically said (I'm paraphrasing):
"Everyone always says start with cheap tools and then get the good ones as you get better. Actually, someone that's new to a craft will gain more advantage by using high-quality tools, and they'll be more likely to stick with it because it will be an enjoyable process. A real professional can use almost any tool and get an adequate result, but the new guy will gain a lot more experience, and faster, by using something that's well-made by someone who understands the craft."
...point being, I like the jig remark above -- it's a path between "I don't know if this craft is for me" and "I need a thousand dollars worth of anvil" without having to suffer shit tooling any longer than necessary.
posted by aramaic at 5:45 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
"Everyone always says start with cheap tools and then get the good ones as you get better. Actually, someone that's new to a craft will gain more advantage by using high-quality tools, and they'll be more likely to stick with it because it will be an enjoyable process. A real professional can use almost any tool and get an adequate result, but the new guy will gain a lot more experience, and faster, by using something that's well-made by someone who understands the craft."
...point being, I like the jig remark above -- it's a path between "I don't know if this craft is for me" and "I need a thousand dollars worth of anvil" without having to suffer shit tooling any longer than necessary.
posted by aramaic at 5:45 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
Thanks, unearthed!
Aw dang, I want this but for quilting.
A while ago I found myself in a youtube recommendation loop of "sewing hacks" videos, the majority of which were pretty silly stuff. However, there were some "how to make different kinds of seam guides/fabric guides/thread feeders" bits that were interesting, especially a few by some industrial machine users in less-rich countries. Seam/fabric guides (and for quilting specifically, some setups for rotary cutting) kind of have a jig-like feel to me.
posted by trig at 7:30 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
Aw dang, I want this but for quilting.
A while ago I found myself in a youtube recommendation loop of "sewing hacks" videos, the majority of which were pretty silly stuff. However, there were some "how to make different kinds of seam guides/fabric guides/thread feeders" bits that were interesting, especially a few by some industrial machine users in less-rich countries. Seam/fabric guides (and for quilting specifically, some setups for rotary cutting) kind of have a jig-like feel to me.
posted by trig at 7:30 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
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