# worktop jig



## bob321

hello 
is it possible to make a worktop jig because in a few months i will be fitting a worktop and the jigs are expensive for single use  


bob321


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## Steve Maskery

Yes you can, but it is a lot of work to make the original template. In fact you really need to make a template to make the template and use a lot of bush-cutter combination to do so. But yes, it is possible.

However, much more realistic options are
1 Hire one from your local hire shop
2 Buy one and sell it on
3 Buy a Second Hand one and sell it on.

S


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## Oryxdesign

Hire one or borrow one, where in the country are you somebody on here might be able to help.

Si


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## Shultzy

How about hire one and make a copy  or is that like copying software


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## wizer

As Si said, if you're local I have one that's never been out of the packet ( :roll: ) you can borrow.


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## Argee

Well, if you do borrow or hire one, *here* are the instructions on how to use it that I produced a while back. HTH 

Ray.


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## Majorlarf

I am sure one of the mags a couple of years back did a make your own but i can't remember which one.
I did purchase one last year from a car boot paid £3-00 what a bargain?


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## Maverick.uk

Majorlarf":118jkb7m said:


> I am sure one of the mags a couple of years back did a make your own but i can't remember which one.
> I did purchase one last year from a car boot paid £3-00 what a bargain?



Yeah, i bought one recently from the bay for £5, no use for it right now but may need it in the future and it was a steal at that price.

Cheers

Mav


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## John. B

I've noticed we get quite few requests like this in the forums.

It would help gentlemen, if you put your location (general area) in the 

country under your Avatar,

John. B


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## bob321

i could make my own could the shape be diffrent coz i know someone with a CNC machine to cut it 

what would the best material be MDF, PLY, trespa???  


bob321


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## xy mosian

In what now seems to be a past life I worked as an S/E kitchen designer fitter. At the time I could not afford one of the few worktop jigs available as most came with a router, I already had one. My approach was to make a jig of melamine faced chipboard, cheap relatively easy to work and comes with its own notepad, at least in white. The jig was basically a slot a little over 650mm long with an extension at 45 degrees about 40mm long. The width of the slot was designed for a 16mm bush and a 1/2" cutter, and from memory was about 40mm wide. I cut the slot with a jigsaw, slowly, using a blade with no set. The radius' at the corner of the Mason's Mitre were taken care of by the guide bush in the router base, the 15mm chipboard was just about right for the bush axial length and the maximum length router cutter I could get hold of. The melamine surface was useful as the base of the router slipped easily over it. Now it needed care in setting it up, using G-Clamps etc. but worked surprisingly well over about 70 or perhaps 100 kitchen worktop joints, and only fell in to disuse rather than becoming worn out or breaking. Perhaps it was a little awkward to set up but then the saving was worth having. If you decide to make one rather than buy you will obviously need your own 'How to use' instructions. Don't forget the rotation of the cutter in the router, one half of the joint will probably need to be cut from the underside of the stock. My jig was not big enough and I had to make a separate jig for the routing of worktop connector slots, a little more planning would have put both jigs into one piece.


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## RinkyDinky

You can borrow mine, but from your unfilled in profile, I cannot see where you are located.
I am in Shropshire, contact me if it is local enough for you and I will be happy to help.

Ben :lol:


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## bob321

this 

this ok i am getting it done tommorow  [/img]


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## Oryxdesign

Looks fine except I would make the slot 31mm so that you take all the roughing cuts with the router pulled away from the finish length and then take one final finishing cut at full depth with it pushed towards the finish.


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## crazylilting

I bought a very simple one from screwfix for under £50 but it doesn't seem to be there any more...

It is a red one. And it is bang on every time. I've seen the more expensive ones that look like they can cut everything but this one is simple and does what it says it does. 

Just used it today with great results. Hopefully you can find it

look here

It is the red one on this page you may have to do an image search and find someone else who is selling them. Good luck if you can't find someone to borrow one off.


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## mailee

Have a look on e-bay for the MIB topform jig. They are a very good jig and used by quite a few fitters. I have one and get good results with it. they are much cheaper than most of the others too as they are sold on there with slight defects nothing serious just imperfect lettering on the jig and the like. I have had mine for over a year now and used it on a number of occasions without fault. HTH. :wink:


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## Night Train

I have a fairly cheap Trend jig from B&Q.

I won't offer it out as I don't know where you are, yet. :wink:


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## johncs

xy mosian":3slysh6v said:


> In what now seems to be a past life I worked as an S/E kitchen designer fitter. At the time I could not afford one of the few worktop jigs available as most came with a router, I already had one. My approach was to make a jig of melamine faced chipboard, cheap relatively easy to work and comes with its own notepad, at least in white. The jig was basically a slot a little over 650mm long with an extension at 45 degrees about 40mm long. The width of the slot was designed for a 16mm bush and a 1/2" cutter, and from memory was about 40mm wide. I cut the slot with a jigsaw, slowly, using a blade with no set. The radius' at the corner of the Mason's Mitre were taken care of by the guide bush in the router base, the 15mm chipboard was just about right for the bush axial length and the maximum length router cutter I could get hold of. The melamine surface was useful as the base of the router slipped easily over it. Now it needed care in setting it up, using G-Clamps etc. but worked surprisingly well over about 70 or perhaps 100 kitchen worktop joints, and only fell in to disuse rather than becoming worn out or breaking. Perhaps it was a little awkward to set up but then the saving was worth having. If you decide to make one rather than buy you will obviously need your own 'How to use' instructions. Don't forget the rotation of the cutter in the router, one half of the joint will probably need to be cut from the underside of the stock. My jig was not big enough and I had to make a separate jig for the routing of worktop connector slots, a little more planning would have put both jigs into one piece.



Er, um, I'm new here.

Since the software evidently doesn't parse long paras into bite-sized lines,
how about folk here remember to press <ENTER> when the cursor gets
to the end of the text entry box, so the resulting post can be read?


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## DaveL

johncs":39dn7z48 said:


> Er, um, I'm new here.
> 
> Since the software evidently doesn't parse long paras into bite-sized lines,
> how about folk here remember to press <ENTER> when the cursor gets
> to the end of the text entry box, so the resulting post can be read?


The problem is long urls which the software cannot split or big pictures that cause the need to scroll sideways. 
I 'fix' most long urls, but had missed that one, it is fixed now. Your idea only works if everyone has the same size window that they view the forum in.


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## johncs

DaveL":p2z49bnh said:


> johncs":p2z49bnh said:
> 
> 
> 
> Er, um, I'm new here.
> 
> Since the software evidently doesn't parse long paras into bite-sized lines,
> how about folk here remember to press <ENTER> when the cursor gets
> to the end of the text entry box, so the resulting post can be read?
> 
> 
> 
> The problem is long urls which the software cannot split or big pictures that cause the need to scroll sideways.
> I 'fix' most long urls, but had missed that one, it is fixed now. Your idea only works if everyone has the same size window that they view the forum in.
Click to expand...


There's a good argument that big pics should not be posted, instead post a thumbnail anchoring a link to the big pic. I used to pull 3 gigglebytes/month through a modem, I'd not have enjoyed those big pics. I've seen documentation in this forum describing how to do that.


http://tinyurl.com/ can fix big urls.


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## mseries

I know this is a very old thread but it came up when I was searching for making ones own worktop jig. I have a question about the shape of the 'slot' in these jigs because I am thinking of making one. Where the short slot for the 45 deg mitre meets the long slot, are the inside edges where the guide bush contacts curved at all or are they simply the intersection of two straight slots with 'hard' intersection ?


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## davem62

Hi mseries our jig is curved if that helps
regards david


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## Ed Bray

If you think you may need one more frequently, you could do what my mate did. He hired one and then used it to make 3 identical copies, he kept one, gave me and another friend one each 'just in case'. I have had mine for probably getting on for 20 years and not used it yet. It sits forlornly against the wall in my garage just waiting to be used. At that time they were about £100 each, now they can be bought quite reasonably I believe.


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