# stable woods to make jigs from? Especially slides?



## SlowSteve (30 Jan 2015)

Hello all,

I am just about to build some table saw jigs in order to get my accuracy up in things like joints etc.

When it comes to stuff in sheets, then ply or MDF is the obvious choice as there is little or no movement. Where I am using solid wood, for example for runners, backing boards etc, then what woods would you reccomend for these tasks which have little movement and can be finished precisely?

The US guys seem to use a lot of Cherry, but I can't get hold of much of that - would something like beech or maple work well?

Thanks

Steve


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## marcros (30 Jan 2015)

yes, beech or maple would work


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## custard (30 Jan 2015)

If you're making a relatively large component I'd still suggest a good quality moisture resistant MDF like Medite because of its flatness, stability, and uniformity. If you're making runners or other small components then a wear resistant, naturally oily, stable timber like rosewood or lignum vitae is perfect, but at a pinch beech or maple would do. Plywood is rarely quite as stable as many seem to believe, thickness from sheet to sheet (and even within an individual sheet) can easily vary by a few tenths of a mill, and it's common to find ply (even really good quality birch ply) that's no where near flat.

Good luck!


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## woodpig (30 Jan 2015)

For runners don't discount composites like Tufnol if you can get it in suitable sizes. Not tried it but chopping boards made from UHMWPE might also be suitable?


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## Mar_mite (31 Jan 2015)

I made a runner for a tenon jig out of walnut. It has shrunk and is a sloppy fit now. Don't use walnut.


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## Water-Mark (1 Feb 2015)

I used some bamboo flooring off cuts that i had for two sleds and though i don't use them often they're still straight and smooth.


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## Wildman (1 Feb 2015)

teak is more dimensionally stable than steel thats why it is used for boats


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## marcros (30 Apr 2016)

you are dragging up loads of old threads with similar comments!


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## Phil Pascoe (30 Apr 2016)

Birch ply and bamboo flooring. Marriage made in heaven.


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## MusicMan (1 May 2016)

I have some reclaimed teak floorboards left over (deliberately) from a flooring job. Got them from LASSCO architectural salvage in London, but there are similar places round the country. These have been seasoned about 150 years and are extremely stable. It isn't only the wood, it's the seasoning. Kiln or air drying that is enough for furniture is not enough for real dimensional stability. It's well worth visiting an architectural savage place and getting some old hardwood floorboards for use in jigs.

As mentioned, Tufnol is very good, very stable, but a bit expensive. UHMWPE also very good for runners.

Keith


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## jdeacon (3 May 2016)

I got tired of wooden jig slides expanding and contracting and tried some flat steel bar. It worked well. I've had two lots delivered and it was bang on 3/4 inch wide and fitted the track very snuggly with only a tiny amount of sanding; and most of that was on one of the tracks which turned out to be a tad narrower at one end.

I give them a wipe of oil occasionally, although I wonder if they're rusting on the hidden surface.


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## eoinsgaff (7 May 2016)

Phenol coated ply used for formwork is very good for jigs. The ply quality can be top grade and the phenol coating is nice and slippy.


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## MattRoberts (7 May 2016)

I just bought a bunch of plastic cutting boards from ikea (they're about a pound each) and am using those for runners. Dead simple.


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## Claymore (9 May 2016)

what about using Corian? I make small jigs from it and you can pick up offcuts etc on Ebay plus many kitchen fittters are using it nowadays.


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## MDE (23 May 2016)

Melamine-faced mdf or similar seems to work well. I picked up some spare kitchen splashback which has a hard smooth surface, is stable, but easy to work giving a good fit in a slot.


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## Bodgers (17 Jun 2016)

As others have said plastics are the best bet.

Having said that I was really unhappy with my cross cut sled with plastic cutting board runners. Even after counter sinking and predrilling the screws into the runners, they still distorted due to softness, and for some reason a epoxy glue wasn't that successful either.

Latest attempt is with bamboo (also from a cutting board). Very happy with this.

Bamboo is about as stable as wood gets:

http://www.oriental-bamboo.co.za/techni ... chart.html






Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk


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## Homers double (17 Jun 2016)

Check out this stuff on eBay, I bought a few bits earlier this year to make some jigs with, due to having no spare time at the mo it's still sat in my store waiting to be used, 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Polyrey-CGL-1 ... SwQYZWwwq9


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