A jig is a device that holds or guides the work or the tool so a cut, hole or joint comes out the same every time. Templates and stop blocks do the same job for shapes and lengths. Jigs make work faster, more accurate and often safer, and most can be made from scrap wood in the shop.
For a woodworking business, jigs are what make batch production possible. Setting up once and repeating a step on twenty pieces is far faster than making each piece from start to finish, and every piece comes out the same. This post covers safety jigs, cutting, drilling, sanding and assembly jigs, templates, and how to plan a batch.
Why Jigs Matter in a Business
- Speed. Measuring and marking each part takes time. A jig or stop does it once for the whole batch.
- Consistency. Every piece matches, so parts fit, products look the same in photos and listings, and customers get what they ordered.
- Less waste. Fewer measuring mistakes mean fewer spoiled parts.
- Safety. Many jigs keep your hands away from blades and bits.
- Lower skill per piece. A good jig lets a helper produce accurate parts, which matters if you hire help.
Ready-made jigs are available for many jobs, such as pocket holes, dowels and dovetails. Shop-made jigs cost little and can be built for exactly the product you make.
Safety Jigs Every Shop Needs
Push Sticks and Push Blocks
Push sticks feed wood past a saw blade or router bit so your hands stay clear, especially near the end of a cut. OSHA’s woodworking machinery standard requires push sticks or push blocks for feeding small pieces on table saws in workplaces. Make several from scrap plywood or hardwood: a notch at one end hooks over the end of the board, and a comfortable handle at the other keeps your hand high. Using two at once, one pushing forward and one pressing the board against the fence, keeps the cut straight. A band saw or jigsaw cuts the shape, and a router or sander rounds the edges. Keep a set at every saw and router table.
Featherboards
A featherboard is a board with a series of thin, flexible fingers cut into one end. Clamped to the table or fence, it presses the work against the fence or down on the table, so it cannot wander or lift, and it resists kickback. Set it so the fingers flex slightly as the wood passes. Make or buy one for each machine you use often.
Sacrificial Fence
A strip of wood or plywood clamped or screwed to the saw’s rip fence protects the fence when the blade must run right next to it, such as when cutting rabbets. If anything is damaged, it is the cheap strip, not the fence. Replace it when it gets chewed up.
Cutting Jigs
Crosscut Sled and Panel Cutter
A crosscut sled is a flat base with a fence at 90 degrees to the blade that slides in the table saw’s miter slots. It carries the work past the blade for square, repeatable crosscuts on boards and panels, and is safer than using the miter gauge for wide pieces. A larger version, a panel cutter, squares up cabinet panels and table tops quickly.
Circular Saw Straightedge
A circular saw cuts quickly but is hard to steer in a straight line. A straightedge guide fixes this: a narrow fence screwed to a wider base, trimmed by the saw itself so the base edge marks the exact cut line. Clamp the edge to your mark and run the saw along the fence. It turns a circular saw into an accurate sheet-cutting tool.
Tapering and Angle Jigs
A taper jig holds a leg or part at a set angle as it passes the table saw blade, for tapered legs and angled parts. Angle blocks and miter sleds cut accurate miters for frames and boxes.
Stop Blocks and Story Sticks
A stop block clamped to a miter saw fence, sled or fence extension sets the length of every part without measuring. A story stick is a strip of wood marked with all the key measurements for a product, used instead of a tape so every batch is marked the same way. Both remove measuring errors and save time.
Templates
A template is a full-size pattern of a part, usually made from MDF or plywood. Trace it onto the wood, cut close to the line with a band saw or jigsaw, then trim to the template with a router and a flush-trim or pattern bit. Every part comes out identical. Templates suit:
- shaped cutting boards and serving boards;
- handles and finger grips;
- curved legs, brackets and aprons;
- toy parts and signs;
- juice grooves, routed with a guide bushing following a template.
Label every template with the product name and date, and store them flat. A good template library is one of the most valuable assets in a small business shop.
Drilling Jigs
- Shelf pin jigs drill evenly spaced holes for adjustable shelves.
- Hardware jigs drill holes for hinges, handles and knobs in the same place on every door and drawer.
- Depth stops on a drill press or a drill bit collar drill every hole to the same depth.
- Drill press fences and stops place holes accurately in repeated parts.
Sanding, Assembly and Finishing Jigs
- Squaring blocks. Accurate square blocks clamped inside corners hold boxes, cabinets and bookcases at 90 degrees during gluing.
- Assembly jigs. A simple frame that holds parts in position makes gluing up repeated items, such as frames and boxes, quicker and more accurate.
- Sanding tables and blocks. A large flat table or a downdraft sanding table makes sanding many parts more comfortable and collects dust. Shaped sanding blocks match curves and profiles.
- Finishing racks and stands. Racks or points that hold parts off the surface let you finish both sides and dry many parts at once.
How to Plan a Batch
- Choose a batch size. Base it on expected orders, the space you have, and how many parts your clamps and drying racks can handle at once.
- Write down the steps. List every step from rough cutting to packing.
- Do each step for the whole batch. Cut all the parts to rough size, then mill them all, then cut all to final size, then do all the joinery, and so on. Each setup is done once.
- Make jigs for the slow or tricky steps. Any step that needs careful measuring or is hard to repeat is a candidate.
- Cut a few spares. A spare part or two covers mistakes and defects found later.
- Check the first piece after each setup before running the rest.
- Record the setup. Note settings, bits, blades and stops, and keep the jigs, so the next batch starts faster.
Working Out What Batching Saves
Time per piece drops as batch size grows, because setup time is shared across more pieces. As an illustration only, with made-up figures: if a product needs 60 minutes of setup and 20 minutes of work per piece, one piece takes 80 minutes. A batch of ten takes 60 + 200 = 260 minutes, or 26 minutes per piece. Multiply the minutes saved by what your time is worth, and you have what batching adds to each sale.
Time a few batches of your own products to get real figures, and use them in your pricing. See how to set the final selling price on your craft.
The limit is demand: batch only as many pieces as you expect to sell before styles or seasons change, since unsold stock ties up money and space.
Practical Tips
- Make push sticks and a featherboard before anything else.
- Build jigs from stable materials, such as plywood and MDF, and wax sliding surfaces.
- Label and store jigs and templates where you can find them.
- Test every new jig on scrap.
- Look for jig plans in woodworking magazines, books and videos, and adapt them to your products.
For the joints that jigs help you cut, see types of wood joints. For products suited to batch work, see small wood projects to sell.
Sources
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration, n.d., Woodworking eTool: Table Saws, OSHA
