Simple and Effective Jigs You've Never Seen Before
Building effective jigs requires the right mindset, the right materials and the right plan. Kerry Pierce's new book gives you all three as he shows you how to construct the 16 most effective jigs he uses in his shop every day to build world-class cabinetry, chairs and bent-wood boxes.
Using only simple tools and common hardware, Pierce has constructed jigs that you won't find the plans for anywhere else. And once you get a look at these simple, beautifully drawn and photographed jigs, you'll see why they deserve a place in your shop (even if you've built seemingly similar jigs in the past).
The difference is that Pierce - as he always does - has drilled deeply into the fundamentals needed to build these jigs. Using clear step-by-step photography, Pierce shows you exactly how he goes about constructing each jig so you'll be ready to build your own from the outset - even if you've never built a single jig or fixture before.
In addition to the photos and the text, each jig includes a beautiful handmade construction drawing of the project. These hand-shaded and hand-lettered drawings are both a rarity in today's computer-rendered world and are clear evidence of the care that went into every detail of this book. And if that's not enough to make you sit up and pay attention, how about this: Only one of the jigs in this book has more than 10 parts!
Here's just a small sample of the jigs you'll build with this book:
Build a tenon jig that cuts this joint on any piece of wood, no matter how oddly shaped it is. The secret is to hold on to the scraps you used to make the original part. Once you know this simple trick you'll wonder why you didn't think of it yourself and you'll wonder why people build other jigs to do this operation that are mind-boggingly complex.
Make two band saw jigs that allow you to transform square stock into octagons. If you turn on a lathe, these jigs are indispensable time-savers.
If you need to turn furniture parts but aren't an accomplished turner, you're going to treasure the information in this book. Thanks to his simple toolrests, Pierce is able to use his middle-of-the-road turning skills to make furniture you wouldn't believe is possible for most woodworkers (and his work has been featured in high-class galleries and exhibitions).
Build three jigs for your drill press that will fundamentally change the way you use this machine. Most drill presses are designed for metalworking and are woefully equipped for making furniture. Pierce shows you how to build three jigs that allow you to drill accurate holes in large furniture assemblies with ease.
Build jigs that hold your work without slipping or skittering around. Pierce shows you how to secure panels of any shape to your bench using dogs and wedges. And he locks anything into his vise for shaping using V-blocks that you can construct in just a few minutes. These simple devices will turn impossible tasks into a cakewalk.
Plus a Tour of Several Shops and Some Tips
To help you understand these jigs better, Pierce also shows you in great detail how his shop is laid out. While the building itself is a spacious, 28' x 26', the majority of it is taken up by racks for wood storage, so every inch of space counts. He also includes floorplans of other woodshops he's familiar with so you can start to see how jigs and machine placement work hand-in-hand to make your work more efficient.
And then, to finish out the book, Pierce shares some of the small tricks he's picked up over the years that make him work more efficiently - think of them as jigs that you don't have to build to use. He shows you how to square up a racked case using your shop wall and a little body English, or how to easily clamp legs in a bending form using hose clamps, or how to fit drawers in a case using a fitting strip, which reduces exponentially the amount of fiddling you have to do.
If you're looking for simple jigs that work, jigs that you'll use rather than hang on the wall, jigs that you'll wear out and build again, then look no further. Quick and Easy Jigs and Fixtures is all this and more.
See inside this Book