Five Jigs That Make Your Workshop Safer

A jig is a small shop-built guide that lets a basic tool do the work of a fancy one. These five pay back the hour it takes to build them within the first month.

The crosscut sled is the first one to build. Two runners, a flat plywood base, and a tall fence at the front and back. Once the sled is square, you get repeatable 90-degree cuts without fighting the miter gauge.

A taper jig slides in the miter slot and lets you rip a controlled angle for legs and trim. A simple hinged version handles most tapers; mark the angle, set the jig, and run the stock through.

A thin-rip jig keeps your hands clear of the blade when ripping narrow stock. It rides the fence and uses a stop block, so the offcut is consistent and your fingers are never near the cut.

A circle-cutting jig for the router turns a square blank into a perfect tabletop or clock face. A pivot pin in a strip of plywood is all it takes.

Finally, a box-joint sled cuts interlocking fingers that are stronger than dovetails for most shop projects. The key is a single spacer pin the width of your dado stack.

Plans for all of these and hundreds more are in Ted’s Woodworking, the plan library we recommend for anyone building out a home shop.