Hi All,
I was recently visited by a woodworking friend that happened to spy one of my shop made mitre gauges hanging on the wall. Seeing he like it so much and being the guy that I am, I gave it to him.
I’ve made a number of mitre gauges over the years using different methods and giving this one away was an opportunity to make another one and document the process for others.
In real time, it took less than an hour to make what you see below. I hope this helps someone or gives somebody an idea on how to improve the design.
The hardware that is needed for this project is cheap and easy to find. The 3/8” X ¾” cold rolled steel miter gauge bar was purchased from Metal Supermarket at a cost of $2.25 a foot and is a total of 18” long. The ¼” X 20 hardware in the picture below needed to complete the project can be found at any big bulk store.
The first step in this project is to mark and centre punch the location for the holes to be drilled into the 3/8” X ¾” miter gauge bar. Photo #3 shows the bar marked and center punched ready for the drill press. The bar is then clamped onto the drill press and drilled with a #7 drill. Once the bar is drilled, it is tapped with a 1/4” X 20 tap; these two holes will now be able to accept the hardware that is required for the project. If you’ve never tapped into steel, don’t be alarmed, it’s not as difficult as you might think and information on tapping can be found on the internet or in you local library.
The next step is to remove a section of the ¼” X 20 X 2” bolt that is needed for the pivot post of the miter gauge. Photo #4 shows the sequence of events leading from a complete bolt to the desired section required for the miter gauge. I run a nut up to the desired length of thread needed (3/8” long) and then cut the excess thread off the bolt with a hacksaw. The nut is then backed off the thread which removes any burrs created by the hacksaw.
Photo #5 is what the pivot post should look like when it’s finished.
The completed bar with its two holes drilled and tapped into it along with the knob and pivot post installed.
The main body of the miter gauge is nothing more than a piece of ¾” plywood that is cut to 6” X 7 ½”. Here I’ve used Baltic Birch plywood but in the past I’ve used any ¾” plywood that comes out of the scrap bin. I’ve put the measurements on the picture to try and make it easier to understand.
Photo #8 is what the completed layout should look like.
Photo #9 shows the area to be removed by the router (in red) the router’s pivot point and the scrap that will be left over after machining. A compass is used to draw the arcs that show these.
Cont.................
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