What is that vix-like drill bit you use, Larry? Your approach sounds very simple.Originally Posted by larry senen
Mike
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What is that vix-like drill bit you use, Larry? Your approach sounds very simple.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
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The guy in this video: FastEasySmartTOOL has several really unique and imaginative ideas. His videos are clear and concise with not a lot of wasted time. And he looks like a little kid, but must be extremely smart. Well, at least smarter than me!
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Here's my original thread about building the NYW version of the MEG jig:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ighlight=Shelf
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
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Is there a reason that the folks posting on this thread are not using the Kreg Shelf Pin Jig ($30 at Amazon)?
Timely thread. I am in the process of making two tall bookshelves for my basement rec room and they will have adjustable shelves with pins. My early versions, over ten years ago used a shop-made 3/8" x 2" x 36" aluminum bar with 1/4" holes spaced at 2". Worked good but when I did my kitchen with euro style cabs, I wanted to go with a 32 mm system. So I bought a phenolic 25 hole template and guide bushing from Woodhaven.com . I like the larger 1/4" shelf pins so I went that direction. I used a solid straight carbide 1/4" bit (couldn't find my spiral bit this round). I hooked my shop vac to an auto-start switch which kept the sawdust under control. Almost zero chip out, easily cleaned up when I final sand. Relocatable pins index to the edge and end of the stock and a supplied pin indexes to previous holes for runs longer than 25 holes.
NOW you tell me...
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Ken, I currently use the kreg jig and it works fine however I've found that you can't use the base of the jig as reference and need to use a pin in the first hole registered on the bottom edge of the workpiece. This makes the jig worthless on an assembled cabinet. It also puts the first row of holes closer to the end of the workpiece than I would prefer.
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Sorry Joe, I'm a bit confused - I bought a Kreg Shelf Pin Jig over the holiday but haven't used it yet. This thread made me wonder if I'd screwed up.
The first holes are closer to top & bottom than the distance between the holes. The Kreg video for the Shelf Pin Jig shows a person using a rather long (12"?) spacer to determine the starting location. I didn't understand why they used it, but now I'm wondering if its for the reason you mention. Couldn't I just cut a 1x6 or 1x8 spacer with a length that defines the desired starting distance? I could even cut a new one for each different project. It seems MUCH easier than creating the fancy jig shown on the video reference in this thread.
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I used a drill and the original Rockler (not pro) plastic hole drilling template with self centering spring loaded drills that worked similar to Vix bits, but have a guide that pilots in the Rockler jig. It worked surprisingly well and I made several cabinets that way. Then I saw the MDF template / router guide bushing idea and tried it. I get cleaner holes and find it faster to do with the router, so it is now my preferred way to make shelf pin holes. Plus, it gave me an excuse for my wife why I needed a plunge router
Last edited by Dick Mahany; 01-10-2016 at 10:12 AM.
Dick Mahany.
Member
It is indeed fast but given the setup time involved and measurements etc I am not sure it is much faster than making a full size template.
A full size template can have other holes (like hinge holes) and gets clamped to the gable and then you put the router bushing in the already made holes in the template one by one and go pretty much like above. No measurement. Setup is only aligning the two piece flush and clamp.
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