Have been needing a board edge jig for a while now and decided to build a universal type. I got a piece of melamine 3/4" X 12" X 4 foot, a 3-foot piece of track on sale from Rockler and two sets of toilet bowl bolts. I will probably make some knobs to replace the nuts on the bolts. I used my router to cut dados for the track. After cutting the track into thirds I epoxied then into the grooves, then used screws. I made the hold downs from scrap ash I had laying around. After playing around with it on the table saw for a while decided that I could cut up to six feet of wood with it using in/outfeed rollers. Anything longer and I will go back to screwing the wood to a longer straight edge.
That makes for a nice straightening sled. How strong are the wood hold downs, does it feel like they hold down strong enough without wanting to break? As an alternative, if they're not strong enough which maybe they are, maybe baltic birch on edge laminated together. Just thinking wondering out loud.
Nice jig. I purchased one from Rockler when I was getting started and it has worked ok (although not the length capacity you have). Has metal hold downs with rubber that seems to grip the boards well. Also has some sandpaper on the surface to prevent slipping.
LBD - The picture is kind of an optical illusion. It's really glued on the long grain, the angle it was cut makes it look bad on the show side. Should have shown them better. I actually used one before doing all three to test them, I did put a massive amount of force on it and the Ash started to bend and not break so figured it would work pretty well. I have been looking at some of the premade ones if I ever have trouble. Thanks for bringing this up so I could explain to others that may have noticed this and didn't mention it. Mike
