Koa Kerfmaker

 I was again challenged to try to make one of these neat little kerfmakers. I had looked at the video for Bridge City Tools and still cannot figure out how it is used with the second gapped area so I made one of my own design that is easily understood. It was just bit more tricky to fit everything in. I was designing on the fly while milling the body. It is a bit longer because it has a range of up to 2". The blade gap slide started out as aluminum but has been changed to brass and I added new photos to show how it is used and how it is assembled.
You clamp the brass end stop over the blade and lock it to include that dimension and then clamp the gap of the wood parts over the piece  it is to fit over  and lock it  . That sets the off set for the cuts and takes into account the width of the blade'

 That little critter works really slick. It is best used with a sled with a stop for the kerfmaker bumps against the stop for the one side of the cut and then the other ( and then you chop out the center with a lot of incremental cuts) . The only measurement was to check the height of the cut to be half the board thickness. I was amazed at how quick you can make half lap dados fit together with a Kerfmaker. A much larger one could be made for a wider  range of  dados.

 I used Hawaiian Koa wood because it is so hard on tools and stable, it is finished with Deft semi-gloss.
 
 I must add for clarity that the brass knurled nut that is used to set the blade width, is floating in the groove and does not clamp down on the wood, just the brass slide , because of the brass bushing under the nut.
 
 This one was inspired by  my LJ buddy Mads from way back. Thank you , Mads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!