I snatched up some 3/8 clear acrylic sheets at the 2nd hand store, they're super useful! I also have some 1/16 plexiglass sheets, they cut ok on the table saw as long as youre not cutting thin strips. I tried to make a table saw insert, and it almost worked, but the one thin edge shattered when i was cutting it off.
Biggest issue you will face is that the thin plex always flexes as you use it. I did this with a homemade router table and I kept noticing variations in depth on my wood when using the router. It would flex as I pushed the wood through and make my cut depth vary. Using thin plex as a table saw insert will do the same.
I've watched most of your videos - entertaining and full of useful information. Thank you! One thing though... does anyone else find the sound level of your videos to be slightly lower than average?
Colin's calm voice makes it seem quieter than those RU-vidrs who think they have to shout to get you excited about their videos. I watch these on my phone generally, with earbuds. What I can't stand are the RU-vidrs who don't regulate the sound volume and go right from their talking voice to turning on the table saw or router. Yikes! I've had to quickly yank my earbuds out to protect my eardrums. 😱 Colin doesn't do that and I appreciate it. So do my ears. 👍😁
PARABÉNS…, excelente ideia, olha, vivendo e aprendendo, o Amigo sempre com excelentes conteúdos, esse tipo de trabalho é que faz a diferença no RU-vid ❤️ Abraço aqui do Brasil 🇧🇷
I REALLY need my table saw restored! Every time I watch Colin's vids, the saw cuts like butter! This was a pretty cool spin on this jig and helps me understand it a bit more. AWESOME!
I appreciate the advice, but I usually don't use my table saw fence to avoid bullets. I prefer to use a bulletproof track saw guide track when the bullets start flying in the shop.
If you don’t have/can’t afford a plastic blade, flip the wood blade to backwards, will greatly reduce cracking if working around holes or with acrylic. Worked in a glass shop for decades.
I'm a bit lazy, I just use a few dabs of hot glue and stick the edge of the board that needs jointing onto a straight bit, then run it through. It's the lowest possible tech method I can think of, but once you get one edge you are golden.
I'm thinking this would be very useful for much longer boards such as say, 6' or so. I often buy lumber that's not straight on either side and don't always feel like taking all day to use the joiner to joint 40 boards at once..
this it the job where the L-fence excells in. Search for "holzwerken winkelbrett", in this video Guido Henn shows how to use it on a bandsaw and small table saws. And if you are going to use it more often, you find how to set up a quite simple jig. The benefit of the L-fence is that it very safe to work with, and you can't cut to deep into the edge: if the staight edge looses the contact to the L-fence just repeat the cut to get a clean straight edge on your work piece.
In Canada go to Lee Valley and get free shipping on these magswitches, ordering direct you get hit by very high postal rates along with the exchange rate. Even with the 20% off you will end up paying more.
Excellent video and jig! I suppose you found a plastic shop? (Heard they exist.) I guess we can't use other types of plastic in this use because of safety? Or can we, please?
Great.... This video just cost me over $200... Thanks... LOL... That Mag_tech is some really nice equipment. I love it for my table saw, drill and band saw!
Yes there is. He forgot to mention it. If you screw into the lexan (and probably some other plastics), it will split. When he bore holes through the lexan, he made them wide enough so that his screws will pass through without putting any pressure on the sides. The only pressure the lexan sheet gets is on top and bottom as the screw holds it to the wood. Tamar from 3x3 uses a lot of plastic in her jigs, including runners on her crosscut sled (which is how I know about it).
searching for bullet proof plastic yields multiple sites that have it at .75" thickness, but the sites I visited have prices of $1000 + cost, perhaps you'd offer a link to a site? thank you.
Look up Lexan. Also he misspoke. If you look at his linked article it’s 1/2 inch and he got cut offs from local supplier at half off. Not his best video.
The only thing I would worry about is how stable the plastic is. Won't it shrink and expand with the seasons? I saw the extra piece you added to the front edge, presumably for stability, but have you checked for square after the table has been used?
There’s more than 100 comments here as I’m watching your video. You skipped over the importance of the outer edge of the blade to be exactly flush to the outer edge of your L fence. Small detail but important. The plastic is otherwise called Polycarbonite. The piece you used in the video is Lexan which is a brand name only. While it is used as bullet proof glass like at a bank teller window, it’s typically at least one inch when used as “bulletproof” It’s a great product and I applaud your using it for this fence. Think I’ll refit mine as well. As for the edge of the clear sheet, I’ve used a single edge razor blade as a scraper to clear most of the roughness. You can use a gas torch to polish the edge but you might want to practice that on the waste side of the material. Another option of course is to work with a local plastics fabricator. They can cut and drill then polish a piece for you rather quickly and you’ll have an excellent jig in no time. Lastly, I see in the comments some misunderstanding of what this is so great at when replicating a board. It’s great for straight edging a board but it’s also really great at quickly cutting any polygon once you’ve got a pattern piece to follow. Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Couldn't you just use double sided tape and slap that straight edge board on the top of the piece you're with cutting with a lil overhang... run that against your fence? No jig needed
