Simple bevel (chamfer) jig for plane and face vise

JohnDC, member

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Basic Jig

Jig in the vise with work piece, spacer, jig, and pattern piece clamped

Block plane with cheek on jig bevel

Beveling the end grain

Large and small bevel done with block plane and jig

Basic Jig

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Making the parts for an outdoor table/bench, I wanted to bevel all of the edges before assembly.  Last project I used the router table and a round over bit.  This time I wanted to hand plane.  (partly because I got the end of my finger chewed up a bit the last time I used the router- repeat after me:push sticks are my friends)  I did not want to free hand every piece so I created this jig to use in my new face vise.

I cut a 45 degree edge on a 1x4 pine board and affixed a 1/2" base that was wide enough to  place a 1/2" spacer board and still allow the workpiece to sit on a protruding ledge. (pic 1).  The jig sits in the vise with a spacer board, the work piece and a "templete piece" that helps keep the plane level when starting (worked very well on small bevel)(pic 2)  The plane sits with its cheek on the 45 degree bevel (pic 3) and is very easy to cut a small bevel that is very consistent over the length of the board and consistent from board to board.  When the work piece was longer than my jig I just planed the bevel halfway, moved the board and planed the other half.  It is easy to finesse the two "cuts" together so you can't detect any difference.

To bevel the end grain I placed the jig on the work bench and clamped the work piece to plane the end grain.  I marked the position of the piece to easily repeat the work.  I used a 45 degree skew to shear the end grain.  I started with the throat of the plane touching the jig's 45 degree end and planes until the throat was in full contact with the bevel. (pic4)

I was able to do a light and a heavy chamfer (pic 5) and I think both were better than I could have done witht the router table.

Hope this is helpful to someone

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