Synopsis: Whether or not you built the Rock-Solid Router Table that Peter Schlebecker designed (FWW #195), you’ll benefit from making some or all of these router-table jigs. Simple and easy to use, these five jigs and fixtures will help you repeat shapes consistently, make stopped cuts in angled workpieces, safely profile narrow stock, edge-joint veneers, and generally work more precisely and safely. Schlebecker’s jigs include a featherboard, a pattern-routing jig, a zero-clearance fence, a miter angle sled and a jig for edge-jointing stacks of veneer.

In a recent article, I wrote about the router table I built for the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, the school where I teach and manage the facilities. The primary goals of the design were sturdiness and a tabletop big enough to handle a wide array of workpieces and jigs. That article was about making the table; this one is about the accessories that go with it.

Easy to make and use, these five jigs and fixtures are some of the most useful router-table jigs at the school. With them, we repeat shapes consistently, quickly, and precisely. We make stopped cuts in angled workpieces, creating invisible and strong joinery. Profiling narrow stock is easier and safer. Edge-jointing a stack of veneers can be done effortlessly.

Of course, if you don’t have a router table like mine, you still can use these jigs. But if your table surface is small, you may have to scale down the jigs accordingly.

1 Featherboard – Manage Small and Narrow Workpieces

Also called a finger board, this simple fixture holds a workpiece firmly against the table surface while a cut is made. It is particularly important to use if the workpiece is very narrow and there is a risk of getting your fingers too close to the blade. I use a featherboard for a pencil bead or for any other small molding, such as the slightly curved profile on dozens of pieces for a tambour door.

The configuration that works best for the router table is a long piece of ¾ -in. plywood that is about the same length as the routertable fence, with feathers cut on both sides around a notch for the bit. Plywood is strong in every direction, so it allows you to orient the feathers along the side of this long board. Lay out pencil lines at 45° with ¼ -in. spacing, and then cut the feathers on the bandsaw.

From Fine Woodworking #200

For the full article, download the PDF below:

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Double Sided Tape

A thin woven core makes XFasten tape strong yet not too thick (0.008 in.), and helps it hold powerfully without being difficult to peel off.

Buy at Amazon

Stanley Powerlock 16-ft. tape measure

With its smooth lock, tough case, compact size, and excellent accuracy, this Stanley tape is perfect for workshop use.

Buy at Amazon

Woodriver Circle Cutting Jig

The WoodRiver circle jig, which produces cuts up to 32-1/2 in. dia., and I can confidently recommend it. Unlike similar jigs that can pop off of their pivots mid-cut, ruining a panel in the process, this one has a robust pivot point that registers securely in the jig and workpiece.

Buy at Amazon