I recently built a small Shaker side table. Inspired by Christian Becksvoort’s article “Authentic Shaker Knobs”, I made my own knobs for the drawers. I adapted his bandsaw jig for trimming the round tenons on these unwieldy parts, coming up with a version that is just as simple but does some things his doesn’t.

For added holding power, I wedge my tenons after the knobs are installed. So I made my jig work for sawing a slot in the tenons. It also can hold a few different tenon sizes. The jig rides the bandsaw’s rip fence for the crosscut, and the miter gauge for the slotting cut.

I made it from a 2-in.-wide piece of 3⁄4-in. poplar. The base is 101⁄2 in. long and the holder is 4 in. long. After drilling holes for different tenons (1⁄2 in. and 5⁄8 in. dia., with room for a third tenon size), I ripped the holder to expose the top of the holes, creating openings that are centered over the tenons and provide easy visual positioning for the slotting cut. The holder and base are simply glued together.

Hank Bearmer, Middleport, N.Y.

Drawings by Dan Thornton

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