Flush Trim Jig

Recently I was building a plywood bookcase with several shelves. To conceal the rough plywood, I glued hardwood strips to the front of each shelf. But when I tried to trim the strips using my router, the edge of the shelf was too narrow for my router to ride on. So I came up with this quick jig for trimming these kind of edges.

The jig provides a wide, flat support surface that I can attach to any board for trimming narrow edges. Simply clamp the jig to the side of your work piece, align it flush with the edge of your shelf, and start trimming (see photo).

To make the jig, join two pieces of 3/4" plywood with glue and screws to form an " L" shaped object, see drawing below. Then attach a small support bracket to each end.

After you assemble the jig, be sure to cut a shallow notch in the front edge to create clearance for waste. This notch can be cut on a table saw. (Just make sure you don't cut through the screws.)

Corner Cabinet Kickstand

When I was making a corner cabinet a few months ago, I discovered that the most difficult part of the project wasn’t cutting the miters or even clamping the cabinet together. It was supporting the cabinet on my workbench while working on the face frame.

The solution I arrived at couldn’t be simpler. I just attached a couple of clamps to each end of the cabinet, see drawing. Each clamps works like a kickstand on a bicycle, holding the cabinet upright and preventing it from tipping over while I attach the face frame.

Attaching Glass Stops

When attaching glass stops in a frame or door, I like to drill a starter hole for the brads or screws. Problem is, with the glass in place there's not enough clearance for me to position my drill bit where it needs to be, just above the plate of glass. So I came up with a way to drill the holes just before I install the glass.

The trick is to temporarily use a narrow strip of glass to position the stop. Now I can maneuver my drill where it needs to be to make the hole. After I've drilled all the holes, I put the final glass in place and tack or screw the stops in place.

Fitting Inset Doors

Fitting inset doors to a cabinet opening has always been a hassle for me, especially if the cabinet opening isn’t perfectly square. But recently, I came up with a quick and easy method of trimming doors with a router and flush-trim bit.

To begin, just mark the desired trim line near the edge of the door. Then place a long, straight board under the door along the layout line to act as a guide for the bearing of the router bit.

With the door and guide clamped down to a bench or other support, it’s a simple matter to trim the door up to the layout line with a flush-trim bit, see detail below.

Bevels of Another Degree

On a recent project, I wanted a 30° chamfer on an edge. However, all I had was a 45° chamfer bit. I didn't want to buy a new bit for what was likely to be a one-time use, so I found a way to make the 45° bit work for me.

The solution was to create a 15° wedge for the base of my router, which put the cut I wanted right at 45°. To ensure a stable base, the wedge has to be wide enough to reach the outside edges of the router (see detail).

To mark the right location for drilling mounting holes on the wedge, I removed the base plate and used it as a template. When you make the cut, be sure to keep the wedge parallel to the edge to ensure an even chamfer.

Router Table Indexing Jig

Recently I had to cut a series of evenly spaced dadoes across the sides of some small display shelves I was making. I wanted to make the dadoes on my router table, and I needed a way to space them evenly. That's when I came up with the idea for an auxiliary table fitted with an index pin as shown in the photo.

To make the auxiliary table, I started by cutting a piece of ½" MDF (medium-density fiberboard) that fit on top of my router table. Then I drilled a hole in the center of the MDF for a router bit.

Next I inset a strip of wood into the top to serve as an index pin for spacing the dadoes, see Figure 1. I made sure that the distance between the router bit and the index pin equaled the spacing I needed for my dadoes, then I clamped the top to my router table.

Now cutting evenly spaced dadoes is easy. Simply butt one of the workpieces against the index pin and push it forward with a backer block to cut the first dado. Now just shift the workpiece so the dado you just cut fits over the index pin and cut a second dado. Repeat this process until all the dadoes have been cut, as you can see in Figure 2.