Cross Lap Jig

[TomInNC]

I need to make several drawer dividers using cross laps on the table saw. I have done this in the past without a jig on my table saw, and I was never really happy with the outcome. Has anyone here used the Rockler cross lap jig? It looks like the Incra iBox with the indexing pin but it looks like you can make much larger changes to the location of the indexing pin for spacing the laps. The Rockler jig looks chinsy, so not sure if this is worth the 40 bucks if it's going to fall apart after one use. 

[gee-dub]

I have that jig.  It is kinda chintzy.  It will not fall apart but the fence provides a sacrificial role and so will need to be replaced once a variety of spacings have been done.  If you are going to do a variety of spacings the little fixture that makes the jig worth a look provides a good snug fit for jumping from position to position during the operation.  If I were doing one set of spacings I would just use a sac fence with a key.

 

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

I'm working on a cross lap project right now. I just made my own version of that jig. Very, very simple to make. I put a sacrificial fence on my miter gauge, used a dado stack to cut a notch that's a set distance from the blade and inserted a key into that notch. 

[TomInNC]

On 11/7/2023 at 11:14 AM, gee-dub said:

I have that jig.  It is kinda chintzy.  It will not fall apart but the fence provides a sacrificial role and so will need to be replaced once a variety of spacings have been done.  If you are going to do a variety of spacings the little fixture that makes the jig worth a look provides a good snug fit for jumping from position to position during the operation.  If I were doing one set of spacings I would just use a sac fence with a key.

 

Thanks. Is the fence just MDF?

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 11/8/2023 at 10:07 AM, TomInNC said:

Thanks. Is the fence just MDF?

In the one pictured, yes. Though plywood or hard or soft wood would work also, provided it's flat. 

[gee-dub]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:07 AM, TomInNC said:

Thanks. Is the fence just MDF?

The Rockler jig is MDF with a high pressure melamine skin. I hesitate to call it a laminate because it is so thin, but technically it would be considered a laminated MDF material. That being said, I have the same material on my router table top, and router fences, and they have lasted for nearly 20 years without issue. Once the fence got too chewed up, it is simple enough to make another one out of a random piece of three-quarter inch MDF. That is, assuming you have the router bits to do that.