[Bstrom]

Took the direction of a YT video to make this - remarkably, mine turned out with a perfect 45-degree trough, so any error that will be cancelled out with the two cuts will be minimal. The holes are for slipping a small clamp in to hold the workpiece. This will be nice for the clock cases I like to make, as well as, mitered boxes In general, etc. It’s nice when something comes out well the first time...

 

[Bstrom]

Wow, nice job Brian. For clock cases and boxes that will be terrific. I do have one suggestion. Use your engineers square to line up a vertical piece near one end. Without that reference, it will be easy to make a slightly off cut so your box won't go together perfectly. You also need to be careful to get your blade 90 to the table and preferably 45 to the sides of the jig. If the blade isn't 90 and 45, then you will have to be careful to number and match the ends in sequence. A 44 and 46 degree will meet at 90, but only if you match all the cuts so the two cuts are always paired. You will also have to make sure the two opposing sides are exactly the same length, and that the ends are cut square so the fit down into the slot completely. I do like this jig. Use a really nice crosscut blade and full kerf with it.

Already aware of all your caveats, Tom. I keep my blades ‘Wixey’ tuned for all cuts as a well ingrained setup habit now. This jig came out essentially perfect (No gaps with the engineers square) so I will also see how well it works w/wo marking pieces. Test cuts with my Freud Glue Line blade look very pretty and will check to see if overall workpiece length is affected by the cut - I expect a loss of ~1/32” or half the kerf width of the blade - may not matter if I am consistent in dimensioning all pieces but will add up for meeting specific external dimensions. I am looking forward to handling 1/4” resawn/planed hardwood pieces with greater ease.

Also gave it a cursory wipe down with some polyurethane to maintain some stability against moisture absorption and marked the Operator blade exit location in red paint to stay mindful. Waxed the bottom with Butcher’s Wax to finish the construction and it is smoooth!

Not sure what your ‘vertical piece’ suggestion is about - care to explain? Is this intended to be a ‘chock’ for aligning the vertical angled surface to be square with the cutting side? If so, good idea but I use the middle area with a clamp usually - and a chock will limit the length of the cut which can go beyond the guides as well. What I might do is make marks on the sled surfaces to visually determine ‘square’ is being maintained as I clamp down pieces.