What is your favorite wood to make jigs out of? I have a pretty good supply of ash, will that be suitable?
Dave F.
Dave F.
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jigs
- Thread starter Dave Fritz
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Maple and MDF
Ash should work for most jigs. Some ash can be prone to splitting be aware of the grain orientation.
I've used ash for turned morse tapers and it worked fine.
Have fun
Al
Ash should work for most jigs. Some ash can be prone to splitting be aware of the grain orientation.
I've used ash for turned morse tapers and it worked fine.
Have fun
Al
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
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What kind of jig? Generally speaking, plywood or mdf are superior to wood because they do not have a radial/tangential differential in reponse to moisture.
If wood, close-grain, diffuse porous wood like maple would be better than ash or other splintery, stringy or ring-porous woods.
If wood, close-grain, diffuse porous wood like maple would be better than ash or other splintery, stringy or ring-porous woods.
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
I agree we need to know more about what kind of jig. I usually use MDF or plywood for jigs because of the stability. You aren't maybe talking about mandrels to hold turnings are you. For those I use all sorts of thing depending on what I'm building.
I'm making jigs to use as jam chucks for mounting things like pepper mills like Nick Cook does and bird house ornaments. I also want to make jigs to hold bracelets and other small round objects. I'll put a cross cut in the ends and when I bring up the tail stock it will tighten the jig to hold the round object in place so I can work on it. Basically the jig will be used in the drive center of my lathe.
I've used hard maple with good results but am out of it but have some ash on hand. When I've tried cherry it was a little soft it seemed to me. I've not tried walnut which I have a good supply of.
Thanks for the replies.
Dave F.
I've used hard maple with good results but am out of it but have some ash on hand. When I've tried cherry it was a little soft it seemed to me. I've not tried walnut which I have a good supply of.
Thanks for the replies.
Dave F.
IMHO, Ash will be fine for your intended application. Be a little careful with Black Walnut though. It can leave dark marks on your workpieces if it happens to spin. It is actually softer than Cherry. Essentially any hardwood you have ise acceptable. I often use softwood as well-like pieces of construction lumber-for jam and friction chucks.
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
I either use Poplar because I can buy it really cheap locally, or I use scrap wood left over from other projects. Green wood works well for one time use. It seems to grip the wood better however it will dry and crack. I don't make pepper mills so can't tell you much about that but have made things that are similar and usually poplar or maple are my mandrell materials.