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constructing a wood jig out of countertop

Sam Fleisher

Sam Fleisher

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Picked up a piece of countertop at the local big box store the other day to make a circle jig for a bandsaw.

I've decided I want to add a piece of 1/4 or 1/2 inch ply under it because of the particle board. The underside is finished with some kind of clear coat. I assume it's to make it more water resistant but I'm also guessing that wood glue isn't going to stick to it either.

So the question is will regular 2 part epoxy which I have plenty of work to fasten the plywood to the underside of the countertop after roughing it up of course or do I need to buy the 5 minute adhesive kind?

I'm just trying to save myself a 40 mile round trip to get to the store. I know I'm overthinking it but what else do I have to do? Agitating you guys and my dog is kind of my only form of entertainment.o_O
 
You could use short lengths of dowel, splines, buiscits, and tight bond. There isn’t going to be any stress on the joint.
A 1/2 dozen dowels should hold it forever
To attach 1/2” plywood Cut 6 3/4 or 1” dowels
Face glue the plywood & clamp.
Drill holes 7/8” deep or 9/8” deep glue and drive the dowels in flush
 
Some alternatives to Hockenbery's procedure, which I agree with. Screws instead of clamps to hold the plywood in place while you're drilling the holes for the dowels. Polyurethane (Gorilla) glue might grip the slick under-surface of the countertop, especially if you hit the slick surface with a wire brush so there was some tooth for the glue. I concur with tight bond for gluing the dowels. If you don't have the 3/4" or 1" dowels (I'm pretty sure I don't) more dowels of a smaller diameter could be a solution path.
 
I'm guessing you mean you picked up some Melamine (If you're lucky, sometimes you can even get some for free from your local building supply as a discarded "Cover Sheet" - it may have marker writing on it and edge and corner damage, but for jig building, free is always good..)

I love it for jigs - as has been mentioned, dowels can do, or cut a shallow dado on your table saw for the fence or whatever.
I also went at a piece with 40 grit sandpaper in my ROS for a full face glue-up, and have run it through my planer as well (faster than the sandpaper!)

- You can also cut dovetail dados in it and it holds dovetail hold-down clamps real nice (MicroJig brand is what I use) or sliding dovetails

- Can also cut T-slots with a T-slot router bit
- Melamine is pretty robust that way, just can't be cranking down on clamps, etc, and don't expect it to hold up if you're trying to side load a fence, etc.
There is also specialized Melamine glue (never used it myself) as well as Hot Melt glue (Melamine iron-edging is held on with that)
 
Sam Fleisher said:
Wonder if they make a universal version? Does look nice and simple and priced right if it works.
Click to expand...
Several manufacturers make them for their bandsaws so there are a few slightly different types out there. One or other of them could fit a lot of the bandsaws folks have, albeit with perhaps slight modification?
 
Sam, I would caution you about making your jig any thicker. The countertop material is already pretty thick. The thicker the jig, the higher you have to raise the upper guide on the saw, and the flexier the blade gets. The more flex in the blade, the less control and accuracy you have, and in my painful experience, the more chance of breaking a blade. There are some knowledegable folks who think cutting turning blanks on a typical bandsaw is a dicey proposition to begin with.
 
Dean Center said:
Sam, I would caution you about making your jig any thicker. The countertop material is already pretty thick. The thicker the jig, the higher you have to raise the upper guide on the saw, and the flexier the blade gets. The more flex in the blade, the less control and accuracy you have, and in my painful experience, the more chance of breaking a blade. There are some knowledegable folks who think cutting turning blanks on a typical bandsaw is a dicey proposition to begin with.
Click to expand...
My thinking is that the particle board material it's made of isn't probably the best for screw holding. I ordered some t-track and aluminum miter slider so that's going to need something better to hold on to. That's what the 1/2 inch ply underneath the counter top is for.
It's a trade off. Nice slick durable surface probably 1.5 inch total versus 3/4 inch ply by itself.

Could have just laminated a piece of the Formica onto some 3/4 ply I know but by the time I bought that then the glue to hold that on then....... well, where do you stop? Didn't want to spend $100 on something that I might not like. Though I'm edging in on that price probably already! :oops: ($20 piece of counter, $11 for 1/2 inch 2x2 ply, t-track and miter I ordered direct from China so it was cheaper but still probably $20 or so) Not counting incidentals. Definitely can't call this a cheap hobby. Nickel and dime you to death if you let it.
 
Dean Center said:
There are some knowledegable folks who think cutting turning blanks on a typical bandsaw is a dicey proposition to begin with.
Click to expand...
Unless you’re a production turner who needs to save the time, I’ve never quite understood why anyone feels the need to cut a perfectly circular blank on the Bandsaw?! Surely making something perfectly round is what the Lathe is for? Making a few straight cuts to make a roughly circular blank is all that’s needed.
If a bandsaw is used to cut circular blanks then the blade will inevitably get uneven wear on the teeth, making the blade useless for making straight cuts.
 
When I cut blanks round I pin a round disk to the blank and cut just out side the disc. I just pin it with a scratch awl
Those not comfortable using a scratch awl often use a screw.

For a NE bowl I wouldn’t want a hole in the bottom of my bowl that most circle jigs use.IMG_0996.jpeg

Full disclosure cutting just outside the disc - every once in a while a miss take a nick out of my hardboard disc.
Enough nicks and a 12” disc graduates to a new 11.5” disc….
 
Bill Alston said:
Unless you’re a production turner who needs to save the time, I’ve never quite understood why anyone feels the need to cut a perfectly circular blank on the Bandsaw?! Surely making something perfectly round is what the Lathe is for? Making a few straight cuts to make a roughly circular blank is all that’s needed.
If a bandsaw is used to cut circular blanks then the blade will inevitably get uneven wear on the teeth, making the blade useless for making straight cuts.
Click to expand...

Sometimes I'll start out with a chunk of wood that doesn't even resemble a bowl blank so making it round first will make it easier getting it balanced, can spin it faster to start, easier on the bearings and lathe in general and me. (not getting any younger)

I've been doing without a bandsaw for a while and I've learned that the way I do things it takes me longer to get my rough bowls round and somewhat balanced than it does to make the shape after I get it round. I also don't like sweeping so this will cut down on curls on the floor around the lathe.

Not a production turner just a lazy fat man. Someone told me a long time ago if you want to find the easiest/best way to do something give the job to a "lazy fat man". <<------ (me)
 
[
Sam Fleisher said:
Not a production turner just a lazy fat man. Someone told me a long time ago if you want to find the easiest/best way to do something give the job to a "lazy fat man". <<------ (me)
Click to expand...
I’m lazier than you. Use the circle cutter to make yourself hardboard templates.
Then the lazier guy -me- would use those to cut round blanks. I have them in a drawer in 1/2” increments.
Faster set up time. Almost as good a circle.

See the post above
Some folks use cardboard.
 
hockenbery said:
When I cut blanks round I pin a round disk to the blank and cut just out side the disc. I just pin it with a scratch awl
Those not comfortable using a scratch awl often use a screw.

For a NE bowl I wouldn’t want a hole in the bottom of my bowl that most circle jigs use.View attachment 59837

Full disclosure cutting just outside the disc - every once in a while a miss take a nick out of my hardboard disc.
Enough nicks and a 12” disc graduates to a new 11.5” disc….
Click to expand...
This is my approach as well. I have cardboard disks from 4" to 12". I'm not going for perfect circles, just close enough. Super easy to replace. The only issue with cardboard is that the hole in the center will start to ream out. I attach gaffer's tape front and back to repair the hole.

One little trick I read about from www.turnawoodbowl.com. Your goal is to keep the awl stationary as you rotate the stock.
 
To me it is way too much work making and using circle cutting disks, so I don't have any and never did, I Use my dividers to put some marks on the log piece, bigger piece, I use the chainsaw, smaller just cut it close, that is good enough.

Turning it round does not take more extra time IMO than the time needed to hassle around with circle disks, and you still have the high and low parts of a log blank, and sometimes I do not want the blank to be round.

roughing a blank.jpg
rough turning Maple crotch.jpg
Handled crotch bowl.jpg
 
"So the question is will regular 2 part epoxy which I have plenty of work to fasten the plywood to the underside of the countertop after roughing it up of course or do I need to buy the 5 minute adhesive kind?"

Well, I'll see if I found the answer to my question.

I modified hockenberry's suggestion by clamping the 1/2 inch plywood to the underside of the countertop/Formica material/particle board. Then I drilled 1 1/4 inch diameter holes through the plywood into the particle board and filled them with some 2 part epoxy.

Fingers crossed that this will work. It's not like it is a laminated beam holding up a house.

The last couple of days I've been waiting for some liquid nails to cure. That didn't work. I should have learned my lesson the last time I used that stuff on a swing frame. Luckily it scraped off easily with a putty knife.
 
I use the bandsaw all the time to make round bowl blanks. For me the motivation is to avoid being buried in more shavings than I need to. Particularly if I’m working through several blanks at one time, the amount of shavings can fill several trash bags. I’d rather wind up with offcuts that I can put in the woodpile and eventually in the fireplace. But I don’t use a circle jig. I made a 16” diameter plexiglas disc. It is drilled every half inch out from the center and scribed with concentric circles. Then an awl through the center hole and a sharpie at the diameter I want to scribe on the log section shows me where I’ll be cutting on the bandsaw. It takes longer to describe than it does to mark and cut. A98F338E-7236-47D7-A140-5A117BAD692E.jpeg
 
Leo Van Der Loo said:
Yes nice circle and that will cut fine if the wood has a flat bottom side, not as easy with a half log like this one, you know what will happen if you would bandsaw that circle like that.

View attachment 59932
Click to expand...
I absolutely agree Leo. In that case, I certainly cut it flat side down, but still prefer to use the bandsaw whenever it is practical. Clearly though, some pieces are too big or unwieldy to cut on the bandsaw. In that case, I either use the chainsaw or may put it directly on the lathe, going nice and slow until it has reached some sense of balance. 9DD1F599-BE3B-41B9-9DF3-C8916CA1E083.jpeg
 
Leo Van Der Loo said:
Yes nice circle and that will cut fine if the wood has a flat bottom side, not as easy with a half log like this one, you know what will happen if you would bandsaw that circle like that.

View attachment 59932
Click to expand...

Exactly. That's why I use the discs. You can't effectively draw a circle on the round side of a log. I'll bet your chainsaw skills are pretty darned good. :)
 
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