After sleeping on it last nite i came to the same conclusion, slots, although I probably won't do it as it works fine now. Maybe after I cut off a few apendeges off I will reconsider. It is close to the jig and I didn't intend it to be so close but it is doable and as long as you are paying attention it will be fine. Besides I will probably not be making more than 20 darters a year so it is not like I am going to be using it all the time.

And THAT is why I will be BUYING darters
 

... instead of making them! :uhuh:

Unbelievable Paul- your skills are amazing!

I like your jig but I don't understand what you guys are doing with the dado blade or why you would need more than 1 pass?

nice jig! your jigs are a piece of work on their own!

I hate table saws...they are messy and dangerous...

Here are a sequence of pictures of the jig I use... one jig does all the cuts, after each cut , I adjust the fence and move the main assembley to thenext location
First picture is of the bottom lip... second is of my first cut, maybe the most important... third is of the second slope ange ...

Alll holes are fefrenced off of the belly hole, the tail stock is movable to accomodate different sized plugs, the pin hold the plug tight, no clams are needed, which I found to be problematic with the original jig I made.... pre detirmined areas are marked on the blank prior to cutting, these referance the start of each new cut...

the first picture is of my final angle cut for the dive plane, followed by the cut for the top lip... after cutting the top lip, the plug is left in that posistion and brought to the disc sander, by alinging the edge and using a "soft" touch, I start at the final predetermined mark and draw the plug towards me, thus sand out any kerf marks left by the band saw..

this series of pictures shoiws the rogh saw kerf cut of the plug prior to taking it to the disc sander, before and after pictures show that very little material is remived by the disc sander, because the plug was left in the jig, all angles remain true even after sanding....

:drool::drool::drool: Got to love those jigs!!!! Great work guys.

ah ...jigs...for darter hell...

good stuff

Diggin i don't find the single blade i had to cut the right angle flat at the top of the lip to be wide enough. The dado allows me to get that width and more. It is all coming off in the second angle cut anyway. I use it adjusted to the thinnest setting. If it went thinner I would do so. I don't understand why I would want it wider either as I said it will all come off after in the second cut and that will dictate the final width. I just want that width to be a little wider than my single blade will give me. Also i am using it because it is the sharpest blade I got.

I saw Joe's fixture in person and it is a great fixture. I used some of his ideas in mine. I will end up using something similar for my next procedure. I just feel I will get more consistency in my first cut with the set up I am using now. I don't have the type of set up Joe has for his band saw so that is why I opted to go this route. I also find it not to be too messy as it is a very small cut and not much dust and it is pretty safe, at least for me, as the blade is only a small amount above the table. Of course you need to pay attention and accident's can happen to the best of us. I still may add an adjustable miter groove set up for futher saftey but for now I will use as is.

You are correct Paul not necessary the way you are doing it.

next time you're over I'll explain further
hard for me to type what i am thinking

but why are you making a second cut?

I don't know how tall the flat spot is that is made by the flat teeth of the dado, but that should be all set with one cut.

i think he means his second cut as in the first angle cut for the top of the darter...
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/q...t/100_1819.jpg

JOE, LOVE the CAMO DARTER:love:
GOOD LUCK GOOD PLUGGIN:biglaugh:

Thanks Eugene, I get that now

I hear ya Paul, with out a large table and fence, my set up is worthless...ya gotta do with what ya have and feel comfortable with... over 25 years ago, I saw a good friend loose 3 fingers to a table saw while we were putting an addition on his house... to this day, every time I hear the high pitch whine of a table saw, a chill goes down my spine..

i have a few friends who have to trim one less finger nail. Our bandsaw at work is a real pissa saw, old and a very large table but the only problem is it has no slots and no fence and I want to try and do more things at home so that is my main obstacle. I could make a set up for it but would rather wait and get my own.

Thanks Lu, that is what I mean Bruce.

If I were to venture a guess, I'd guess Grob...

He has a 20" powermatic.

Paul, these things look like they work well. I think there are cheaper options, too. You can buy the magnetic switches separately at WC for about $15 (maybe more?) each. Pretty sure you could make your own removable bandsaw fence quickly

Carter MAG FENCE? Universal Magnetic Fence - Woodcraft.com

I rigged up a fence several years ago for it and keep it hidden in the shop. I have already rigged up a subplate with a miter groove in it that I just clamp to the table, hidden from the hacks at work too. I will be using them for the next slope cut most likely. I am very happy with the table saw set up and will stick to that at least for now.

So they steal everything in sight at your shop too.... Happiness is good.... I just finished off( shaping and sealing) a dozen of those Small gibbs darters we were playing with... now if only I had a place to swim them close by...I'm still perplexed by the hook in the middle... they sit as they should in the water... I made a few from maple and a few from birch... the maple sits low in the water ( sealer), almost too low, I have a feeling after epoxy they will be sinkers... ...BTW, I through wired all of these...

have you thought about doing a laminated darter ?
WRC top and maple bottom ?
wouldn't sink as much

Been thewe dont that.. I like Birch better than maple...Most folks fell in love with maple for darters before epoxy coating ( or epoxy sealing) came into voge... on some plugs made of maple, the added wright is enough to adversly effect the plug...

I think that other than seeing finished products, "Jig/fixture" threads are my favorite threads. One of my weak points for sure is making "jigs/fixtures."

Great stuff......