Why the most dangerous jig I've made is also one of the best
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The cove cut. One of the most controversial cuts in internet woodworking. So I'll do you one better--let's make a jig to cut tiny coves with a biscuit jointer. Because sometimes you need to think outside the proverbial box.
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Items I use in this video (some are affiliate links which help sponsor this content):
DeWalt Biscuit Jointer: amzn.to/3IZP6pQ
Drill/Driver: amzn.to/49gLv1e
Countersink bits: amzn.to/3vvOF3C
Forstner bits: amzn.to/49bxPos
Digital angle gauge: amzn.to/3vzrBRr
6" F clamps: amzn.to/3PIVs0z
Handscrew clamp: amzn.to/49m4szM
DeWalt Trim Router: amzn.to/3LbCbTF
1/4" Spiral upcut bit: amzn.to/49h9huR
Items I keep on hand in the shop:
Glue:
Titebond I Wood Glue: amzn.to/3zRXHGv
Titebond III Wood Glue: amzn.to/3MVnG6j
Titebond Quick and Thick: amzn.to/42HGuMC
Liquid Hide Glue: amzn.to/3PhZEEW
My Finish Mix:
Minwax Polyurethane: amzn.to/3kPgpuO
Liberon Finishing Oil: amzn.to/3kXkIEf
Danish Oil (alternative): amzn.to/3Njlabs
Liberon Beeswax: amzn.to/3Jm2yFN
Turpentine: amzn.to/3SWFznB
Mineral Spirits (alternative): amzn.to/3oKU83h
Power Tools and Accessories:
Festool Domino: amzn.to/47YEty0
Table Saw Blade - Woodworkers II: amzn.to/42bIOLa
My favorite trim router: amzn.to/3LbCbTF
DeWalt Trim Router fence: amzn.to/43cYwr2
My Festool Router Setup: amzn.to/3ZPIQal
Extra Fence: amzn.to/3KHi9jI
1/2" dia Router bit: amzn.to/3UkRFYI
A Better Alternative (Spiral Up Cut): amzn.to/3mcPsSp
Sharpening:
Ohishi Waterstones: amzn.to/3TkoZhP
1,000/8,000 Combo (great budget option): amzn.to/3Lqj7Sh
Angle Setting Jig Plans: www.lie-nielsen.com/pages/dow...
Inexpensive Honing Guide: amzn.to/3Jo2Uub
Lie-Nieslen Honing Guide: www.lie-nielsen.com/nodes/423... guide
Sandpaper for Flattening: amzn.to/3Jor73F
TotalBoat Epoxy:
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DeWalt customer service: “Has the tool been used for any purpose for which it was not designed?”
Nope...... not with me..... not at all..... noooooooooo...... 😂😂😂😂
"I only used it to cut wood grooves, yes."
😂😂
😂😂
Dewalt doesn’t have customer service. Only claims denied service.
As a structural engineer, I would say you work with much tighter tolerances than we do. Now a mechanical engineer and a machinist…tiny tiny tolerances. I once was on site doing construction inspections on a high rise in Miami. The surveyor could layout an entire floor of an oval building in about two hours. Somewhere around the 28th floor he was mad because the layout was off by ¾ inch. That’s 28 floors and accumulated “errors” was ¾ inch. To throw a little humor at how seriously he took his job his regular work shirt said, “I Make Things Up.” Very cool technique!
He is a better man than I 😂
LOL, great story! No pun intended! 😁
Thanks Erik! I noticed that your Prius grew a bigger trunk. I used to work for a guy who often made cove cuts on the table saw. I never liked it but neither of us ever got hurt. Fortunately I have never needed to make a cove cut in all the years since then. I think I would probably make some kind of hand plane with special blade and take forever to make the thing. I love my table saw and don’t hesitate to use it for straight cuts but that thing of cutting sideways just makes me very anxious.
Yes Erik. Very informational lol. Credit to u for always making interesting content at the pace u make it. I always make the time to “chill and learn” when u post 🤙
The Violin case cabinet, something that so caught my eye when you made reference to it in another of your videos. I asked then if you had made a video of its build. So glad for this prelude to a video that you mentioned is coming. Thank you so much!
I love that you do a fantastic job of speaking to the newbies amongst us, while giving us something towards which we can aspire. I imagine those with lots of experience still get inspired. It’s great stuff you’re offering us, @ENCurtis. Please, keep it going!!
Well doggone, I have discovered a cool new use for the least used tool in my shop! I probably haven't turned that biscuit jointer on in 7 years, but now I'm intrigued. I can see small cove cutting in my future! Great video!
This was by far one of my favorite videos. Your videos and a cup of coffee. Great way to start a day. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The jig works well, but with straight pieces of wood, one could also cut the coves on the table saw quite easily. If you don't have a table saw or if you want a portable tool, then this jig is excellent. Thanks for the video.
Safety - Shmafety LMAO! Love coming up with alternative uses for tools and figuring out how to use them effectively in ways they weren't intended. It's another way of keeping the mind sharp, thinking outside of the box and problem solving. I would have leaned towards using a router with a cove bit for this project but if one were not available then this is an excellent work around.
It's so interesting seeing the differences between machinist KZhead and woodworker KZhead. Your approach is so different from what I expected to be necessary to achieve this kind of cut, and it just goes to show how many different ways to approach a problem!
Great video thanks for sharing
Love the outside the box thinking.
Cool use of a biscuit joiner. As usual, entertaining video. Includes some good info to store for that job I don't know I'm going to do, but when I do undertake it this will be essential knowledge. I find most of the jobs I do these days call on at least one of those left field snippets of info. Thanks
Funny, i was just thinking about my biscuit jointer and then this video popped up. I was thinking of the tools I have but don't get used as often as I should use them. I bought it for a specific project but I haven't used it much since. I was thinking of how I could repurpose it and use it more and then this video appears. I had no idea this video was even about the tool in question but the thumbnail sounded entertaining and now i have a nue purpose for my tool. The universe alignment must have been spot on this morning. Thank you for some ideas on this one
Eric, I used the dust attachment for the Dewalt biscuit and through away the bag then connected it via an adapter to a hose conection... works good.
I love it and think it is good use. The push lock at the end is what is important thought to me. Need to be able to cover it and have a leg notch to push. Maybe a jointer style block that lets you also push into the fence. A block with two blocks on the bottom. A short and long.
thank you EN
Very welcome
Luvin not using tools for intended purpose thing, he’ll before router tables were a thing I used to hold my router upside down in my lap to cut the lip off drawer fronts, I was a cabinet refacing installer. That job was paid by the job and it lead me to all kind of ways to shave time, I had the whole systainer thing going before Festools came across the ocean, I just wanted my tools on the job faster. I made my chop saw a table saw combo, you can see some examples of that tool on the internet now. Great channel and looking forward to your next post!
I feel like just seeing those reinvented tools is a whole channel idea on it's own!
Tada …..take that Festool Biscuit. Nice trick Erik.
😂👊
That's a really big Prius
She's been hitting the weights.
@ENCurtis And changed names, upgraded ( to a better class ), but this is not the Y we watching this video.
I like a TCG blade for cove cutting, it scratches the cove less than ATB.
Good idea! Yes it's only woodworking ! Keep it simple!
That's right!
Good tutorial!
Thanks!
Well you make a strong case to get a biscuit cutter.. if I ever need to do this type of work. I'll keep this in the back of my mind along with a few dozen other videos for that one specific future project I haven't conceived yet. Very nice video and looking forward to seeing more like it with unusual applications to otherwise usual tools.
We've all got that playlist on youtube 😂
@@ENCurtis Haha thank you. I'll have to take a look at some point.
Erik, if I were a younger man, I would enjoy taking one of your classes. Your thought process for your projects is amazing. BTW, saw a new ride in the vid, oh please tell me the Prius went to the car graveyard. Keep the fine videos coming bud. Semper Fi.
Haha she did. She got a little too long in the tooth.
If it works, it’s the right tool for the job!
Great video! I like the way you problem solve, to me that is what woodworking & carpentry is all about. It's what separates the posers from the superstars! 😁
love it!
I hope the screws have enough thread engagement to hold. Maybe a little loktite to keep the screws in place.
The application has been done this way since time immemorial, with the table saw. This is great for smaller curves.
very nice biscuit joiner table saw
It gets the job done!
Great videos! Where can I find your podcasts mentioned in this video? Thanks!
Love it! :)
Wait! What! That is a Ford Truck and not the Prius. When did that happen? Thanks for the video gets me thinking, that can be a bad thing for me. Thanks again!
Cool idea.
I had a video request after last video and you confirmed it with this one. After mentioning Paul Sellers and now Tom as your teachers, I want to know your woodworking journey. How did you get started in this? What were some of your biggest lessons learned at each stage or from your teachers? Do you have any of your earliest pieces that are, shall we say, more humble in execution?
That's a great topic for a future vid, but it may be in the distant future. I've had some wonderful teachers who definitely deserve recognition.
For dust collection, you could maybe just take a hose clamp and screw it in under the slot on the back and then just hold the vacuum hose there. It will definitely not be a very good solution, but it will be better than none at all. For the fences then you could just put a embeded machine screw sticking up at each of the four corners of the top and then put in enlongated slots in the fence with a nob on the top to fasten them. It will still allow for angeling the fence, but it will be less finicky than those F-clamps.
Just mount the Biscuit blade onto the table saw. When the arbor hole is bigger, one can always make an insert. The max depth of cut would be about 1/2", if this is enough. In 13/16 stock, taking off 1/2" should be about right. Some TS only 3" cut, then it won't work. Investigate.
Cool idea for sure. But (and there is always a but), I'm pretty darn sure you have done the bent staves on a tablesaw. Just jig it up so that table the blade came through was not as wide as the tablesaws' table. Basically a false table top. It would not have lead to this cool video - but some of us might not be able to find the old biscuit cutter.... I'm sure I could. Maybe.
Love it that you have a Ford Maverick. Tell us what you have - XL, XLT, Lariat, EcoBoost or Hybrid?
XLT hybrid and it's fast becoming my favorite vehicle I've ever had.
I’ve got a Lariat Hybrid in production. Can’t wait to get it. We woodworkers have good taste!
Nice. Something I am going to give a shot. Ryobi tool here though lol
Ryobi will get the job done in a pinch. Just a lesser motor.
Uhh frickin mazing !
*tips hat and walks away slowly*
That would look really awesome with wood clatting, but the sanding!
I've made up sanding blocks to fit the cove. That helps the process go much faster.
Very impressive jig Eric. Never would I have ever thought to use my biscuit jointer to make cove cuts. I noticed you have a Maverick, how do you like it?
I love it. It was a great upgrade.
You said - Everybody makes mistakes. I disagree. What you call a mistake in woodwork - I call a lesson well learned. Which is NO mistake - but rather a chance at growth and knowledge.
You mentioned the varying depth of cut if cutting the cove in a bent stave on the table saw. Is there a reason you can't cut the cove *before* you put the arc into the stave?
Jigs are the extra joy of my woodwork Eric,I used to tell my Grandson when he was old enough to learn to count your fingers on the way into the workshop and count them again on the way out. I also told him that if you consider your fingers are to close to the spinning cutter think of another safer setup. Thanks for the video.👍👍
That's a good rule of thumb.................. see what I did there...
Awesome video, Erik! I’m loving your newer “long form” format for your videos! And I noticed your Prius grew up. Lol
bahaha she did grow up! She evolved, if you will 😂
As soon as I saw the math my anxiety went way up!
😂
Wild. Now wonderin' if I could do the same with my 6.5" cordless circular saw. 😉
Sure can!
🤔 no more Prius? Also, great strategy... Never thought about using a biscuit joiner this way.
So you can "sound smart the next time you're sponsored by such a company with such a product, the LiFe PO4 is Lithium Iron Phosphate. A common but newer itteration on traditional lithium batteries.
So .... apart from a very eye opening video (possibilities are endless if you just think outside the box), I need to know the name of the band, album, single, track title - whatever - that you played near the beginning of your video. 3:30 to be precise. I am a professional music composer and I hate music because that's all I ever hear! Music, music, music - all the time! It gets old. BUT, this track of which I speak blew my few remaining marbles clean out of my brain and immediately landed on a freshly sanded piece of walnut . No finish yet, thank the angels. So what do you say? Can you hook me up with that track? All I need is a name and song title. Thanks EN. And no, I won't be trying any cove cutting for a while yet. As cool as your jig was (is) I am still working on my courage and of course, I need all 9 of my remaining digits. ❤ Your track was the best (hands down) guitar based music I've heard since Hendriks. It put me in the zone!
3:30 goggles on forehead, the sign of a real professional ;)
What if the biscuit joiner were to be face mounted to a round base similar to a router? Plunge down, lock, then with handles on said base you twist the whole thing as you move it between two locked fences on a piece? You'd have a variable width cove along the length of the cut. Might look like a twisted ribbon cove. Probably a terrible idea. I don't own a biscuit joiner or I'd try it someday. But maybe someday...
Ahhh a Prius shaped as a more useful tool...a Truck 😂
She's been working out 😂
Erik, who is the artist that made that mug/cup? I know you’ve mentioned before but I can’t remember and can’t find that video. Please/thank you.
I think your flannel is manufactured by DeWalt also 😁😁😁
I’m sure i missed it, but how do you set the hight of the blade? In other words, the biscuit joiner slides back and forth, but how does it lock to a certain depth?
If the pieces are flat, can't you get any cut-curvature you want from the table saw by varying the feed angle?
That was my thought as well.
Okay... now with a grinder for even tighter curves? What next, dremel??
By god, that's a niche use!
Just a heads up for the sponsor spot, LiFePO4 is a lithium iron phosphate battery.
Good to know. Thanks.
This gave me a reason not to throw out my biscuit joiner.
My domino doesn’t do that,time to dust off the biscuit joiner.
The biscuit joiner still has a place!
I was so confused until you showed the piece that it would make. You kept calling the Slats- "Staves" 😅
stave noun ˈstāv Synonyms of stave 1 : any of the narrow strips of wood or narrow iron plates placed edge to edge to form the sides, covering, or lining of a vessel (such as a barrel) or structure
Would not a cove bit in a router be a simpler solution?
I remember you talking about your coffee cups in a video a while back... But I can't remember which one... Who makes those cups?
A trimmer or a plounge router with a BIG cove bit? 😊
Can't control or alter the arc then! But it would work.
Couldn’t you use a router?
Great design as usual. Expect a visit from the ghost of Metric yet to come tonight!
Did I miss something?! Where’s the Prius? Well sorry I didn’t read the other comments. Lol😂
Very cool !Thank you for all your time and effort. 1in7
Thank you!
I'm no expert but I do know that different electric motors are built for different "duty cycles". I'm pretty sure that a biscuit joiner's motor would be rated for intermittent use. I think your application would be closer to continuous. But I could be wrong. Obviously, there would be implications for the tool's lifespan.
I believe you're likely right. I'm sure the drag on the motor for this application will lessen it's lifespan, but in my view if it gets the effect I need then it's the right tool for the job.
Life--P-O battery, yep you definitely don't know what you're talking about. But I still enjoyed your ad, as always. Keep up the fantastic videos.
C-l-e-v-e-r. You smart cookie fella.
😎👊
Divide millimeters, by 25.4, to get inches. Divide centimeters by 2.54, to get inches.
That's why sometimes, just sometimes, I sit in the shop and do nothing but drink coffee. Then, a lightning bolt hits me when looking at the tools. Oh wait, it's just that janky ceiling electric heater from China. Nice use of a 'don't use that' tool.
What happened to the woodworker’s Prius?
Nice jig. Where in Texas are you going?
Austin!
@@ENCurtis Sweet! I lived there for half my life before moving to the mountains of NC in 2020. Great music and BBQ 👍
@@TWC6724 absolutely! Recommendations are welcome, if you got em!
@@ENCurtis Brother, there are many! Franklin’s BBQ is great but plan to get in a long line my friend. There’s a newcomer Leroy and Lewis just opened a brick and mortar in South Austin (they also serve craft beer and sangria 👍). Terry Blacks BBQ is also great. Then there’s greater Austin. If you have time to travel to the Lockhart/Luling area, they have the original Blacks BBQ and Kruez BBQ. All damn good my brother. Get you some brisket in Texas my friend! Don’t miss out!
Dewalt better sponsor you. You did a lot of product placement. Clever idea though. Norm would be proud of you. Have you ever tried making the slot for splines with the biscuit jointer?
I would welcome DeWalt to my budget 😂 I haven't but that's a clever idea!
I was thinking the same about Norm.
Thanks for teaching how to make a jig and to adapt it to our purposes. What would happen on this jig if you changed the angle from straight across to diagonal as you went over, like around a bend? Would that make something more like a power carving.
That is actually a jig I have in mind for a future piece. You change the radius of the cut as you progress. It gives some wild effects.
Cut a piece of paper size of your board, fold it in half
Where's the class you're teaching in Texas?
Austin school of furniture
Hey I hate to rain on your mission to do things the hardest way possible but you know you could just run a smaller blade in your table saw right😂 safer too
Thank you for sharing! Interesting idea you got there. These are two of my ‘be fully aware of your situation’ jigs… Wood Lathe Router Jig (Horizontal Milling Jig) kzhead.info/sun/ntyPZtNlioWapIE/bejne.html Hexagonal Blanks on Table Saw (no maths required) kzhead.info/sun/n9ByhsaHrJRnqp8/bejne.html
Ok, you say that the size of a table saw blade was an issue, but then you explain how changing the angle of approach lets you cut any radius you want. Something does not compute. With non-curved staves, why does the blade diameter matter if you can get the same result by changing the angle of attack?
With flat staves it does not. But I also intend teaching a bent stave cabinet front in the future.
Where's your "cabinetmaker's Prius"?!!
She unfortunately shuffled off this mortal coil because her coils went bad.
Where is the Prius???
Molding planes ????
Yeah.... nah.... yeah..... Guess if you have the inclination to feel comfortable with a sharp cutty spinny thing that close to your pinkies then go for it😆 I think I might just stick with using my old school coving planes cos they don't scare the sh!t out of me like power tools do🤣
Maybe I'm just not observant enough, but could you elaborate a bit on what the safety concerns are in this kind of an operation?
Technically- anytime you use a tool against its intentional design there are safety issues. The biscuit joiner is designed to completely conceal the blade while operating, when it’s tight against the work surface plunging into it so it’s never out in the open. This jig you’ll have a spinning blade on a very light weight tool open to the public. The jig being secured to it help mitigate some safety, but it’s still not as intended.
@@Andi.Mitchell.Designswell, technically, there are safety concerns when using it for it's intended purpose as well. 😋
@@nagranoth_you can say that about a chisel though.
The biggest safety issue with this jig is the torque put on to the piece your cove cutting. The piece could kick far easier than on a table saw, and while it's possible to use with relative safety, because it's a shop made jig with exposed cutters the level of safety is far less than say a router table where most of the bit is buried behind a fence. And especially with the first iteration, where the majority of the blade was exposed. However using any machine with caution and diligence greatly reduces the chances of catastrophe.
Thanks for the infos! ^_^
Bro, your Prius seems.... different.
She's been juicing.
Can't you put a smaller diameter blade on a table saw? Super niche: You just made a mini-table saw. That is, it holds the blade under a little platform. The cove cutting is just a clamped down piece of board, like you would do on a general purpose table saw. I've seen a mini table saw that people were having a lot of joy with. Why not look at it that way? Use it for cutting dowels to length, or any manner of small pieces that you need to trim.
I'm just here to make sure there's another Prius comment on this video
The shade...
Look out here come the GD safety police Great job I’m going to have to make one of these 👍👍🥃
They're gonna come hard and fast.
I was going to keep my mouth shut until you mentioned it cutting across the grain and “you’ll always have a bunch of sanding to do when cutting coves”… not if you use a coving plane, which would also be quite a bit safer. (Even though I think you’ve made this jig about as safe as you could.) Graham Blackburn has some good videos on cove planes.
oh no... not the 'rockin blues rock montage' again... 🤦♂
The only reason an American wood worker should switch to metric, is so he can teller he has 7.62 cm for here lol