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I am looking at building a couple of jigs for my SS.

Would 3/4 ply be too heavy?

Thanks,
Foster From Flint

ipbarnard wrote:I am looking at building a couple of jigs for my SS.

Would 3/4 ply be too heavy?

Thanks,
Foster From Flint

Insufficient input. What kind/size jig?

My wood of choice for nearly all jigs has been 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood. Baltic Birch tends to be a bit pricey and in some areas is difficult to find. If you plan several jigs, I suggest you designate specific saw blades for use with the Baltic Birch (plywood). Plywood dulls the blade more quickly.

I try to use 3/4" oak boards for many of my jigs. I plane and sand for a really fine finish and use a poly on them if they test out OK. I do move some of my jigs to aluminum if I will be using them many times for a lot of years. Sometimes, I just grab whatever wood is available to see if the jig is worthwhile to maybe used again. Not always the case. Then I make the jig again taking more care and better material. However, most of my jigs are for metal type working.

Like JPG noted, much depends on the type and size of the jig. Regular plywood can have air pockets in the layers. Recently I made and extension table for my SS using 3/4" plastic laminated particle board I bought at Home Depot. It has worked well, even holding threaded inserts. The material is available in all sizes for making shelves and is reasonable priced.

Small pieces of baltic birch are sold by 'Michaels' craft stores. Up to 1/2" by (IIRC) 2' x 1'.

I normally do all jigging using "WIH" (What I Have ) It is the cheapest stuff I can use.

I do have a supply of decent sized scraps from a local kitchen cabinet factory. I used to have access to their big dumpster of scrap for firewood. I don't know if I still can since I suspect that my old friend there has retired. Much of the pieces that I saved were a birch looking plywood with a lot of ply's. I am not sure if it is Baltic Birch of not but it is very high quality stuff. The biggest problem with it is that I got it several years ago and stashed it in a loft. It would now maybe take a half day to quarry safely back to that area.

One of the farm stores down the road carries 4' X 8' sheets of what I am pretty sure is high density polyethylene in several thickness from .25" to at least .50". It looks just like the material the Router Workshop guys use for a fence and jigs. IIRC it runs about $50 to $60 a sheet for the .50". Livestock farmers especially hog farmers use this stuff and some of the more fancy horse farms use some of it. I have intended to get a sheet of .50" to use for jigs. One 4' X 8' sheet should make a "LOT" of jigs.


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I usually use maple. It is relatively cheap, and easily available.

Most of the time I use MDF. It's perfectly flat, cheap(er) and doesn't warp. Just keep it dry and no problem. I usually seal it with spray lacquer or even just a liberal coat of paste wax to help keep it dry.