Shopsmith Forums

The job at hand this morning was to fit sash and glazing bars to a couple of cupboard doors. The plans called for the bars to fit snugly, but without bowing. I was able to get very tight fits on the bars using the Shopsmith cross-cut table, a stop block and a deck of cards. I know this is an old trick, but I wanted to share it because it worked so well in this situation.

I first marked the bar to be cut about a pencil line too long and cut it. Then, by inserting a card at the face of the stop block and cutting again, I was able to take a cut of a bit less than 1/64". Each cut was made with the stock tight against the fence of the cross-cut table and against the stop block and also with the table's guide bar pushed tight against the side of the miter gage slot closest to the blade. I couldn't actually feel any lateral movement of the bar in the slot, but wanted to make each cut as consistent as I could. If the fit was still too tight, I just added another card and cut again. Worked like a charm.

Great tip. I really enjoy posts like this.

If that’s an old trick, then I must still be a newbie ... this is the first time I‘ve seen it.

It did stike me that by using cards Ace - nine in order, your micro adjuster even has a digital readout!

Good idea! Digital without the electronics!