Tablesaw Cove-Cutting Guide
Cutting large coves on a tablesaw is simple enough in principle—you set up a diagonal guide and pass the board over the blade. In practice, however, I found that clamping the guide at the correct angle to the blade and the right distance from it took a lot of fiddling and was often not secure. I came up with the jig, shown above, that fastens securely to the saw table and adjusts quickly and easily.
I made the fixture shown from hardwood and 1⁄4 " Baltic birch plywood for rigidity. The hardwood guide bar fits snugly into the miter-gauge slot and sits in a groove in the fixture base so the T-slot bolts and threaded knobs can clamp the fixture tightly against the saw table.
To use the guide, I draw the cove profile on the end of the stock with a red fine-line marker. I set the blade depth, then, with the stock against the guide fence, I sight along the guide and adjust its position. After tightening the knobs to lock the guide in position, I'm ready to cut.
—Barrie L. Leeser, Whitehall, Pa.