Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Production jig for multi business card holders

I sometimes get requests for things I have made one of and find that making a second one is as time consuming as the first and prone to the same errors.
To avoid this I try to make jigs that take the guessing out and speed up the process when the need arises.

I will be using this business card holder as a prize in several silent auctions this year so I wanted to keep the fabrication time down to a minimun.

The first shot shows several prototypes where I worked out the shape and size I wanted to use.
This is absolutely an essential step .

From business card holder

This next picture shows the jig made from MDF .It is essentially a right angle to butt the blank on with two adjustable cleats to hold the blank firmly in the corner.

From business card holder
On top of that is a guide to center the forstner bit exactly for cutting each corner.
I used 3/4" MDF and 11/16" spruce for the right angle to allow the blanks to side in and out without binding.

From business card holder

Next picture show how the guide centers the forstner bit so it drops on the same spot each time.

From business card holder

Here I am showing the finished blank still resting in the jig, We now have 4 nearly identicle corner radiuses.
This took about 2 minutes to prep thanks to the jig.

From business card holder

Next picture shows the set up for the mini router bit profile.

From business card holder

With a prototype blank mounted in the jig I ran a test to make sure we have the profile set correctly on the edges.


From business card holder

This shot shows a couple of blanks ready for finishing.
I tried 2 different profiles on them to see what works for me.


From business card holder

Here are some early results from the jigging.
I have yet to make a small jig for dirilling the screw holes that mount the stantions. - Later

From business card holder


From business card holder
Special thanks to "Dusty56 ":http://lumberjocks.com/projects/16691 who inspired me and helped me get up and running on this project

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