Ok, Apogee sells the Guillotine Fin Jig, and it looks super sweet. If you are cheap like me and in possession of sufficient power tools you look at the pics on Apogee's website and think I could do that...maybe. Anyhow, I enquired with Ted Macklin, the inventor about obtaining plans. He does sell them for $12. They are excellent quality, and contain a parts list, detailed assembly instructions, and full page blueprint style drawings of each component. If you can follow plans, AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE PARTS AT 1/16" TOLERENCES, they are all you need to make a fin jig of your own.
I made the entire thing from my scrap pile (why most of the wood is overkill thickness and scruffy looking), and ended up only needing to buy about $25 worth of hardware (thumb nuts) and aluminum angle to complete the job.
Now a bit of fine print stemming from the fact that at least one thread on this subject has been locked for what appears to be related the points below. That sucks, and Ted has a good product that should have a living thread for posts.
- I meant what I said about 1/16" tolerances. Any mistakes project out through the aluminum rails and only magnify with distance. There is one cut I think has some leeway, and that is the stationary end "V-cut". You can overshoot that one a touch, as I did with my router, as long as it is centered. There is ZERO forgiveness in the top of the operable end diamond cut and the centering cleats. You screw up there and you are remaking the ends, period. I know, because that is my third set of ends...learning a new router.
- The fin jig on Apogee's website is pricy, but totally worth it. Having built one, and now appreciating what time goes into it (probably 4-6 hours if I didn't have to redo the operable ends three times), I don't see how there is sufficient profit for Ted and Tim in those, but more power to them. Please do not hijack this thread to complain about Apogee or their pricing, it's not about that.
- You could probably reverse engineer this jig from the pics floating around, but why. To save $12, and thereby rip off the rocketeer inventor in the process? That would be decidedly uncool, and not behavior fitting of the brotherhood of smoke.
- Having set this up one time to take the pics above, I can see it will be a standard part of building now.
Disclosure: Ted is a fellow DARS member, a friend, and sometimes a pain in the **s (but aren't we all). However, I am not being compensated or cajoled into making this post. I am posting because it is a really good product, and if like me, you are just too cheap to spring for one from Apogee, you can get the plans for $12 and build your own. I'll drop Ted a PM, so he can cruise by and post his contact info that way it is all in one thread.
I made the entire thing from my scrap pile (why most of the wood is overkill thickness and scruffy looking), and ended up only needing to buy about $25 worth of hardware (thumb nuts) and aluminum angle to complete the job.
Now a bit of fine print stemming from the fact that at least one thread on this subject has been locked for what appears to be related the points below. That sucks, and Ted has a good product that should have a living thread for posts.
- I meant what I said about 1/16" tolerances. Any mistakes project out through the aluminum rails and only magnify with distance. There is one cut I think has some leeway, and that is the stationary end "V-cut". You can overshoot that one a touch, as I did with my router, as long as it is centered. There is ZERO forgiveness in the top of the operable end diamond cut and the centering cleats. You screw up there and you are remaking the ends, period. I know, because that is my third set of ends...learning a new router.
- The fin jig on Apogee's website is pricy, but totally worth it. Having built one, and now appreciating what time goes into it (probably 4-6 hours if I didn't have to redo the operable ends three times), I don't see how there is sufficient profit for Ted and Tim in those, but more power to them. Please do not hijack this thread to complain about Apogee or their pricing, it's not about that.
- You could probably reverse engineer this jig from the pics floating around, but why. To save $12, and thereby rip off the rocketeer inventor in the process? That would be decidedly uncool, and not behavior fitting of the brotherhood of smoke.
- Having set this up one time to take the pics above, I can see it will be a standard part of building now.
Disclosure: Ted is a fellow DARS member, a friend, and sometimes a pain in the **s (but aren't we all). However, I am not being compensated or cajoled into making this post. I am posting because it is a really good product, and if like me, you are just too cheap to spring for one from Apogee, you can get the plans for $12 and build your own. I'll drop Ted a PM, so he can cruise by and post his contact info that way it is all in one thread.
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