Hi all,

In conversation with the guy who's building a timberframe house for me, we
were discussing materials for the pegs for the joints. I mentioned that I
had a large white oak tree that had been cut to make room for the
foundation, and if it could be used.

He said yes, to have it cut 5/4 and kiln-dried, and cut into 5/4 x 5/4 x 12
blanks. He suggested making up a jig for the tablesaw such that the blank
could be held in place, indexed and then fed through to produce octagonal
shapes about 1" in least diameter. Basically, cutting an eight-sided piece
instead of a dowel for increased friction (the frame will be white pine).

Any ideas on how I could rig up a simple yet reliable indexing jig to hold a
square blank and turn it into an octagonal (or maybe even 16 sided) peg? If
I can do that successfully, I'm going to experiment with maybe some locust
or hickory pegs as well.

--
Jon Endres, PE
Reply To: wmengineer (at) adelphia (dot) net

The first thing that crossed my mind is it is better to make the octagons
before you make them 12" long. It is a lot easier/safer to handle longer
pieces. You are not as close to the blade.

Jon,

Try this. Take a piece of 1"x12"x1-1/2" wide stock. Cut a V (90deg) groove
so that the bottom of the groove will be 1/2" away from the blade and the 1"
side will go up against your TS fence. At the end of the jig put a handle
that the peg rests against (think taper jig) and can be used to push the
piece thru.

1/2 1"
------\ /--------------|
| \ / |
| \ / | this side against TS fence
|____________________|

Place the square peg in the V groove:

With the 1" square positioned in the jig and the fence positioned 1-1/2"
away from the blade, make the first cut. Rotate the piece 90deg and cut
again. Continue rotating one more time and cut. This leaves you with a 7
sided peg. The last cut will be made without the jig with the fence 1" away
from the blade.

Down and dirty ...... but a more elaborate indexing jig like used on a lathe
may be more work than you're willing to do for some pegs..

Bob S.

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message
t...
Hi all,

In conversation with the guy who's building a timberframe house for me, we
were discussing materials for the pegs for the joints. I mentioned that I
had a large white oak tree that had been cut to make room for the
foundation, and if it could be used.

He said yes, to have it cut 5/4 and kiln-dried, and cut into 5/4 x 5/4 x
12
blanks. He suggested making up a jig for the tablesaw such that the blank
could be held in place, indexed and then fed through to produce octagonal
shapes about 1" in least diameter. Basically, cutting an eight-sided
piece
instead of a dowel for increased friction (the frame will be white pine).

Any ideas on how I could rig up a simple yet reliable indexing jig to hold
a
square blank and turn it into an octagonal (or maybe even 16 sided) peg?
If
I can do that successfully, I'm going to experiment with maybe some locust
or hickory pegs as well.

--
Jon Endres, PE
Reply To: wmengineer (at) adelphia (dot) net

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 23:03:20 GMT, "Jon Endres, PE"
wrote:

Hi all,

In conversation with the guy who's building a timberframe house for me, we
were discussing materials for the pegs for the joints. I mentioned that I
had a large white oak tree that had been cut to make room for the
foundation, and if it could be used.
First off, cut logs the length you need and tie a rope around it.
Then use a froe to split out the 5/4 squares (4/4+1/16 is better for
hand planing). They will air dry in a couple of days. Then make a
board for a plane at 45 degrees Put a stop on the end. Clamp it down
and go to it. You will have the best pegs around.
He said yes, to have it cut 5/4 and kiln-dried, and cut into 5/4 x 5/4 x 12
blanks. He suggested making up a jig for the tablesaw such that the blank
could be held in place, indexed and then fed through to produce octagonal
shapes about 1" in least diameter. Basically, cutting an eight-sided piece
instead of a dowel for increased friction (the frame will be white pine).
About 10 years ago I made a fixture to index a peg 8 times and used a
router with a 1" wide cutter . ( A table saw would have been better.)
This also lets you cut a slight taper on the peg.
I used a detent made from hardened steel and used spring loaded
plungers to index.
The peg rotated on two lathe type dogs. It worked OK but not great.
Any ideas on how I could rig up a simple yet reliable indexing jig to hold a
square blank and turn it into an octagonal (or maybe even 16 sided) peg? If
I can do that successfully, I'm going to experiment with maybe some locust
or hickory pegs as well.
If you were near Long Island I would show you the thing.
Good luck

"Bob S." wrote in message
...

Jon,



Try this. Take a piece of 1"x12"x1-1/2" wide stock. Cut a V (90deg) groove

so that the bottom of the groove will be 1/2" away from the blade and the
1"

side will go up against your TS fence. At the end of the jig put a handle

that the peg rests against (think taper jig) and can be used to push the

piece thru.



1/2 1"

------\ /--------------|

| \ / |

| \ / | this side against TS fence

|____________________|



Place the square peg in the V groove:



With the 1" square positioned in the jig and the fence positioned 1-1/2"

away from the blade, make the first cut. Rotate the piece 90deg and cut

again. Continue rotating one more time and cut. This leaves you with a 7

sided peg. The last cut will be made without the jig with the fence 1"
away

from the blade.



Down and dirty ...... but a more elaborate indexing jig like used on a
lathe

may be more work than you're willing to do for some pegs..



Bob S.

Interesting concept. If the groove were deep enough, all four sides could be
cut in the jig, no? As for elaborate, time spent now saves the effort later.
I'm going to need several hundred pegs. The closer I can get to round
without actually being round works the best. I thought I'd turn them all on
my lathe, but that idea got rejected before it left my brain.

I've also considered running square stock through a shaper cutter or molder,
but I think that for the cost of the cutter and the quantity needed, I'd be
better off without.

JE

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote:

Interesting concept. If the groove were deep enough, all four sides could be
cut in the jig, no? As for elaborate, time spent now saves the effort later.
I'm going to need several hundred pegs. The closer I can get to round
without actually being round works the best. I thought I'd turn them all on
my lathe, but that idea got rejected before it left my brain.

I've also considered running square stock through a shaper cutter or molder,
but I think that for the cost of the cutter and the quantity needed, I'd be
better off without.

JE

Another option would be to make a dowel making jig that utilizes a drill motor
to spin the square stock as it passes over a router bit. Of course the output
is not octagonal. See:

http://home.twcny.rr.com/marcoj/doweljig.html

I find using a round over bit works better than the bit shown.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message
t...
Hi all,

In conversation with the guy who's building a timberframe house for me, we
were discussing materials for the pegs for the joints. I mentioned that I
had a large white oak tree that had been cut to make room for the
foundation, and if it could be used.

He said yes, to have it cut 5/4 and kiln-dried, and cut into 5/4 x 5/4 x
12
blanks. He suggested making up a jig for the tablesaw such that the blank
could be held in place, indexed and then fed through to produce octagonal
shapes about 1" in least diameter. Basically, cutting an eight-sided
piece
instead of a dowel for increased friction (the frame will be white pine).

Any ideas on how I could rig up a simple yet reliable indexing jig to hold
a
square blank and turn it into an octagonal (or maybe even 16 sided) peg?
If
I can do that successfully, I'm going to experiment with maybe some locust
or hickory pegs as well.

--
Jon Endres, PE
Reply To: wmengineer (at) adelphia (dot) net


On my table saw, the blade can be tilted to 45 deg. A rip fence and 4 passes
does the job.

John

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message
t...
Hi all,

In conversation with the guy who's building a timberframe house for me, we
were discussing materials for the pegs for the joints. I mentioned that I
had a large white oak tree that had been cut to make room for the
foundation, and if it could be used.

He said yes, to have it cut 5/4 and kiln-dried, and cut into 5/4 x 5/4 x
12
blanks. He suggested making up a jig for the tablesaw such that the blank
could be held in place, indexed and then fed through to produce octagonal
shapes about 1" in least diameter. Basically, cutting an eight-sided
piece
instead of a dowel for increased friction (the frame will be white pine).

Any ideas on how I could rig up a simple yet reliable indexing jig to hold
a
square blank and turn it into an octagonal (or maybe even 16 sided) peg?
If
I can do that successfully, I'm going to experiment with maybe some locust
or hickory pegs as well.

--
Jon Endres, PE
Reply To: wmengineer (at) adelphia (dot) net



I'd say the tablesaw is about the 3rd tool I'd choose. First thoughts that
come to mind are a bandsaw or a router table. Tilt the bandsaw table and
run them through or put a chamfering bit into the router and run them
through. If you are dead set on using the tablesaw, what's wrong with
tilting the blade to 45 and just running the stock along the fence?

In article ,
reg (Gfretwell) wrote:

The first thing that crossed my mind is it is better to make the octagons
before you make them 12" long. It is a lot easier/safer to handle longer
pieces. You are not as close to the blade.

Several years ago, Norm on a New yankee Workshop show, made a pencil
post bed which had octagonal posts that were also tapered. The jig he
used was pretty easy to make, and worked well. I made his bed.

Also, there is a jig shown in Fine Woodworking, July/August 1985, in the
article entitled, "Making Period Bedposts".

"PM6564" wrote in message
I'd say the tablesaw is about the 3rd tool I'd choose. First thoughts
that
come to mind are a bandsaw or a router table.

My first thought was to use a jointer with the fence set at 45.

Cheers,

Jim


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.516 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 9/1/2003

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote in message
t...
Hi all,

In conversation with the guy who's building a timberframe house for me, we
were discussing materials for the pegs for the joints. I mentioned that I
had a large white oak tree that had been cut to make room for the
foundation, and if it could be used.

He said yes, to have it cut 5/4 and kiln-dried, and cut into 5/4 x 5/4 x
12
blanks. He suggested making up a jig for the tablesaw such that the blank
could be held in place, indexed and then fed through to produce octagonal
shapes about 1" in least diameter. Basically, cutting an eight-sided
piece
instead of a dowel for increased friction (the frame will be white pine).

Any ideas on how I could rig up a simple yet reliable indexing jig to hold
a
square blank and turn it into an octagonal (or maybe even 16 sided) peg?
If
I can do that successfully, I'm going to experiment with maybe some locust
or hickory pegs as well.

--
Jon Endres, PE
Reply To: wmengineer (at) adelphia (dot) net


the way they make pencils. cut grooves of the appropriate shape (2
differently shaped V cutters should do it in a router), then use the
tablesaw to cut apart the pieces, forming the last sides.

regards,
charlie
cave creek, az

"Jon Endres, PE" wrote:

Hi all,

In conversation with the guy who's building a timberframe house for me, we
were discussing materials for the pegs for the joints. I mentioned that I
had a large white oak tree that had been cut to make room for the
foundation, and if it could be used.

He said yes, to have it cut 5/4 and kiln-dried, and cut into 5/4 x 5/4 x 12
blanks. He suggested making up a jig for the tablesaw such that the blank
could be held in place, indexed and then fed through to produce octagonal
shapes about 1" in least diameter. Basically, cutting an eight-sided piece
instead of a dowel for increased friction (the frame will be white pine).

Any ideas on how I could rig up a simple yet reliable indexing jig to hold a
square blank and turn it into an octagonal (or maybe even 16 sided) peg? If
I can do that successfully, I'm going to experiment with maybe some locust
or hickory pegs as well.

--
Jon Endres, PE
Reply To: wmengineer (at) adelphia (dot) net

Set up your table saw at 90 degrees, adjust your fence and rip
all your stock so that it is square and square. Meaning all the corners are
90 degrees and all the sides are the same width.
Tilt the saw to 45 degrees and set the fence on the side away from the tilt.
With the saw off, (stated for legal reasons), lay a piece of stock on the blade

so that one edge just touches the table and the opposite edge points straight
up.
Move the fence carefully up to the edge of the stock that is pointing at it and
lock the fence down.
Now set up a feather board to keep the stock against the fence and rip off the
four 90 degree corners. If you set the fence correctly the four new faces will
be
the same width as the remainder of the four origional faces if not adjust the
fence until they are.
This is a lot easier to do than it is to explain.
I do agree with one other poster, do not cut to length until all ripping is
complete.

ARM
edress needs to be untied (remove the nots)

Get a book, or do a 'Google Search' on *wood mast making*

Regards,
Ron Magen
Backyard Boatshop

"GrayFox" wrote in message
...
In article ,
reg (Gfretwell) wrote:

The first thing that crossed my mind is it is better to make the
octagons
before you make them 12" long. It is a lot easier/safer to handle longer
pieces. You are not as close to the blade.

Several years ago, Norm on a New yankee Workshop show, made a pencil
post bed which had octagonal posts that were also tapered. The jig he
used was pretty easy to make, and worked well. I made his bed.

Also, there is a jig shown in Fine Woodworking, July/August 1985, in the
article entitled, "Making Period Bedposts".