Make Perfect Blade-Width Shims WITHOUT Measuring! / How To Make Splines On The Table Saw

[@alexclark6777]

Literally said "THAT IS FREAKING GENIUS!" as I saw you doing it. The simplest trick and yet I never would've thought of it, definitely using this one!

[@rockbroccoli5456]

Me too! Brilliant!

[@chipsterb4946]

I had watched the earlier video and thought “How the heck do you make that shim?” Brilliant!

[@dannyc6656]

LOL, I did the same thing!

[@jameslamm9315]

I’m 76 and been working with wood for 1year, thanks for woodworkers like you I’ve not been hurt and learned do such, thanks for your videos, everything I make I give away to friends and family, that way no one can complain, thanks again

[@evergladesfl]

Miss this guy. One of the best presenters on the tubes.

[@SOLT_Mark]

That's genius. Haven't seen that in over 40 yrs of woodworking. Nice job!

[@ok-hd4so]

Best woodworking tip videos on the internet. No bs, no rambling, just info.

[@aerialrescuesolutions3277]

Awesome, another really great thing you have shown again. Your videos are always tight, well edited, clear voice, no silly music to distract, pure fun creative learning right there. Thank you again for excellence, Jim Tree

[@mojo6524]

what he said! X10

[@armus550b]

These two videos are the best tips I've seen in months. Crazy how no one else has done them

[@stephenfritz5963]

Wow, when i saw you do it it was really a "how could i never have thought of this" moment. Genius sir!

[@tomt9543]

Soooooo…….. YOU DESERVE AN AWARD FOR THIS!!! Crazy simple/useful/inexpensive! I’m almost in tears! Thanks!

[@Brownstone31]

That's probably the quickest and simplest way to cut shims. Love it.

[@josephhargrove4319]

Another elegant use of direct measurement. Kudos. richard -- Ah, those three little words so many people seem to have so much trouble saying: “I was wrong.”

[@mattelias721]

This is quite possibly one of the most useful woodworking tip vids I've ever seen. As I'm certain several people mention below, this is the perfect way to cut key strips for keyed/splined miter joints. I wish I'd have known this technique - it would have saved me literal hours (and a lot of nice walnut) trying to dial in the 'perfect' spline thickness.

[@andysanchez3030]

Genius. I love the "perfect cut with no measuring" theme. Subscribed!

[@anneoreilly4900]

As a newbie, I’m not ready to have my hands that close to the blade with unsecured (2) pieces of wood. But with a crosscut sled and some hold down clamps... I’m enjoying the real life measuring videos. Thx.

[@1mxtreme]

what a perfect solution to such a frustrating requirement....perfect kerf size shims....awesome idea...

[@matthewcarpenter4716]

DUDE!!! I have been trying to figure this out for the longest time! I would even adjust projects because I didn't want to go through the hassle of calculating and setting things up. Thank you so much for posting this.

[@StevenHearndon]

That's a really clever technique. With KZbin having an abundance of woodworking channels, you have to find ways to differentiate yourself, and I think you've been doing that quite well. I've gotten a lot of helpful info from your videos and I have no doubt that will continue.

[@Mr_Rick]

Last night I watched your previous video on the half lap. I thought to myself... He needs to show how to make a kerf wide shim to match the blade thickness. Voila! You did it and kudos!!! Love it! Good on ya!

[@dragunov525]

This video deserves more recognition on how genius this method is. Thanks for sharing, I know this video is old (I came back to this to rewatch) but your tips/tricks are always the best, and are actually useful and usually haven't seen them before. Take care!

[@avih7311]

Some people were born to teach - you are clearly one of them. Very gifted instructor. Thank you!

[@norm_olsen]

Wow! That technique for establishing shims that match the saw blade kerf precisely is genius!! Thanks for sharing this! Pure gold I tell you!

[@esrAsnataS]

I don't even work with wood or even have a workshop but thought this was genius!! I love watching craftsmen.

[@Brick_is_here]

Did this just yesterday with a dado stack. Works flawlessly!!! I’ve seen dozens of videos and no other maker has ever shown it. I made a box joint jig, it fit perfect the first time!

[@akbychoice]

That’s the slickest trick yet. I’ve used a similar trick to make thin stock cuts but not as a blade width shim like you did here. Awesome If you turn the one block around the kerf cut will act as a push block to push the piece through.

[@donesry2902]

I have to thank you for this video. I have watched it several times. For whatever reason I can’t seem to remember how to do it so I have to keep coming back. Please don’t remove this video ☺️

[@mikesmith2102]

Fantastic!! Making the shim for a regular sized saw blade finger joint jig has always been the downside for me. Now I know!!! Thank you. Have a great Thanksgiving.

[@PureBloodWNC]

Your videos are the most practical woodworking videos for us new guys. I appreciate them more than you know!!!!

[@trevorseymour9731]

Wow, that's genius! I'm going to use this to redo some riving knives I made in zero clearance inserts (old saw doesn't have a riving knife). When I made them initially, I was using calipers, slowly sanding away, etc. This is much faster 🙌🙏

[@davidpalmer5166]

I've watched this and the 1/2 lap video. This beats the way I've been making these joints over the years. It's a very useful joint that can be a pain to set up and get to look right until now. Thanks a million.

[@stephenrichie4646]

Brilliant! I heartily agree: don’t measure if you don’t have to. Numbers don’t matter; fit matters.

[@TrevorDennis100]

William Ng eat your heart out. You really do have a good brain for this sort of thing. This is another stellar tip that I doubt I would ever have worked out myself. So impressed!

[@inmybox2023]

Nice, spent part of yesterday trying to figure out how to figure out how to do this, and your video on “How To Cut Splined Miters Without A Jig” just saved me from building another jig.

[@YouTuber-mc2el]

Over the years I have acquired many power and hand tools thinking they will help me improve my skill and results. To a certain degree they have, but when I see videos like this it is the tool between our ears that needs to improve. The simplest technique requiring zero $ and producing exacting results. Outstanding. Thank you for sharing.

[@MB-zj3er]

I'm making shims for a box joint jig, you just answered my burning question, thank you! 👍

[@JZ-id1sx]

I was just trying to solve this problem yesterday for thin kerfs. Thanks Jodie!

[@gabrielmartinez2439]

I always hated cutting splines for mitered corners on picture frames because i would spend an hour trying to get them to fit right. Thank you! I love the no measuring concept. Ive been trying to do that too.

[@hamjudo]

I came up with a less accurate and noticeably slower way to make a saw kerf width spline a few months ago. Your way is so much better.

[@joemcgraw6288]

I wish I had your creative mind but at least we have your videos. Keep em coming please.

[@jrmakawoody]

Man, you always have the best “tricks”

[@kumabeast7745]

Thanks. You have a talent for finding simple solutions to difficult problems. Cheers.

[@gholmes182]

You are a genius. I’ve been racking my brain for ages trying to think of a simple way to do cut these shims. Thanks, truly brilliant. So sick I couldn’t think this through myself!

[@dsigetich]

Jody, you fixed it for me. I just made a jig to cut slots for splines for my first picture frame miter joints, and I was stuck trying and trying to cut some mahogany for splines. All bloody day. Too thick. Too thin. Then I saw how you did it -- I missed it at first because you called it a shim but I wanted a spline. The penny finally dropped -- we're talking about the same thing, and your method is brilliant!! I cut a bunch that actually fit my test frame. Thank you!!

[@midjetville]

Absolutely genius, I will be using this next time I need splines for reinforcing miters. My current solution is to cut them slightly oversize and then hand plane to exact size but this will be a massive time saver. Thanks for the tip!

[@Sebastopolmark]

Off to the shop to make a "shim" and practice a half lap! !! !!!

[@DonsWoodies]

Once again you've proved why I subscribe to this channel. Brilliant and simple, doesn't get any better than that.

[@Doublethizzle]

OMG! I am watching this at 1;30 in the morning and can't wait to go and make my shim tomorrow. I have some half-laps to do for a frame and this just took all my usual feelings of half-lap dread away

[@Lit0Rs]

This is perfect to cut Kumiko strips, thanks for sharing!

[@pedalman4595]

Love these tips and tricks!!!!!!!!!!! Finally someone putting out real tips and tricks that can be used!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Scott_G]

So simple. Very much one of those things that are obvious once you see it done, but I would have never thought of it myself. THANK YOU!!

[@robm9772]

This is genius. This is only the third video of yours I’ve watched (in a row) and I’m subscribing. All your videos bring something new to the table for me as a new woodworker and you’re very informative and instructive. Love it.

[@mikec6111]

I’ve been trying to make a shim all day. Surely someone needed to do this before. And you did! Thank you! I also agree, the less measuring needed the better.

[@robertfreed4016]

After watching this for a 3rd time, and using the shim when cutting dado's every now and again, I've decided that I'll be making a shim for every blade I own, and keep it in storage to have available with the blade when in use. Just the other day, I was working on an intricate part and managed to make a cut without accounting for blade kerf "palm to forehead doooooooh!"... it is in an area that will be concealed and never seen, so I wanted to cut a shim to glue in instead of having to remake the entire part. I had to come back to this video just to remind me how it's done. Does anyone else actually feel "Inspire"d to go practice "Woodcraft" after watching Jody's vids?... I know I certainly do. Thank you for the effort you put out. Some of us truly appreciate it.

[@InspireWoodcraft]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@pemtax557]

Very clever and one I will be using for the rest of my woodworking years. This is also a great way to make splines for miter joints. As always, thanks for taking the time to share with us ... it truly is appreciated. Cheers Mate!!

[@zaqmko0]

Genius! I just got a new table saw and was just about to sit down and see if I figure this "secret recipe". I knew there _had_ to be a way to do this. Thank you for saving me probably a couple hours and whole lot of frustration. I plan on making one these for each blade I have and labelling each shim with the brand name and type of blade. One of the cool things about this is that it works even if your blade is somehow out-of-spec. I cut some slots for splines for a miter-cornered box and after some trial and error, found that my supposedly 0.125" (1/8") blade was cutting a kerf closer to 0.145". Maybe my blade has some wobble, or maybe some of the teeth are bent out. Doesn't matter - I can just make the perfect shims/splines for my wonky blade using this method.

[@pablos.cargoe7101]

Very clever! Thank you. I also enjoy your presentation style...very concise and straightforward. No unnecessary hype! Thanks again!

[@stellabelikiewicz1523]

This is SO BRILLIANT! Simple and elegant and I can totally see why it took a bit of mental gymnastics to come up with!

[@stephenjames820]

Used it today and it worked perfectly! Thank you!

[@eddiestipe2009]

Wow, OMG, as a pen turner I am always trying to get that right. I do a lot of segmenting, this solves a lot of problems. Thank you very much, this is the best thing I learned in a long time. . I am now a subscribe to your Chanel

[@donny_bahama]

Jody, I’ve been woodworking longer than you’ve been alive - and I learn something useful from pretty much every video you put out. Love your ingenuity, love your presentation style. Please keep on doing what you do!

[@kencoleman7762]

Yesterday I asked how to cut a strip one blade width thick and you stepped right up! Thanks.

[@torinhalsey6313]

I think your mind works a little differently than others, and that's a good thing. A very clever solution.

[@BobStrawn]

I regret that I have but one thumbs up to give. I will be using this method immediately! Thank you so much for sharing these two simple methods.

[@TheHansoost]

Great tip. I watched the half lap video and was impressed, but wondered how to make a blade width shim. Now I know. Thanks.

[@timffoster]

Good tip! I'm needing kerf-width strips right now for a project I'm working on, and this is an elegantly simple way to do it. (Kicking myself for not having thought of it myself)

[@dragunov525]

Genius. Thanks for this. I've been dreading attempting to make a box joint jig, partly for this reason of getting a perfect fitting shim, partly because I don't want to waste my time and wood if I mess it up lol.

[@Not_TVs_Frank]

This is what I was thinking too! While I am keen on using this technique for making shims, being able to cut a precise "tooth" for a box joint jig is really exciting. I've wanted to try box joints but I knew I'd struggle to produce the shim. With this technique I could produce a handful of them at different sizes for lots of future box joints!

[@Grumpyneanderthal]

The hardest part in crafting simple solutions like this one is pushing away from the traditional approach, clearing your mind and assessing your resources and as you did approach the problem from a completely different prospective. Well done AGAIN!!

[@patriciamay638]

Thank you. This makes my life soooo much easier for measuring, set up and use of my table saw and router.

[@cospittner3526]

This helped me so much when I was making Kumiko strips. Super intelligent video!!! Thank you for that technique it's amazing!

[@davidroe9797]

Thanks for this great tip. Cut my shim today and went half-lap crazy on a Japanese inspired side table.

[@vishalprao]

Thank you so much for sharing! Will make life lot easier now!

[@cody0505]

Simply amazing. I can believe this never occurred to me before. "The blade is the kerf" I have been looking at the solution the whole time. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@colinwilson8747]

Wow That's such a fantastic way of doing it. After watching your last video on making perfect half lap joints I was thinking how to make the shim - accurately without measuring, and you've done it and again without measuring. THANK YOU.

[@bobd5119]

That is nice! I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years.

[@Coolride1000]

Thanks for the great idea. I've always struggled making saw blade shims.

[@sandropereira4804]

Thanks for taking your time to share these simple but amazing tricks 👍👍👍

[@andrewcannon6031]

I saw the other video on making splines where you used the method at the end of this video, and immediately subscribed to your channel. You have already made my life so much better, so I look forward to watching every video on your channel, whether I need them all (yet) or not. I'm also gonna give you a shout out on all the ww pages I belong to on Facebook.

[@fb706]

GENIUS!!!...probably the best wood working tip I have ever learned!!!...Thank you!

[@GrantOakes]

You always make VERY useful videos! Really great idea, I'll be adding it to my jig list.! I wouldn't call this "pretty darn good", I'd call it PERFECT!

[@MaithriSanitgun]

Very useful, one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" kind of things. Thank you!

[@GettingAids1997]

I really like your videos because it focuses on reflecting measurements like a mirror. I started woodworking 3 years ago and learned the more you can just reflect measurements with jigs or other pieces of the project the easier and more accurate it will be

[@leosmit1835]

I learned something new. Will be using this method later today instead of what used to do. Thank you

[@josephfragale7502]

Man, I spent $64 on the Microjig “Matchfit dado stop pro” to do basically this same thing…except this is much easier to use and FREE! Love these videos!

[@MrGuenterGruber]

the simplest tricks are the best ones. Great thanks for this video!!!

[@seanbrennan3675]

you have no idea how much this helped me. I have spent so much time trying to get this perfect and never do.

[@kvaks3000]

Nice! On a previous project, I struggled to make the exact right size pieces to use as miter joint splines. This method should be perfect that that application!

[@benjaminlee4668]

Thanks for the video, it will help when making a spline joint on boxes and pictures frames. Thanks again and keep up the informative work.

[@alfredoprime5495]

This is an incredibly clever and a very very elegant method that runs circles around anything you can do with a gauge or any other measuring tool. Also, as a bonus, if you don't throw away the "negative" you can make as many shims as you need out of pretty much any other material (more durable than wood) that you can cut with a table saw.

[@miketaylor9979]

Absoutely brilliant! How on earth did you figure that out?? You a woodworking Einstein!! Keep up the awesome content.

[@InspireWoodcraft]

It only took half a day and a few new gray hairs! Well I mean, if I had hair there would be new gray ones.

[@randycosgrove3608]

Several years ago I made a similar device ( GarageWoodwork design ) that saved me from spending $70 or $80 on a production model. It works perfectly although it did require some tweaking to get it dialed in but your method is much simpler to make and just as easy to use. Thanks for the tip.

[@TheMikeNan]

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! You are the best.

[@configuremakeinstall]

The last two vids have been amazing tips. Please post more like this.

[@dy1an]

Now that is a clever way of making the shim 😀

[@briantheprion]

Dude! Great solution man! So elegant and simple and no measuring!!

[@quinnsmith4490]

That is an awesome setup trick. I make splined boxes fairly regularly and always struggle with getting the setup right. I typically cut a bunch of extra splines once I get the setup dialed in and then have to store the shims until I need them again. This will eliminate a bunch of clutter and make it easy to match a different blade. This definitely falls under the K.I.S.S. Mantra. Keep up the outstanding work.

[@leehaelters6182]

Outstanding! Like another commenter, this technique has evaded me in forty years of woodworking, and it seems you just sat down and figgered it out on the spot. Immediately received my sub. I also appreciate your thoughtful and clear demonstrations. Good luck when building your channel, but I doubt that you will need it.

[@mclkev]

awesome technique / idea, I'm going to try that next time I need to make a shim and make a half lap

[@pthanos]

Hey man. Wish I knew that earlier. Took me a couple of hours to make some mitre splines back in August, in time to gift the frame to my father. This would have made it way less stressful, and accurate.

[@mikebaker6714]

Genius! What I REALLY like though is that DeWalt round arm in the background! Stud! :)

[@jaybbuilder]

That is such a simple way of making a perfect size shim! Plus it’s easy to remember how to do it! Brilliant work!

[@stevematers9422]

So simple, genius!!! Thanks for sharing my guy! Got me pumped to go to my garage 🤘