The ease of using this jig starts with its construction. Right out of the box, it is very simple to put together. The jig is designed to be used in the mitre slots of your table saw and it is very intuitive to use. The jigs deck comes slightly oversized so that it can be trimmed down dur­ing its first use. This trimming ensures that the blade is running along the edge of the jig, ensuring accuracy specific to your saw. The taper jig comes with adhesive-backed measuring tapes to attach to the front and back of the jig in order to measure out the amount of taper you want. It also has a quick indexing system that allows you to dial-in a specific taper measured in degrees. Of course you can choose to simply mark the taper on your piece and lay it down on the jig, lining up the marks on the jigs edge. The fence on the taper jig is fully adjustable and features a handy adjustable stop at the bottom to ensure that the board being tapered does not slide back. On the topic of holding pow­er, the taper jig features fully adjustable hold-down clamps that, with the addition of some adhesive-backed sandpaper strips on the deck of the jig, hold the work piece completely still for the tapering process. The hold-down clamps also have rubber slip-ons that protect the sur­face of your work piece from being dented or marred.

I’m typically not a big user of commercial jigs in my woodworking, but this one has proved its usefulness in my shop. It’s simple to use, solidly built and has three ways to set it up depending on how you prefer to work.

The Rockler Taper Jig sells for US$69.99 and is available at rockler.com.