My fixtures are based on several criteria.  1). There’s barely room in my shop for the sawdust.  2) I don’t have time to finish the projects I’ve started much less spend a week building a fixture that I might use twice if I live to be 100. 3).  I’m frugal.

I used this fixture to cut spline kerfs in the corner of a mitered frame.  As you can see, I used about 20 cents worth of 2 x 4, 50 cents worth of 1/4 inch plywood, 15 cents worth of particle board, and 5 cents worth of hot glue.  Total construction time was around 10 minutes.  Step 1).I cut a piece of scrap 2 x 4 in half with my miter saw set at 45 degrees.  Step 2). With the fence locked down on my table saw, I hot glued the 2 x 4 pieces to a scrap of 1/4″ plywood, using the fence to align the pieces.  Step3). I nestled the corner of the frame in the 2 x 4’s.  With the assembly pushed against the fence, I hot glued a piece of particle board to the plywood, butted but not glued firmly against the frame.  Step 4). To reinforce the first piece of particle board, I hot glued another piece of particle board to form a Tee.  This served as a handle, keeping the frame firmly against the fence and my left hand clear of the blade.  I pushed down with a piece of scrap inside the frame to keep the blade from pushing the frame up and keep my right hand away from the blade. I cut off the extra plywood to save for another fixture.  The fixture produced perfect kerfs.  After I finished cutting the kerfs, I disposed of the fixture.

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