I just glued up three large cherry panels using the vertical press described by Jim Tolpin (Fine Woodworking #112, pp. 58-59). The press works great but relies on a lot of wedges. Here’s how I cut the wedges quickly and accurately with a simple jig.

Start by notching a scrap of plywood with the desired wedge shape, as shown in the sketch. Cut a short length from a 2×10 to fit the notch in the plywood snugly. Place the workpiece into the notch, and run the plywood against the fence to slice off a wedge. Remove the wedge from the jig, and run the uncut edge of the 2×10 against the fence to produce a second wedge. Continue this sequence of cuts until the 2×10 is too small to handle safely.

Karl Kirchhofer, Seattle, Wash.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, February 1998 No. 128

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