Circular saw scarfing jig

[RodB]

Recently I was in a situation where I needed to scarf a bit more length to some long pieces of teak for a rubrail on a Moore 24... and due to length, It was a bit too much trouble to transport them to my shop and tablesaw (with my trusty table saw scarfing jig)... so I decided, "wow, a perfect excuse to build a scarfing jig" that I could transport to the boat shop and use my circular saw for the cut.

Well, I knew I could use such a jig in the future in various situations... so I decided to be a little obsessive and build a decent scarfing jig with flexability in stock size it could handle.

Since I have taken a few pics... and this tooling allows scarfing of stock up to 3" in width, I thought a few pics may be of interest to some on the forum.

Here, the basic body of the tooling is shown without the track installed yet. The channel is 3" in width and the height is the exact height of the circular saw blade on my Hilti circular saw. I used Miller dowels anywhere close to the blade track to avoid screws anywhere near the path of the blade.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/Misc%202009%20Aug/scarf8-72.jpg

Heres the jig with a piece of stock in the channel with WEDGES used to secure the stock in place. With just a little pressure these wedges hold the stock down tight.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/Misc%202009%20Aug/scarfjig3wedges-72.jpg

A closer shot of the wedges holding the stock tight...

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/Misc%202009%20Aug/scarf7wedgecls-72.jpg

Heres the track in place... standard 7 degree cut...
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/Misc%202009%20Aug/scarfjigendon-72.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/Misc%202009%20Aug/scarfsawintrackcloser-72.jpg

Heres the jig after the first cut along the track... works like a champ... the Wood wedges are really versatile for securing the stock... either on its flat or on edge...
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/Misc%202009%20Aug/scarfjig1-72best.jpg

I realize this is quite rudimentary, but I thought a few might like to see it. Any suggestions on improvement are welcome. It came out a bit heavier that I would have liked, but it works fine and will last indefinitely...

RodB

[peter radclyffe]

great

[chuckm]

You should create a basic boat-building book. Good skills, not only in boat-building come from others like you. Kind of like Oughtreds first plywood boat building sereis. your pic are Professional and to the point. a pic is worth a thousand words is true. LIke it a lot.

[Rational Root]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-jLgHzfXWAU/STxA_Ia11NI/AAAAAAAAAv8/JsOvL6yZ4fA/s320/IMG_0305.JPG
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-jLgHzfXWAU/STxA_lqz1pI/AAAAAAAAAwE/OSulg8J1VBs/s320/IMG_0304.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-jLgHzfXWAU/STxA_1osuKI/AAAAAAAAAwM/3pc6yGn8qMc/s320/IMG_0306.JPG

[WX]

What a timely thread, I've been thinking about a scarfing jig for my mast staves.

[kc8pql]

Here's what I did for my mast staves. Quite similar to the others except for the addition of a router jig to do the final planing. The staves were to thick for my 7 1/2" saw to cut all the way through so I made two saw jigs so I could cut half way through, flip the stave, and cut the other half from the opposite side. The router cut the last 1/8" and left a nice smooth, flat gluing surface.

Edited to add: Note in the first photo that the workbench I used for this operation was a cabinet I was building for a client at the time. Shows you where my priorities were. :D

Saw jigs

http://i29.tinypic.com/10zy92x.jpg

http://i27.tinypic.com/5v4qy0.jpg

Router jig

http://i25.tinypic.com/14csh8k.jpg

http://i29.tinypic.com/6sxv9j.jpg

Finished scarfs, ready for gluing

http://i32.tinypic.com/1zejka0.jpg

[WX]

kc8pql, I have pm'd you regarding your jigs.

[pipefitter]

Way to go, RodB.

[Jay Greer]

Normally, we scarf a rub rail with notched ends. This assures that the scarf will not open upon impact as the ends are both fastened mechanicaly and with glue.
Unfortutatly the method you are using does not allow for building such a scarf.
Jay

[RodB]

Jay,

I am just duplicating a "tapered on both ends 22 foot rubrail that has deteriorated to scrap. I was able to find some barely decent teak rubrails in pieces that I can scarf together to the 22 feet... then I need to shape them with a power planer. The last 5 feet of each end tapers both top and bottom if looking at the rubrail in profile... kinda like a long toothpick. You can see the molded corner up by the sheer on this Moore 24... where the teak rubrail goes.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/Misc%202009%20Aug/Moore24profilenice.jpg

I am using resin glue to join the teak as it is impervious to uv...

So, can you illustrate a jig for the type of scarf you mentioned?

RodB

[Captain Blight]

That molded line is a very nice treatment of what seems to be a problematical area in some boats. Very elegant solution.