MATCHFit Access Slot Jig

In a recent post I showed how making a small 1/2" (12.7mm) wide slot along a standard Dovetail Groove would allow for inserting and removing the various MATCHFit Track Screws and Track Nuts without having to access the open ends of the grooves.

This is very handy for cases like this slab flattening jig where the ends of the grooves are blocked by the rails or on a crosscut sled with fixed fences front and back. It is simply more convenient on a large clamping table too; you do not need to slide hardware all the way in from one end or the other if you make a few strategically placed grooves.

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Now I want to show you how to make a quick and easy jig to line up and make these access slots for your MATCHFit Hardware. You just need:

·        1/2" (12.7mm) straight router bit

·        1/4" (6mm) plywood

·        Some scrap hardwood

·        A 1” (25mm) Guide Bushing

·        And your router.

Begin by ripping the plywood into 1” (25mm) wide strips on your table saw. The GRR-RIPPER or GRR-RIPPER 2GO make this safe and easy to do. We need a 1” (25mm) wide by 2” (50mm) long slot in the middle of our jig. The easy way to do this is glue up several pieces with overlapping corners. Start by cross cutting the plywood strip into sections. Cut two at 4” (100mm) long, two at 3” (75mm) long, two at 2” (50mm) long and two at 1” (25mm) long. I used the Dado Stop as my crosscut stop, but it is not required. What you end up with are eight parts that can be assembled into two rectangles.

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The jig needs to be thick enough for the barrel of the guidebushing, so it needs to be at least 1/2" (12mm) thick. Using two layers of 1/4" (6mm) ply simplifies the assembly. One layer has the 4” (100mm) parts with the 1” (25mm) sections between them. The 3” (75mm) parts get glued across the ends of the first layer so they cover the joints at each end. Use the 2”(50mm) parts to space the ends properly. This creates the open rectangle in the center with half laps in all four corners and all joints are reinforced. Quick and easy.

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The jig is located over the Dovetail Groove with small cleats mounted underneath. Cut a strip of wood to fit snug inside your groove.This should be about 0.340” (8.5mm) wide. Cut this stock into three short parts about 1-1/4” (32mm) long. Two of these will be glued to the center line of the jig to align with the dovetail. The third is glued to the end of the jig at 90 degrees to keep the jig in the center of the grid.

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The jig can be easily set into your MATCHFit Grid wherever you want to make the access slot. Install the bit and guide bushing in your router and set the cut depth to be 3/8” (9.5mm) below the bottom of the jig. The 1” (25mm) guide bushing slides back and forth in the jig opening to control the router and bit as they cut. This jig is not pretty but it can be built quickly and makes perfect access slots.

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