Arrow taper jig

[Justin Snyder]

I have been using one of those stupid pencil sharpener style taper tools for years, but have never been happy with the amount of time it takes to taper or the finished product. I finally decided to build a taper tool to work with my benchtop sander. I know most of you have seen this before, but I thought some of you might like to see it.

The first thing I did was to cut a strip of wood 15" long by 7" wide for the base, and another piece about 3" by 15" to make my guides. I  measured the distance from the edge of the groove to the sanding disk, 3 1/4" on my sander. This is where I came up with the 7" width for the base piece, 1/2" in the center and 3 1/4" on each side.  I sanded the small piece so it was only 1/2" thick and would fit in the groove on my sander table.



I then ripped a piece 1/4" thick off the side so it would fit down into the groove.  This piece will be glued onto the bottom of the base later. I ripped the rest of the small piece in half lengthwise (about 3/4" by 1/2" by 15") to make the guide pieces for the top.





The next step was making marks the length of the board, 3 1/4" in from the side and gluing the 1/4" thick piece in between the lines.



Now roll the base piece over and use a carpenters square to make a mark at 11 degrees (point end) from one edge and 6 degrees (nock end) from the other. I kept them in from the end a couple of inches to help it set on the sander more stable.



Glue the two remaining strips along side the marks you just made.



Now just set the jig on the sander with the guide strip in the groove and one of the tapers ending about even with the back of the sanding disk.



Now you turn on the sander and lay the shaft along side the guide, holding it with one hand while spinning the shaft from the other end with the other hand. Slowly feed the shaft into the belt while spinning and you will wind up with a beautifully taper.

[Stoker]

Cool jig..Looks like it should great.Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Leroy

[Josh]

thats  a pretty good idea, gonna have to do that soon.. Thanks Justin!     -josh

[Pat B]

Nice and simple, Justin. I have a similar one but like yours better. Gotta love the old alum speed squares.

[Justin Snyder]

Nice and simple, Justin. I have a similar one but like yours better. Gotta love the old alum speed squares.

Simple tools for simple minds like us.  I have a few of the old aluminum squares kicking around. I love them.

[Eric Krewson]

These jigs make a perfect tape every time.I made one with the same concept but stacked my angles on top of each other. I put a pivot in each top piece and adjusted the cut until it was perfect in both a field point and nock then fastened the angle piece securely.

[Lombard]

Justin, thanks for the tutorial. I need to get one of those sanders. Do you like the Ryobi, any pluses or minuses one should think about before purchasing one?

[Justin Snyder]

Justin, thanks for the tutorial. I need to get one of those sanders. Do you like the Ryobi, any pluses or minuses one should think about before purchasing one?

It is cheap and you get what you pay for...... I actually like it. The only real drawback is the drivebelt is rubber and will eventually strip out. It is only about $7 to replace, but you have to order it.