About this item
Finding an effective jig or fixture for a woodworking operation can be as elusive and time-consuming as designing a great piece of furniture, a sailboat, or a ukulele. It takes solid woodworking knowledge and some problem-solving skills, with a good dose of inspiration thrown in. Even a moderately complex setup can pose numerous choices: What tool or machine is best for the operation? Should the jig move the wood over the machine or guide the machine past the wood? How does the workpiece need to be referenced and clamped? Should the jig be adjustable? Most of the woodworkers I've met delight in solving challenging jigging problems. But tackling these problems requires a basic understanding of jig function and design. This book will teach you how to make these time saving devices and help improve everything you build in your shop.
About the Author
Sandor Nagyszalanczy
Woodworking Author, Furniture Designer & Craftsman
Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1954, Sandor Nagyszalanczy (pronounced Shawn-door Not-sa-lon-see) escaped during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and immigrated with his family to America, eventually ending up in Los Angeles, California in the early 1960s. He later attended the University of California, Santa Cruz and received undergraduate degrees in Environmental Planning and Design Theory. He worked as a metal smith and sculptor for several years before resetting his sights on functional woodworking. Sandor maintained a business as a craftsman/designer of high-quality woodwork for ten years, creating custom furniture and cabinetry for both residential and commercial clients. His work has been displayed in nearly a dozen galleries on the West Coast, and at nearly two dozen woodworking exhibitions, including: "American Style, Arts and Crafts Movement in the United States" (Macy's Department Store, San Francisco, Ca.) , Furniture in the Aluminum Vein (National Invitational Exhibition at the Kaiser Center Art Gallery, Oakland, Ca.) and a one-man show (The Highlight Gallery, Mendocino, Ca.) . In 1982, Sandor joined the faculty of Cabrillo College in Soquel, California to teach classes in the use of craft materials (wood, metal, leather, plastic) .
Sandor became a member of Master Craftsman status in the California Contemporary Crafts Association in 1982, and also served as secretary to the Northern California Woodworker's Association and as a founding member and President of the Santa Cruz Woodworker's Association. He started a regional woodworker's newsletter in 1983, which precipitated requests for articles from several national woodworking and crafts magazines. He was recruited as an editor for Fine Woodworking magazine in 1986. During his six-and-one-half year tenure with the magazine, Sandor authored nearly three dozen feature articles. Editorial work demanded extensive travel in North America as well as occasional trips to Europe and the orient, where he visited woodworkers of all specialties to develop articles and take photographs. As a spokesman for Fine Woodworking, Sandor presented numerous lectures and seminars on a variety of woodworking topics, and served as a juror for several major woodworking exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada. He also served on selection committees for Taunton Press' Design Book Four and Design Book Five, and acted as the Associate Editor of Design Book Six.
After leaving full-time duty at Fine Woodworking Magazine in 1993 as Senior Editor, Sandor returned to his home and workshop in Santa Cruz, California. His first job was to tackle a major commission for the Minneapolis Institute of Art replicating an important Prairie-style dining set for the Purcell/Cutts House in Minneapolis, MN. He served as a contributing editor for Fine Woodworking from 1993 to 1996 and West Coas
