This is a shot of Frank Klausz using a tenoning jig he built for the table saw. I took a class he gave a few weeks ago in Novi, Michigan at the Rock Financial Showplace. The class was about the setup and use of the table saw, and he showed us many jigs he made from Baltic birch plywood.

Frank Klausz and his tenoning jig

Sorry if the picture is a bit blurry, but it was not the brightest classroom, and the picture was taken with my cell phone.

One humorous, but serious, anecdote to share. Frank made sure he told us how serious it was that we lock down our rip fences, since failing to do so can, and usually will, result in kickback. This of course would cause serious injury if you happened to be standing anywhere behind the workpiece. Frank told us that the first thing he does before cutting his workpiece is to push against the fence in order to ensure that it is properly locked down.

So as Frank demonstrated his tenoning jig above, I noticed, from my front-row seat, that his tenon came out a bit less than straight. It turned out that he had forgotten to lock down his rip fence. He said, “Don’t tell my Grandpa!” We all had a good laugh, but I couldn’t help but think how close we came to seeing Frank Klausz get injured by kickback with his own table saw jig.

It’s a class I won’t soon forget, especially when I’m about to turn on my table saw.