Making Your Own Shaping Tools?

Hey everyone, wanted to share a quick video from one of our shapers, Stephen Franklin, showing a tool he made to shape bottom contours more consistently by hand.

He’s using full-size printed cross-sections from AkuShaper to make a simple jig right where the concaves start, so both sides of the stringer match perfectly. It’s a hand-shaping tool, but you could also use it if you want a little flexibility with a cut coming off the machine — like leaving out bottom contours — or if you’re running a larger batch of the same style boards?

Check out the video here:
https://youtu.be/jTKnCYe3aYE?si=vUOHbPbiMdooUeD_

How many of you are building your own jigs or shaping tools? Rail templates, concave guides, rocker gauges, sanding blocks… drop a comment!

Also, the AkuShaper team was talking recently about 3D printing shop tools. Anyone experimenting with 3D printing to make jigs, templates, or other shaping tools? Would love to see what you’re trying.

If you’ve got unique tools or methods you’d like to share with other shapers, our Fund Your Build program can help cover materials in exchange for showing your process:
https://akushaper.com/fund-your-build

Check it out! Cheers, yew!

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Hand tool I made for sanding vertical channel walls at a 90-degree angle to the channel bottom. Channel walls are sanded without sanding the channel bottom.

Wing nut/bolts allow swapping out different sand paper grits placed over the Masonite plate.

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