The jig for cutting slots in the shingle packs on my band saw. The separate piece at the top holds the pack down and reminds me not to cut off a finger. The piece at the bottom gets temporarily attached to the underside of my sliding table, acting as a stop so the slots will be a uniform 5/16“ deep.
Time to cut the slots. I use a fine tooth blade when cutting shingles. The photo shows the jig clipped onto the sliding table I made for my scroll saw (see TOOLS). The first cut is about to be made, just needs that hold down piece. The staple is the right of where the cut will be. The process is simple….
Cut and pull, cut and pull: Hold the strip pack down with pressure, cut a 5/16 inch deep slot, release the hold down, slide the pack to the right 1/4“ using its tab, check alignment, and repeat. This is one of those things that goes quickly and is easier to do than to explain.
After all the slots in a pack have been cut, there’s a lot of tar residue. Look closely and you’ll see the blade is gucked up as well…
I clean the blade by cutting through a scrap piece of hardwood, clean the cutting slot with an old Xacto knife blade, then dust the area off.
Give yourself a cookie, then make more packs. As it worked out, the sample roof is small (only 2-1/4” by 4-3/8”) and needed just 15 strips for the entire roof (only 1-1/2 packs). So now I’ve got extra packs. Oh, well, I ‘spose I’ll just have to make another roof for another building!
NEXT: Gluing ‘em on the roof and making individual shingles.
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