Finger plate

[RJ-Jr]

I'm sure I would have found it useful sooner or later. Thanks.
Is there a specific purpose for the big v cut?

Not for my uses yet. Just saw that on all the others online. Probably clearance for drilling thru holes or pushing out pins

 

[Jake M]

What's the hole in the v-groove allow you to do?

Anything you want it to. It's kind of customary for these to have a drill bushing holder to drop into that hole, so that you could cross drill pins on a drill press, or (possibly....) just with a hand drill, depending on your needs. This one looks to have been made for a different purpose, but clearance for a drill is quite likely, if there is no need for a drill bushing to locate the hole. For example, if one owned a millng machine, which is quite capable of placing such a hole without the need for a drill guide.

Is there a specific purpose for the big v cut?

Again, anything you want it for... Typical for these little jigs would be to have the clamping bar split into a V shape on one end, that would correspond with that large V cut on the side. That would allow access to a band saw, perhaps "some" access to a relieved feature on a belt sander, non round through drilling, etc.

But again, these jigs are most typically shop made. I am 98 percent sure I've seen commercial versions, but usually it's shop made. They're made to the size, shape, and with whatever features one might want to have. The first and only specification for these is that it's made to simplify the work that YOU do.

Another example- Many are made on thin (ish) bases, to keep the elevation down when doing saw, file, or drill press, or mill vise work. Or others are made with a "thicker" base that allows it to be clamped into a bench vise for hand work such as sawing or filing. Oh yeah... Files. If you see an old timey antique shop made one of these, it probably spent some time on a bench file machine.

My version (I might well do another....) is a little tiny fella. Inch and three quarters square base. No groove for round stock, and no V notch. The clamping finger though, that has a relatively wide V on one end for a two point grip. I got a generous handfull of 3/16 high speed steel blanks, used, most of them with "some" end cut on them, although whoever cut them probably shouldn't have. I don't think any ever made a chip. Some are broken clean off. A single point grip took a lot of pressure to keep the blanks from rotating under the clamp, so I reiterated that piece. This tiny finger plate allows me to (comfortably) slide them up the rest on the general purpose grinder with an insanely coarse wheel, which tends to shake a bit and be a little grabby on small stock. Takes a solid two minutes to set up, but it makes that rough grinding go in about 30 seconds, so it's a win. Then on the proper grinder, I don't have "grabby" problems, so I (usually....) free hand from there. I's also square, so I can put a sharpie reference line close by, and "eyeball" the edge of the plate to greatly reduce the "iterations" it takes to get a threading tool made or sharpened dead nutz. It's small enough that I reiterated my knobs too. They're too close in and that makes them fiddly. Hex fasteners and a nut driver works better. So yeah.... No rules, no plans. Unless you draw your own plans. These don't do specific things, but within some general scope, they do whatever you make them to do.