Paracord Jig

This instruction shows you how you can build your own inexpensive paracord jig. It is an example how you can build one. If you want to make it bigger adjust the dimensions, if you want to add buckles, then do it! It's your rig (to be).

For my jig I used plywood, but ofcourse you can use any other type of wood you prefer or available to you.

Your jig doesn't have to cost that much. Mine only cost about 2 dollars on hardware. I got the wood for free for my local hardware store, because there were leftovers from the sawing table.

So go to your local hardware store and ask if you can have a look around in the "waste bin", maybe you can find usefull bits of wood you can use.

Editors note: I'm European and I use the metric system, I've converted the dimension to Imperial. During my instructions i'll be using some metric dimension. So bear with me.

If you find any errors or want to leave some feedback, please leave a comment.

Did you make it? Please post it!

Materials:

• 2x 1.2in x 19.7in x 0.7in / 30mm x 500mm x 18mm plywood
• 2x 2.75in x 2in x 0.7in / 70mm x 50mm x 18mm plywood (one is fixed, one is for the slider, you can make the slider bigger if you want.)
• 2x 2.75in x 2in x 0.32in / 70mm x 50mm x 8mm plywood
• 2x 5/16" x 2" / M8 x 50mm carriage bolt
• 2x 5/16" / M8 butterfly nut
• 2x 5/16"/ M8 washer
• 2x 1.6" / 40mm screw hooks or cup hooks
• some nails

Tools needed:

• Measuring tape (metric/imperial)
• Set square
• Pencil
• Fineliner and a Sharpie
• Hammer
• Drill
• 5/16" / 8mm wood drill
• Electric Sander or sandingpaper180 grain sanding paperSaw (hand of electric)

Before you get started sand your pieces of plywood to make sure they are nice and smooth.

TIP: To make sure you have straight corners, make yourself a 90 deg jig on your workbench with some leftover wood and a couple of glue clamps. (second picture, bottom left)

Picture 1:

Put the two long plywood pieces on your workbench and add the 70x50x8mm pieces on top.

Picture 2:
Only nail the 70x50x8 piece to the bottom section. Make sure to press down in the 90deg jig, for straight corners

Picture 3:
Add one 5/16" bolt on each end as a spacer, to make sure your bolts slide through the jig later on.

Picture 4:
Nail the 70x50x8mm piece to the upper section.

Here I skipped a few steps and pictures, because I was on a roll building it myself.

Picture 5/6: Shows you the finished nailed bottom pieces.

Picture 7:
This show the upper section with the fixed piece a plywood and a screw hook. Basicly you repeat the steps before, make sure it's in a straight corner (use the jig for the jig) and nail it down.

Now this is the part where I switch to the metric system for precise measurement.

Picture 1: is my end result

Picture 2:
For the slider you need to drill two 5/16" (8mm) holes in the 70x50x18mm piece. Make sure you measure the center.

You can decide the measurements for the slider yourself, keep the bottomwidth of the carriage bolts in mind so they don't touch each other on the bottom. As you can see I cut it pretty close (picture 3)

Picture 4/5:
I used two bolts to make sure the slider doesn't rotate on the board. The first bolt is a guide, the second with the butterfly nut is the fastner.

You put the whole thing together. If you want to use something else than screw hooks or more options, then by all means add them.

For this last step I used a metric set square and started lining away. Ofcourse you can do it in Inches or both metric and imperial.

Something to keep in mind, because my screw hooks are 10mm inside the top pieces I also added that distance to the ruler and the slider.

The last step is to 'break' you new jig in and start making paracord things.

Please leave some feedback in the comment section.

Did you make it? Please post a picture of your version.