Using Spacers in Project Assembly

Often in projects you’ll see identical parts needing to be positioned an equal distance apart. You can drive yourself crazy measuring and marking reference lines to place these parts, or you can save some sanity, and a lot of time, by creating a spacer.

For the Shop Class Garden Bench project, we designed the back as a series of 1x2 rails and stiles. Instead of a series of half-lap joints, the stiles are spaced 1 1/2-inches apart to accommodate the rails. To make this easier, we created a spacer jig from a 1x2 that simply butts up against the stock. It’s shaped like a “T” and was made square by using a speed square as a guide, and is simply glued and nailed together.

Later in the project, we attach seat slats that needed to be 1/4-apart. No need to make a jig for this - you can either use a piece of 1/4-inch thick stock, or rip a piece of scrap to 1/4-inch. You can cut spacers as you need them, or do as many woodworkers do, and keep a series of spacers around. Many times you'll have leftover scraps from ripping boards. Instead of tossing these in the firewood pile, keep them in a special stack.

I like to keep a lot of these around, especially after I've ripped 8-foot long boards. For example, a lot of projects call for 2-inch wide boards. After ripping a 1x3 down, I'm left with a 3/8- x 3/4-inch strip. I keep this at 8-feet, waiting until I need the spacer and cutting it to the length I need. If I’ve ripped a 1x3 to 2 1/4-inches, then I’m left with a 1/4- x 3/4-inch strip. You may have varying widths depending on the kerf of your saw blade, so be sure to double check the measurements of this scrap before you use them.

You can also use spacers as stop blocks during awkward assembly. Simply clamp them in place or temporarily tack them to a project part.