> Jack, > > On rereading I noticed that you did say that the holes were an odd > size...do you mean that they are short mortises in the buttons? We > machined a set of Bill's cauls to use for shorter mortises. > > Debbie Legg No, I think he means the narrow mortises, for the swaged balance rail pin. Jack, maple works just fine, though I'd share Terry's concern about using it for sizing cauls unless you'd dipped them in lacquer, epoxy, CA, or something to seal them. I've made caul sets from maple, polypropylene, and aluminum, as well as purchasing sets from more legitimate sources. They all do just what they're supposed to. Incidentally, while I won't advocate it, I have done it. Aluminum is workable on a table saw or router table to gang machine the caul blanks with carbide tooling, but it's scary and the wife won't be happy about the shavings tracked onto her carpet. Ron N
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