Design Nomenclature / Physical Model Making

Jig

Also called drill jig, guide, template

A device that holds work and guides the tool — a drill jig has hardened bushings that put the bit exactly where it belongs, every time, without measuring. The guiding is the definition. If it does not guide anything, it is a fixture, and the two words get swapped constantly.

A two-column text comparison headed "What the thing controls". Left, in accent: Jig — guides the tool; hardened bushings put the bit where it belongs without measuring. It controls the path of the cut. Right: Fixture — holds the work; it clamps the part on a known datum and does not guide the tool at all. It controls where the part is.

Not to be confused with

How this term connects

BoringDatumFixtureLap jointMDFMortise and tenonPrototypeToleranceJig
Related Confused with