Box Joint Jig

[BeauxTi]

I have been looking for a Box Joint Jig - I found this

http://www.woodhaven.com/Woodhaven-4.../dp/B001NZ4P5W

It looks simple and does not seem to have too many adjustments to screw up. I know there are a Ton of plans out there to make one. I tried that, but soon realized my skill level is not quite there yet. Does anyone have experience with this or another similar Jig?

[LCHIEN]

It's really not very hard to make your own jig for very little bucks.
1. Buy a wood square dowel 1/4" - they are usually quite square and accurate. Available at Ace, HD, Lowes. A buck or two for 36"
2. Cut two, 4" pieces of the square dowel.
3. Laminate two 1x4 by about 18" and attach this jig to your miter fence to allow moving sideways - easy with the BT3 fence with slot. Also easy with the Rockler fence clamps if you have them (get some if you don't have them)
4. Use the dado blade set to precisely 1/4" wide (check by using the dowel pieces you cut - should be a slip fit) and cut a 1/4" high dado across the bottom of the attached wood jig fence (don't cut your BT3 miter fence!).
5. remove the attached jig fence and place one of the 4" dowels into the slot you cut, so that the majority sticks out in front of the fence. Fasten in place with glue, brad, whatever.
6 replace the attached jig fence back to the miter fence with the attached dowel to the left of the blade - use the second dowel as a spacer to the blade to set the embedded dowel 1/4" away from the blade. Secure the fence. Run the Miter fence forward and backwards, a second slot should be cut across the bottom of your jig fence.

Now you are ready to cut. Place the workpiece end down from the right side up against the dowel. Hold firm to the jig fence and cut - forward and then back.

At this point you should check, you should have a 1/4 x 1/4" finger and a 1/4 x 1/4" slot. Check the fit using the dowel. SHould be a slip fit.

Now set the slot you cut over the dowel attached to the fence, hold the workpiece firmly to the jig fence and then make a forward and back cut. Repeat until you have a row of fingers. (its best to make a box wall an integer multiple of the finger width.)

So it's easy. Typically you can cut four or more ends at one time, really speeding up the work. This jig costs you 2 bucks or less, a bit more if you don't have some 1x4 stock cutoffs lying around.

Some additional notes:
1. The BT3 has a bit of weakness in that the SMT table may not be completely level with the main table. This is critical to making the fingrs the rigth depth. The BT3 can be adjusted by using some or all of the following: A) add or remove plastic sliding shims from under the SMT clamps where they ride on the rails. B) adjust the rails - they may have some play with the quick release knobs that hold them to the main saw body. C) make sure the SMT does not rock or tilt while cutting.
2. Fingers of 3/8" or 1/2" are equally easy to make if your dado blade and dowels are those dimensions.
3. Typically you cut the depth of the fingers about .050" or a bit less than a 16th oversize and sand them off or use a flush trim router to smooth out the corners when the box is assembled.
4. when cutting multiple box ends, don't forget you have to alternate the top and bottom after you cut them... Think about it...! There's two ways to do it.

[BeauxTi]

Thanks! Let me give it a shot. I will let you all know how it goes. It sounds soooo simple, I gotta believe I am simple enough to make it work..

[Daryl]

Link to Lynn's jig, really pretty simple to make.

http://www.leestyron.com/newlynnjig.php

[pelligrini]

Making one is fairly easy. Your measurements really need to be accurate. I made a few when I was doing my clamp racks to do deep slots.

I also have the aluminum Woodsmith jig too. Not exactly cheap, but it does work nicely and it will accommodate a wide range of fingers & slots. I really like the fine tuning adjustments built into the jig. The bottom lip works well with my 21829 to create a very level registration surface.

Freud's box joint stack sure does make some nice clean flat bottomed cuts too. I think it's worth it if you plan on doing a lot of box joints.

[steve-norrell]

As already noted, they are fairly easy to make and I recommend doing that as the 'store-bought' ones tend to be a bit costly.

I have tried the Woodsmith one, but Erik seems to have had much better luck with it than I did . I tried the one offered by Rockler (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...%20joint%20jig), which is currently on sale. Although it was well made, it turned out to be too small for my router table and did not have a way to adjust the cut depth without going through the set-up routine each time .

Anyway, I ended up making one of my own that fits my router table and have been very pleased with it (even if that sounds like bragging) . Making your own will be well worth the effort, as others have suggested.

Good luck and regards, Steve.

[BeauxTi]

Making the cut

Okay - going to jump off and build this thing ( http://worldofwood.proboards.com/ind...nt&thread=1509 ) - queston - how do I go about making the slot cut in Pic 2 and Pic 4 . I just trying to figure out how he got it flat at the top of the slot . rough saw then chisle?

[Cochese]

That seems rather...complicated. If you just need one size, go simple.

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/...ox-joints.aspx

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/...ox-joints.aspx

I've used the router version with great success. Ten minutes to make.

[BeauxTi]

I don't have a Router yet - one step at a time... I am looking at this two was I need to make a couple of drawers - and gives me a chance to work on my skills with a not so critical project. So when it counts I will be up to it.