Box Joint Jig Question?

[seagiant]

Hi,
Going to make a Box Joint Jig, the back board will be adjustable to get the Pin tightness correct but the question is...

How do you correct or center the Pins to be equal top and bottom on the finished board?

I see it as either changing the dia. of the cutter or the width of the board.

Trying to keep from having a thin Pin on one end but every Pin and Socket equal???

 

[jar944]

Hi,
Going to make a Box Joint Jig, the back board will be adjustable to get the Pin tightness correct but the question is...

How do you correct or center the Pins to be equal top and bottom on the finished board?

I see it as either changing the dia. of the cutter or the width of the board.

Trying to keep from having a thin Pin on one end but every Pin and Socket equal???

Just adjust the overall size of the board to match the full pin spacing, same as machine cut half blind dovetails.

 

[Jgaz]

If I understand your question, it would be accomplished as @jar944 says.
But in my experience, it is quite difficult to get an exact full pin on both ends of a board especially if the board is wide.

Difficult enough that I almost always start with a board oversized for the project and designate one edge as the “waste“ edge.
I trim it to the desired size after the joints are cut or even after the box is assembled.

 

[Jgaz]

You can see on at least one side of this project I’ve marked the waste side right from the start.

The problem to getting a full pin is that although the pin may be an accurate 1/4” there is a very small clearance between the pins that would be very difficult to account for.

For a project the size I’ve shown I will set the tolerances just a tiny bit looser so that it goes together smoothly during glue up.

 

[The Cobbler]

without doing a lot of figuring, make the boxes a tad wider, once you cut the joints determine where /how much to trim off the sides .

 

[seagiant]

Hi,
Thanks for the info and pics!!!

Wanted to make sure, I was not missing anything!

 

[seagiant]

Hi,
Nice work!!!

Shop Made Wooden Machinist Chests

I have this chest, and another I’ll post later, in the thread “Wooden Boxes for tools, parts, nuts and bolts, etc.“. I thought I’d cross post it here on the woodworking forum to maybe get a collection of these chests in an easier to find format. The basic box. My first large finger joint...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Jgaz]

Hi,
Nice work!!!

Shop Made Wooden Machinist Chests

I have this chest, and another I’ll post later, in the thread “Wooden Boxes for tools, parts, nuts and bolts, etc.“. I thought I’d cross post it here on the woodworking forum to maybe get a collection of these chests in an easier to find format. The basic box. My first large finger joint...

www.garagejournal.com

A lot of talented people posted in that thread.
My box joint jig was home made from WoodSmith plans I’ve been very happy with it.

 

[PCustoms]

I started making a box joint jig years ago, and made a drawer or two. After my second jig and the frustration of getting things perfect, I considered buying one.

Then I spent $50 on lock miter bits and setup blocks for the router. Very strong and (almost) foolproof, was a much better solution for finishing the kitchen drawers.

Maybe someday when I'm playing around I'll blow the dust off the box joint jig and try again

 

[whateg01]

I have a friend that does all of his joints on his CNC mill. I'm his defense, it does make it easy to get everything just right.

 

[PCustoms]

I have a friend that does all of his joints on his CNC mill. I'm his defense, it does make it easy to get everything just right.

Does he cut the perimeter of the wood too? Otherwise it gets to be a PITA to align everything...

Used to have access to a few machines, IIRC the big one was 5x12'. Was interesting to make almost anything an interlocking puzzle out of full sheets of plywood. Plenty of bins, tables and other useful structures came off that

 

[whateg01]

Does he cut the perimeter of the wood too? Otherwise it gets to be a PITA to align everything...

Used to have access to a few machines, IIRC the big one was 5x12'. Was interesting to make almost anything an interlocking puzzle out of full sheets of plywood. Plenty of bins, tables and other useful structures came off that

It's NBD to indicate the workpiece.

 

[Firebrick43]

The incra ibox jig works wonderfully and compensates for any cutter width with a unique double lead/double direction screw.

I have cut 30” long joints that fit the same on either end of the joint. It also eliminates fiddling with dado stack to get the exact width as the ibox adjust in seconds to what what ever the cut width is.

 

[PCustoms]

The incra ibox jig works wonderfully and compensates for any cutter width with a unique double lead/double direction screw.

I have cut 30” long joints that fit the same on either end of the joint. It also eliminates fiddling with dado stack to get the exact width as the ibox adjust in seconds to what what ever the cut width is.

This is the one I looked at years ago.

Nice, but $$$

 

[jar944]

I personally prefer the look of a nice 1/8" or even 1/4" box joint over dovetails for drawer boxes Gluing them up on the other hand is a monumental pain. Half blind dovetails are just so much faster to cut and assemble.

 

[PCustoms]

I personally prefer the look of a nice 1/8" or even 1/4" box joint over dovetails for drawer boxes Gluing them up on the other hand is a monumental pain. Half blind dovetails are just so much faster to cut and assemble.

I don't usually compliment a man on his drawers...

That's quite the stack

 

[jar944]

I don't usually compliment a man on his drawers...

That's quite the stack

That was only 1/3 of them.

 

[Jgaz]

I wouldn’t make another box joint jig after all I’ve read about the Incra Jig.
Also I use a dedicated box joint saw blade set from Freud.
It will cut 1/4” or 3/8” joints, it’s waaay easier than trying to use a dado stack.

 

[Mike65]

I made a homemade box joint jig from plans I got from Norm Abram on The New Yankee Workshop & attach it to my miter gauge.

Jigs - The New Yankee Workshop

Norm celebrates the 13th season of The New Yankee Workshop with jigs. Proclaiming them "as important for the workshop as any power tool," Norm devotes the

www.newyankee.com