Wood you, Could you with a Mill?

[HoosierBuddy]

I need to help make a walnut box utilizing box joints. Curious what you guys would recommend?

I have the following tools available, but no extra walnut if we screw this up:

1. Tablesaw with homemade box joint jig and Freud box joint blade. I have had marginal success with this in the past. Big issues are making repeatable cuts and the fact the Freud set does not cut square corners in the bottom of the joint. Every one has to be filed into shape. Best I can tell the blade is defective...but it's been way too long to get it replaced now.

2. Tablesaw with same jig and a Freud dado set. I think this might fix the issue with the corners. It seems to make a much better cut than the other set.

3. Router/Router table. I have one. It is embarrassing how little it's been used. I don't have any jig for it, but assume I could make something if I had to.

4. Milling machine. I spent an hour or so last night building myself a really large angle plate out of some heavyish steel, attaching it to the table and making a few test cuts on some scrap. Using a 3/8" cutter I was taking about .150 per pass....so I could cut a slot in 4 passes. I got some tearout...but feel like I could fix that by clamping a waste piece to the front and back of the stock so the mill won't tear a hunk out as it exits the walnut.

The DRO makes repeatability really good.

I guess what I'm most curious about is if you think the mill is a viable way to do this and if you have milled wood what you would recommend SPECIFICALLY as to process. Do you use a smaller cutter and cut to depth and then widen the slot? Do you use a full width cutter and do it in several successive cuts? Would it be possible to make the cut in one pass?

Thoughts here?

Thanks guys!

Phil

 

[APEowner]

I've done a little milling of wood in the milling machine. I use a router bit and cranked the spindle speed up as high as it would go. I can't remember if it preferred conventional of climb milling but I seem to recall that one worked noticeably better than the other. If my recollection is correct then cutting the slot in one pass isn't practical.

 

[kwoswalt99]

What are box joints?

 

[HoosierBuddy]

What are box joints?

 

[trialrun]

the homemade box joint jig works great when paired with the right blade, you really need a flat top grind blade and won't require any clean out later. Not sure your budget, but the Woodworker Forrest blade is excellent http://www.forrestblades.com/saw-bl...cut-box-joints-rabbets-grooves-and-dovetails/

I would over shoot depth and then use a block plane to clean up the joints for a perfectly flush look

Best budget blade would be Freud, i'm surprised you're having issues. I would check the blade, might be a defect

 

[bullnerd]

I would go table saw in this case like trailrun suggested, much faster than reading the dro and you can still slip up, the jig is pretty fool proof once you get going.

But, having a clamp to hold your router to the mill spindle works great for machining wood in a mill.

 

[cgrutt]

Build a table saw sled with an index pin at right interval for your joints. Dado set should work fine. Sounds like your normal blade is Alternative Top Bevel (ATB) not defective that is just how it cuts. I need to build a sled for some finger joints for a humidor I'm making. Haven't gotten around to it yet.

Something like this, but there are a ton of videos if you google it.

 

[Corndoggeh]

AvE milled wood before, purple heart to be exact

 

[cgrutt]

This one is even more simple using just a miter gauge...

 

[uscarry45]

Table saw would be the fastest and if set correctly should produce a good square cut.

No reason not to do it with milling machine but the slowness of it would hold me back

 

[rsanter]

I have always done box joints on a table saw with a stacked dato blade and a home made jig.
Have always worked perfectly once dialed in. Get some cheap wood, pallet wood can work.
Set it up and dial it in with the scrap wood and then go to town on the real stuff

Bob

 

[LXCam]

I would, I could, mill wood that could mill wood.........as long as it was someone other than mine.


I've done it more than a few times. It's just so much easier than setting up stops or jigs. But what a mess to deal with. When I have done it was literally on someone's else's junker.

 

[brianh]

I would use the table saw, I have used my milling machine for cutting mortises there great for that.

 

[Mandres]

I wouldn't want sawdust all over my machine tools

 

[beakie]

take the box joint blade to someone/place that sharpens blades, ask them if they can return it to original working order.
~$20 and a usable blade again, then use it with a jig set up for it.

 

[alfazer]

I wouldn't want sawdust all over my machine tools

I hate this too, but I get the mill table dry and clean, then clamp a vacuum hose close to the cutter and it clears most all of the dust. I do the same on a lathe sometimes too along with an old neoprene mouse mat attached to the chuck side of the saddle to minimise shavings falling onto the slides and lead screw

 

[braidmeister]

Make yourself a sled for the tablesaw out of some 2x4s and plywood. Mark out your tails on each workpiece and run them thru the saw. You don't need a jig...just use the pencil marks as a guide for where to cut. Mark socket/thru areas with a legible "X".

You *can* do it on a mill if you have the Z height, but it isn't really the right tool for the job. Sawdust gets everywhere, including the ways and you'll never really get it clean without taking the mill apart. The spindle speed is too low, even with a 4-flute tool so you'll get a crappy finish.

Also...don't underestimate how quickly you can cut by hand. The Japanese use a dozuki saw to make box and dovetail joints by hand. Lots of pics online for any of the methods mentioned.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Mill. No question here.

And I hate working with wood.

Capt. Chrysler

 

[jimgood]

 

[OccupantRJ]

I use a Bridgeport to mill plywood for blister pack tooling and it works great. Just have to keep the visible spindle area behind the depth stop as clean as possible and flush with WD40 or the spindle Z action will get a little stiff.

 

[Daveo]

I cnc milled a pair of handgrips for a 1911 out of walnut...

 

[catalytic]

OP, you mean you don't have a Sager box joint machine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=360&v=jZPokiLpw34

(more info here):

http://www.owwm.net/?p=1223

On a serious note, I personally don't love wood dust on machine tools unless it's for a good reason. Box joints are, IMHO, something that are easily done in numerous different ways on regular wood shop equipment. If you have a mill and know how to use it, then why not mill a nice box joint jig for use on your table saw or router table?