Making a Small Wooden Box #2: Spline Jig

it looks so simple

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Don;

From these angles, it’s easy to see. In the earlier photo, it looked like the box would be several inches from the saw table. Had me bewildered.

Thanks for posting this!

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Don,
Thanks a lot for your willingness to share your knowledge. The pictures are very helpful.

Isn’t it amazing that some of our jigs, although not very attactive, do an amazing job at their intended purpose?

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Great pictorial Don. Another great blog.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Don, Thanks for sharing. Seems the first of these I saw was in R. J. DeChristophoro’s Book “The Complete Book of Power Tools” I see no reason that our jigs need to look like our furniture. They only need to be functional. Most I use once or twice and that’s it. Your box works very well and that is what you expect from it. Keep going with these boxes, Don, because I just happen to LIKE little wooden boxes alot too.

-- Thos. Angle

thanks for the closeups. This could be in shop notes, in the shop it’s all about fuctionality not the beauty, that is what should be the end product. Of which you have many great examples.

-- Joel Tille

Well, that clears that up! Thanks for the post Don! Great tutorial. (subliminal CSS plug being sent down under)

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Great jig. Who cares what it looks like..if it does what its supposed to do its awesome! I am going to build one just like it! I love miters and I like the splines for decorative more than structural purposes. I love the angled effect too..a little tweak that makes all the differance in the beauty of the finneshed piece!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

Very nice jig, Don. Looks better than soem of my jigs….LOL As long as they get eth job done, who is gonna look at em, anyways!

Gonna have to make me one, too.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Don, what type of blade do you use for cutting splines slots? I use a standard ATB saw blade which means the bottom of the kerf is not flat.I then use the edge of a file to clean them up. Tedious and not consistant results. I am thinking about getting a flat top grind ripping blade which will make a perfectly flat bottomed kerf.Whats your thoughts.Thanks in advance.

-- " If I can make it,so can you" Andy in Oregon

So many jigs…..so little time.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

BTW, this may be (read: probably is) a dumb question, but I noticed the spline cuts don’t seem to be perpendicular to the box side. Is this an appearance choice, or is that part of what adds extra strength to the joint?

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Charlie, there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. I hope this answer doesn’t sound too dumb.

It’s simply a design choice. I like the look, but my wife doesn’t. I can only hope that my client does.

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

Quote Andy: ”Don, what type of blade do you use for cutting splines slots?”

Andy, I have the same problem. I use a very narrow and sharp chisel to flatten out the bottom of the slot.

I, too, find this less than fully satisfactory. I plan to purchase a cheap saw blade and have it ground flat for this purpose. It will only get occasional use, so I don’t think that I should be necessary to spend good money for the blade.

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

Very nice jig,Don.I need to make one,just like yours.

-- Krisztian VA My website: www.vacarpentry.com

If you can get to a home depot, the Ridgid 50 tooth combination blade sells for $29 and makes flat bottom cuts.

Popular Woodworking magazine listed it as one of the best buys for a saw blade earlier this year. It came in just under the really expensive WWII and Freud blades, but at a fraction of the cost.

-- Ethan, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Ethan, thanks for the heads up. Out of the question for me, though. I live in OZ. LOL

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/