LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Project Information

At the beginning of 2012 my family and I sat down to make a few goals for the year. I prefer to make "goals" instead of "resolutions" so that they are something I can work towards during the year. My educational goal for 2012 was to learn how to make a box joint. I knew that I wanted to make a jig, so I looked at a few examples of jigs and alternated back and forth between a router based jig vs. a dado blade jig. In the end I settled on the jig for the table saw and dado blade because of the flexibility of making joints with different widths and heights.

The jig is pretty basic, just a framework with a replaceable face plate. I recognize that I will need to make a pin and set the distance with each set-up, but it doesn't seem like too much to cut a strip off the box material to have something the exact thickness. Back in the summer I picked up a pair of 4×4 "skids" made out of what I think is UHMW plastic from a job site for free and milled a pair of runners out of it. (I still have a considerable amount of the stuff) That was about as fancy as I got. The final picture is the first ever box joint that I have cut. I am pretty pleased that I was able to cross this off the list for the year. Maybe next year will be handcut dovetails.

Gallery

Comments

· Registered
Joined
·
19,753 Posts
Great job ,this will come in handy.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
7 Posts
nice looking box joints! I have been looking for a nice simple jig to learn to make these myself! nicely done
 

· Registered
Joined
·
28 Posts
Aaron, looks great, I have been working towards making one, yours inspires me. If I may ask, why the adjustable face?
 

· Registered
Joined
·
43 Posts
@ptofimpact: When you set up the jig to make miter joints, the first pass over the dado blade establishes the groove that will hold the reference pin. Then the entire jig needs to be moved to the side a distance equal to the width of the reference sled so that the new groove and the reference pin are precisely spaced. The sled's lateral movement is fixed by the miter slots, so the adjustable face allows for this lateral movement and fine tuning.
 

· Premium Member
Joined
·
20,131 Posts
Just in the nick of time for a new "goal" ;-)) Nice job. Hand cut dovetails are easier than hand cut box joints! Trust me ;-)
 
Top