# Finger Joints that aren't 90 degrees



## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

First off, I am really new at all this. I am teaching myself slowly.

Currently I am building a little coffin shaped box for a friend. It's going to be made out of 1/4" thick oak. I am having a hell of a time figuring how to do the corners. I was thinking about using finger/box joints to join the corners. Has anyone used finger joints for a non-90 degree angle, and if so how did you do it? Or should I abandon this idea altogether and just try something more traditional?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

hedorah99 said:


> Or should I abandon this idea altogether and just try something more traditional?











That's what I would do.












 







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## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

Do you have any advice for gluing up the corners? They are 49/49 82/70 and 55/55. It's because I am working with only 1/4" thick stock that I am having problems. Or should I just try using 1/2" stock and biscuits instead?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

hedorah99 said:


> Do you have any advice for gluing up the corners? They are 49/49 82/70 and 55/55. It's because I am working with only 1/4" thick stock that I am having problems.



You might get away with box joints. The problem you might have is fingers may show on the inside, if the angle is obtuse. Picture interlacing your fingers on both hands and then opening up your palms a bit. You can see what might happen. As for the outsides of acute angles, just make the fingers longer, and then after assembly sand them back. You may see slight openings at the base of the fingers.

If you cut the joints allowing for the angles, there would be fitment inside and out. That's all in your setup, which can be a PITA. Another choice would be to lay out the box and figure for dovetails.












 









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## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

If I just choose to cut the miters and glue them together, abandoning the finger joints all together, how should I go about that?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

hedorah99 said:


> If I just choose to cut the miters and glue them together, abandoning the finger joints all together, how should I go about that?



If you can use ½", that would give you better gluing surface. You would also need either a table saw, CMS, or a SCMS. Or, if you have an adjustable miter box and a back saw, that would work.

Each piece to the joint will have a miter cut that's half of the degrees of the corner. IOW, for a 90_°_, each would be 45_°_. If it's 80_°_ they would be 40_°_, etc.

An interesting detail once the box is together would be to cut "keys" into the corners. This image is the basic principle, but cut the keyway after the box is glued up.
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## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

Cool, I've got the angle part, it's just the actual assembly. I have band clamps but it's hard to get the pieces to keep shape when pressure is applied. Thank you for all the help, by the way. It is appreciated. I have been met with some less than friendly reception at some other sites.


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## TGRANT (Jan 25, 2011)

Angled finger joints are not really that hard - it’s a bit of a fussy set up but there is no real trick to it. If you can get a hold of it, Tage Frid’s book ‘Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking - Joinery’ has a demonstration on how to do this, and he describes it better than I can, though if you can’t find it I’ll give it a try. The spline miter described by Cabinetman might be easier and will look similar. If the joints are well cut you can hold the assembly together with a band clamp after gluing.


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## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

Thanks Tgrant!


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## TGRANT (Jan 25, 2011)

Hedorah99
You are welcome. By the way, I wasn’t quite clear in my last post. The band clamp won’t work with box joints since a little bit of the joint extends out, and the band clamp will push the joint open. The band clamp is for holding the mitered joint. 
Also - since you are new at woodworking and teaching yourself, I’d throw this in. Don’t be afraid of making some mistakes. Practice on some scrap and if you make a mistake, toss the piece and try to remember what you did so you can learn. I’ve screwed up hundreds of times and will no doubt will screw up again. Don’t be afraid of angled joints - there is nothing magical about 90 degrees. :icon_smile:


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## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

Thanks for all the help. I went with using 1/2" stock and just mitering the edges and using a band clamp. I think it looks better than a finger joint. As soon as I figure out how to post a picture I'll let you guys laugh at my high school wood shop project. :laughing:

Thanks again everyone!


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

hedorah99 said:


> First off, I am really new at all this. I am teaching myself slowly.
> 
> Currently I am building a little coffin shaped box for a friend. It's going to be made out of 1/4" thick oak. I am having a hell of a time figuring how to do the corners. I was thinking about using finger/box joints to join the corners. Has anyone used finger joints for a non-90 degree angle, and if so how did you do it? Or should I abandon this idea altogether and just try something more traditional?


If you really want to do an agled box joint it can be done on a RAS... blade set on side and arm at desired angle with dado blade...

Never found a reason to do this...

Just say'n, lol


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## TGRANT (Jan 25, 2011)

firemedic said:


> If you really want to do an agled box joint it can be done on a RAS... blade set on side and arm at desired angle with dado blade...


 
Perhaps I’m overly cautious, but when I saw that method described in a magazine, it looked scary, though in the article the method seemed to be a straightforward way to cut the joint. The blade spinning on it’s side looks dangerous to me as the left hand seems excessively exposed (in the usual set up with the blade on the left side of the motor that is). I’d suggest this method should be used only by those very experienced in using a RAS. I’ve never done it either.


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## mattar12 (Dec 21, 2011)

*This site talks about angle box joints*

I haven't done it yet, but I found this about making angle box joints...

http://www.routerworkshop.com/angleboxjt.html


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## TDinDC (8 mo ago)

hedorah99 said:


> First off, I am really new at all this. I am teaching myself slowly.
> 
> Currently I am building a little coffin shaped box for a friend. It's going to be made out of 1/4" thick oak. I am having a hell of a time figuring how to do the corners. I was thinking about using finger/box joints to join the corners. Has anyone used finger joints for a non-90 degree angle, and if so how did you do it? Or should I abandon this idea altogether and just try something more traditional?


I have a similar project in mind, making a hexagonal box with finger joints joining the six sides. I have made several hexagonal boxes before and have made finger (box) joints, but on 90° corners. I have an idea, but for only one angle for rhe whole project. It may not work for multi-angle joinery.

1) cut the wood to overall length.
2) miter the long grain to the desired joining angle and the opposite side to the same angle, making a rhombohedron.
3) cut the fingers on both of these mitered sides using a modified box joint jig where the fence tilts at the joining angle. This guarantees that the long grain of the fingers slide into the spaces parallel to the end grain of the other side's fingers. Note that the pin/key on the jig has to rest on the saw's table.
4) Cut the individual sections to length. (This will probably take some preliminary calculations or sketches to avoid unfortunate trimming. This would involve factoring together the box joint finger spacing and the length of each side. And note that where one section ends with a finger, the next one has to begin with a space.)
5) Glue, join, trim and sand. Do a dry glue-up first

HINT: When I made the hexagonal boxes, I made a cradle that held three sides for glue up. I cut dados in a flat piece of scrap separated by the width between the two sides sticking out of the cradle, put it on top of the glue up and put a brick on top to weigh it down while the glue dried. 

TDinDC.
p.s. don't despair, I too am teaching myself.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

TDinDC said:


> I have a similar project in mind, making a hexagonal box with finger joints joining the six sides. I have made several hexagonal boxes before and have made finger (box) joints, but on 90° corners. I have an idea, but for only one angle for rhe whole project. It may not work for multi-angle joinery.
> 
> 1) cut the wood to overall length.
> 2) miter the long grain to the desired joining angle and the opposite side to the same angle, making a rhombohedron.
> ...


This thread is over a decade old, pretty sure the OP has either built the box or moved on to other projects


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