# Rockler box joint jig



## Marine04 (Sep 4, 2013)

Anyone have one for their router? If so is it as great as it looks? I'm thinking about buying it and actually buying a new router table with a 3/4 miter slot specifically to buy this jig. Would love to hear feed back from guys who own this jig


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

I have one and I like it though after hearing about the Incra I-Box I think it might be a better choice.

What do you want to spend?

I bought the Rockler jig, the clamping cauls and the 1/4", 3/8" and half inch spiral bits all on sale with free shipping so I did ok.


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## Marine04 (Sep 4, 2013)

jharris2 said:


> I have one and I like it though after hearing about the Incra I-Box I think it might be a better choice.
> 
> What do you want to spend?
> 
> I bought the Rockler jig, the clamping cauls and the 1/4", 3/8" and half inch spiral bits all on sale with free shipping so I did ok.


I saw the jig for 79.99 online and 80 something on eBay. Right now I only have straight bits. I thought it came with everything you need except for the bits. How much are the spiral bits? I do want a really nice final product. 
Also what makes the incra better and I want to say I saw one of those at woodcraft for 160


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

Marine04 said:


> I saw the jig for 79.99 online and 80 something on eBay. Right now I only have straight bits. I thought it came with everything you need except for the bits. How much are the spiral bits? I do want a really nice final product.
> Also what makes the incra better and I want to say I saw one of those at woodcraft for 160


It does come with every thing you need to cut box joints except the bits.

http://www.rockler.com/m/product.cfm?page=21338

I bought a the 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" clamping cauls and a pair of ratcheting band clamps on sale.

I wasn't happy with the performance of the double fluted straight bits I first used.

There was some tear out at the back of the cut.

I ordered the 3 Piece Spiral Upcut Bit Set (Includes 1/4'', 3/8'' and 1/2'' HSS Spiral Mortising Bits) Item #: 30166 and got virtually no tear out.

I was pleasantly surprised when the bits arrived. They were made by Onsrud and are very high quality.

I also use those bits with my router mortising jig, for dados and plan to use them with a router table spline jig.

Follow this link to a previous Incra/Rockler BJJ comparison.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f24/box-joint-jig-comparison-rockler-incra-46884/

BTW, thank you for your service!


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## Marine04 (Sep 4, 2013)

jharris2 said:


> It does come with every thing you need to cut box joints except the bits.
> 
> http://www.rockler.com/m/product.cfm?page=21338
> 
> ...


I appreciate it!
I watched a video on the incra I box and it does look pretty sweet. I did see some stuff on those bits and how clean they cut with zero cut out. I made a jig that I wasn't happy with and did notice it was difficult to stop or control cut out with flute bit even with a sacrificial board. I did see some pretty cool things on that video though. He way to make wooden hinges for boxes was awesome. I Plan to make custom jewelry boxes to sell on my website and I think the wooden hinges would be great to add to them on the higher priced boxes. I may try the rockler jig to start with the spiral bits and if it goes as good as I want I'll stick with it and maybe upgrade to the incra I box later. Being on a tight budget is kind of leaving me a little restricted especially since I have to buy a new table with a 3/4 miter slot just to use the jig


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

I just stumbled onto this


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## Marine04 (Sep 4, 2013)

jharris2 said:


> I just stumbled onto this
> 
> Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc_gvmhamYI&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Thats actually the exact video I saw when I decided I have to have that jig lol. That video had me sold


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I get one today*

So, it's off to make some box joints.... hopefully. :yes:
Better watch the video one more time... :laughing:

Came back in to say, Tom made a long reference piece to guage how wide to make your stock so you'll have full pins on either end of the finished piece...a big help and a great idea. Size your stock to width first!


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## Marine04 (Sep 4, 2013)

woodnthings said:


> So, it's off to make some box joints.... hopefully. :yes:
> Better watch the video one more time... :laughing:
> 
> Came back in to say, Tom made a long reference piece to guage how wide to make your stock so you'll have full pins on either end of the finished piece...a big help and a great idea. Size your stock to width first!


Will do


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*the jig works great*

But you have to set the router bit height to the thickness of material + a tad. You also need to make the guide with the fingers first to know where they fall on your workpiece. You can measure them, but at a glance visual, is way better, at least in my case. I used a 1/2" spiral upcut bit. 

Now for the funny part..... I already had one.  I thought that it was for dados on the table saw. :no: Oh well. It's not the only thing I have 2 of . I think I made one for the table saw, now I just have to find it. :huh:


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## bladeburner (Jun 8, 2013)

woodnthings said:


> So, it's off to make some box joints.... hopefully. :yes:
> Better watch the video one more time... :laughing:
> 
> Came back in to say, Tom made a long reference piece to guage how wide to make your stock so you'll have full pins on either end of the finished piece...a big help and a great idea. Size your stock to width first!


If you don't want to bother with a gauge, just remember that the last pin may not be exactly the same size as the first. So, flip the board so that the first cut pin butts against the initial cut of the next, or mating board.


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## Marine04 (Sep 4, 2013)

What I did when I tried to make my own jig was that I took a piece of scrap 1x4 pine and clamped it to my miter gauge then cut a 1/2 flute 1/2 high and then moved my piece over 1/2 and cut a second slot. I put a piece of 1/2x1x2 wood and glued it into one of the slots. Then I took my 3/4x4 piece to make my joints and butted it up against the 1/2x1/2 sticking out of the 1x4 attached to my miter gauge and took my first pass then set that notch on the 1/2x1/2 and kept going. When I got to the end I butted up the next piece to the piece I just cut and repeated the process. It worked great but wasn't as tight of joints as I wanted so I decided to buy probably the rockler jig maybe the inca I box to insure my spacing it dead on since I can't seem to do it myself. Plus the space between my two cuts on my make shift jig would break so it wasn't successful for me. :-(

What do you guys think about a cabinet on Casters made out of mdf for me to bolt my router table on and have a cabinet underneath for extra storage? Mdf is only 30 a sheet here and thought about doing it but I'll frame it with 2x4's and just screw the mdf to the frame. Do you guys think mdf is ok for that or will last?


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## woodchuck1954 (Nov 11, 2008)

*Other Alternatives*

For the price of either of those jigs, I would either make one OR buy a dovetail jig. Any decent dovetailing jig also does box joints, plus you have the dovetails.

To make a box joint jig only takes a few pieces of scrap.
Google "Free Box Joint Jig Plans". You probably will get many hits. They ARE NOT that complicated.

woodchuck1954
"A Legend In his own Mind"


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## 4DThinker (Mar 13, 2013)

I made my own router table box joint jigs for the university shop I teach in. Keystock bars in 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", etc.. are easy to find and serve great as the guide rails. Onsrud spiral upcut bits are the most reliably sized that I've found. Taper filing the guide keystock edge a little to make sliding the workpiece on and down it helps. Make the base piece the same size as your router table top. I used whatever flat sheet stock I had laying around, but something with a smooth/finished surface works best. 

The flaw in any of these jigs comes when bits aren't the diameter they claim to be, and when during setup you set the blade from the bar too far (pins won't fit in slots) or too close (pins too loose in slots). We make sample scraps to test the setup on before running the actual box parts. Cut just a few fingers and you'll know if they are a good fit or not.


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