# finger joint router setup



## denpurcell

I bought a Freud finger joint router bit today, thought it would be easy to figure out how to use the bit, WRONG.:no:
Cutting the first piece didn't seem to be too tough but trying to set up the minor for the joining piece was not easy or accurate to say the least. 
The minor dimension from Freud web site was 21/64 or .328 inches so I tried to lower the router bit by .328 inches but that was not easy. I have a new Bosh router and router table but the thumb screw height adjustment is anything but good or accurate, jumps all over the place.
Short of buying a surface gauge to set the mirror height, does someone know of an easier way of setting up the first and second piece that I am overlooking? like some gauge blocks, or a youtube video or DVD?

Update: I got out my vernier calipers and made some measurements on the Freud 99-037 finger joint bit. On their spec. sheet they call the minor dimension as 21/64 or .328" and they show it as the adjacent peak to peak (pitch) dimension. Well that is incorrect, it is half of that, the pitch is actually .1620". So I have ordered a height gauge so that when I have finished my first piece of material I can lower the router by half the minor (pitch) dimension or .082" and run my second piece of material at the new setting. This will align the peaks to valleys between the two pieces of material.

http://www.freudtools.com/p-157-finger-joint-bit.aspx


















​​ *Application: Joining wood edge-to-edge or end-to-end *

• Produces a joint that is stronger than the wood itself. 
• Tips on each side of the bit are offset, cutting twice as
many fingers as you see tips on each side of the bit. 
• Cuts all composition materials, plywoods, hardwoods,
and softwoods. 
• Use on CNC and other automatic routers as well as 
table-mounted portable router. ​


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## rrich

It's a trial and error thing. Get your first cut where you want it. Then, using scrap, do a trial and error until you have it right.


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## Just Bill

Every tool with mating surfaces, that I have ever tried, need riches suggestion. Trial/error. Play with it until you get it to match. If you actually get it dead nuts on, you have done something wrong, and/or the next piece of wood will be thicker or thinner.


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## AZ Termite

I have the Porter-Cable 4212 Dovetail jig that I use to do finger joints with. It makes it easier to get right. There is still a lot of trial and error in that to. Once you get it right it makes it real easy, as long as all the stock you are cutting is the same thickness.


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## JimK66

*finger joints*

I've found cutting all my finger joint projects on my table saw with a very simple little jig and peg I made. Do a Google search for finger joint jigs and see what you comeup with. 
JimK
JimK


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## RLFX

Give this a look !


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## del schisler

*box finger joint's*

check and see if this will help ? 

http://us.oak-park.com/catalogue.html?list=boxj--


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## woodnthings

I bought one of these today 
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21338&filter=router jig
I'll check it out for instructions. bill


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## jlord

The original poster said he was using a finger joint bit not a box joint. Not done on a table saw. Here is a link to the bit he is using. The shoulder cut must be equal in your stock. Sometimes I use a deck of playing cards to help fine tune. If the offset is 2 cards difference I need to move setting 1 card (half the distance). Both pieces will be adjusted for 1 card each which equals the 2 card offset. 

Sometimes your depth setting can be less erratic by lowering your router below your setting & adjusting up to the desired setting. That way the weight of the router is fully bottomed out in your lift adjustment.

http://www.freud-tools.com/freudfinjoin.html


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## rkwjunior

I Had the same problem,i think, but mine is an Amana. . The first cut i made went good i guess, but the recieving end i could not get too line up so the boards were flush on the surface :furious:. The directions tell you how to put the bit together with the proper shims, depending on lumber thickness. I have a woodpeckers lift that moves in very small incraments, and still could not figure it out. I just walked away. If anybody has any ideas, i'm all ears.


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## noelnochin

*finger joint set up.*

I think that you can find a just right finger joint setup such that after you make an identical cut into each board and flip one board 180 degrees, the two boards will meet such that the two boards will mesh exactly and the boards are perfectly flush. Does anybody know how to do that "perfect setup"?


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## TimPa

old post notice....

I don't think what you're after is correct. the relationship for a perfect fit depends on the spacing relationship of one finger to the next.


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