# Box Joint Jig that cuts 10 boards at a time



## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

I love box joints and would like to come up with a jig that would allow me to cut 10 sides at a time on a Table Saw. Anyone seen anything like this? Do you have a link? I was thinking a cross cut sled with a key that goes the whole length of the sled so many pieces could be clamped to it and cut at the same time.

I have done many box joints and dovetails with a router and on the table saw using a standard box joint jig screwed on a miter gauge. 

Puzzle boxes seem to be intriguing me right now. I was wanting to make some small boxes 4" x 6" by 3" deep out of some 1/4" red oak and put a hidden spring latch on them. 

I have some red oak logs that are now cut into lumber stickered and air drying and will be perfect for some of these boxes. 

I work with a church scouting organization called Royal Rangers and enjoy making stuff that they can get presented to them and use. We have a Frontiersman part of the program that allows all kinds of cool wood working stuff. Lanterns, canteens, cups, tables, chairs, flint and steel kits, bow drill fire kits...to name a few things we have made in our weekly meetings.

It's all good stuff and would like to come up with a GREAT way of making box joints fast and with as few cuts as possible.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*just brain storming ......*

If you stick all your piece together with small strips of double sided tape, then it would be like cutting a single slot in a thicker piece of wood. You would use the initial cut to fit over your spacing "finger" and go from there. It need not extend into all your pieces, if my theory is correct. I would not want to use clamps, which would be cumbersome, and if they came loose it would be ruinous and dangerous. 

:vs_cool:


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> If you stick all your piece together with small strips of double sided tape, then it would be like cutting a single slot in a thicker piece of wood. You would use the initial cut to fit over your spacing "finger" and go from there. It need not extend into all your pieces, if my theory is correct. I would not want to use clamps, which would be cumbersome, and if they came loose it would be ruinous and dangerous.
> 
> :vs_cool:



Should work as described.


George


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## TomCT2 (May 16, 2014)

I routinely clamp multi pieces together - doing box joint cuts with the pcs vertical, you are handling the "stack" at every cut.
so it's not difficult to check for any looseness before every cut.


I dislike the double sticky tape routine. makes a mess to clean up, if not cleaned up super well staining/finishing is affected, and since the pieces are not tight to each other, you can get break-out / tear-out on every single piece. 



another possibility I've used where ensuing cuts prohibited clamping....
cut the blanks 3/4 inch wide on each side (i.e. 1.5 total) - and cut long

run a very fine glue bead along the edges and glue all the pieces together in one "chunk"
then trim cut the ends so they're all the same length.
when done with the box joints, rip off the extra width - the glue bond goes with the waste piece....


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

There are many versions of this jig on the web. This one would allow me to cut a stack at one time. Have any of you made one of these?


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

looks like you found the solution 
post up when you get 10 on there


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

_Ogre said:


> looks like you found the solution
> post up when you get 10 on there


This looks promising. I also think if I just got a shaper and stacked some bits on it and made the cuts in one cut.... I was eye balling them at Grizzly a month or so back... just no shaper!!!!

The oak boards are sitting on my table saw daring me to just go for it. HA! I am back to work for at&t fixing broadband lines so my gumption is not up to what it was when I was home hunkering down. 

This jig looks fun to make.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

I found that shaper thing. 
https://vimeo.com/97045463


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

effective, but scary AF


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

If you carefully stack your pieces together and clamp them, you won't need double sided tape, or even hot melt glue, but the farther away your boards are from the jig on your miter gauge, the more likely you will have problems if the miter gauge isn't absolutely 90 deg to the saw blade and there is any play in the miter slot. The further away, the more these errors will affect the farthest board. I wouldn't try to cut the A half of the joint at the same time that I was cutting the B half either. Stacking works well if you don't overdo it. Go for too much and accumulated errors can create a disaster.

Production methods use stacked blades and precise slides. All of it is automated for worker safety too, for operator safety. I use an Incra I-Box jig on my Unisaw with a Freud SBOX8 blade set to cut most of my box joints, and I cut several pieces at a time, but never large stacks of them. I do the A half of the corner joint on both ends of the front and back pieces of the box. Then the B half on both ends of the side pieces of my boxes. I might make 2 or 3 boxes at the same time depending on the thickness of the box sides, but never more than that.

Charley


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Not me ....*

If i'm going to make 10 boxes at a time that's 10 X the amount of valuable lumber I won't take any chances on ruining. Hot glue and double sides tape are cheaper than lumber by orders of magnitude. A bit of difficulty maybe on removing the double side tape but in my experience a sharp blade under it and it comes right off. Better safe that sorry, and I don't have a 14" tall shaper spindle or auto mated 90 degree sliding feed tables, just a table saw and a decent mitergauge/sled. :|


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Here is another jig that could be made to cut pieces.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Here is another design on box joints.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)




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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Wow there is a bunch of great ideas on jigs for box joints out there. If you guys find some other designs post them here.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

This one has Flippers and can do many pieces at once.


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## NoThankyou (Mar 21, 2018)

woodnthings said:


> If i'm going to make 10 boxes at a time that's 10 X the amount of valuable lumber I won't take any chances on ruining. Hot glue and double sides tape are cheaper than lumber by orders of magnitude. A bit of difficulty maybe on removing the double side tape but in my experience a sharp blade under it and it comes right off. Better safe that sorry, and I don't have a 14" tall shaper spindle or auto mated 90 degree sliding feed tables, just a table saw and a decent mitergauge/sled. :|


With double sided tape, either lacquer thinner or mineral spirits does both a great job of separating the two pieces and removing the residual glue.



Mark Jones Ozark said:


> Here is another jig that could be made to cut pieces.
> 
> Review of Matthias Wandel's screw advance box-joint jig. FarmCraft101 - YouTube


Depending upon your persuasion, Imperial or Metric, use threads that correspond. If you are building an Imperial model use by 16 threads. A half turn is 1/32 and a quarter turn is 1/64. 

Before I bought my Incra for the router table, I built one for almost peanuts. The most expensive part was the threaded rod. Actually it worked rather well.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

This is the box joint jig I have elected to build just a tad bigger. I like this one the best with the hinged keeper and the clamping board. 
Three modifications I will make to it. 
1. 3" longer than this jig to accommodate larger stock.

2. Sliding fence face I will make it a bit higher so when the fingers are cut it won't cut into the fence that slides back and forth. I will use a waste backer board.

3. At the saw cut kerf a 90 degree fence about 6" wide to accommodate a stack of 10 3/8" boards. 

I face booked the author and he gave me a couple of things that he would change now he has used it for several years. Those were a bit bigger and change the wingnut clamping. I figured bigger 3/8" bolts and knobs would speed that up. 

Making it out of 3/4" red oak plywood. Fingers will be made out of 1/4" ready ply hardwood underlayment. 
Plans go right I will make it today after church! 

This video he is using a 1" thick MDF grey (oily) type board they have in Portugal. I like the look of that but we don't have that here and I don't want to use MDF as it splits very easily with screws.


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

Keep in mind that the thickness of the jig's fingers needs to match the saw kerf width of the blade that you will be using. If it cuts a kerf a couple of thousandths wider than the fingers of the jig it will likely be fine, and allow for the glue. If it is more than that or less than the jig fingers by even just a few thousandths of an inch you will have problems, and adjusting the finger widths to the blade kerf width will be very difficult with this jig. I wish you well in your venture.

Charley


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

CharleyL said:


> Keep in mind that the thickness of the jig's fingers needs to match the saw kerf width of the blade that you will be using. If it cuts a kerf a couple of thousandths wider than the fingers of the jig it will likely be fine, and allow for the glue. If it is more than that or less than the jig fingers by even just a few thousandths of an inch you will have problems, and adjusting the finger widths to the blade kerf width will be very difficult with this jig. I wish you well in your venture.
> 
> Charley


This one is a little different and that is why I like it better. The Fingers are just quarter inch plywood that can be reconfigured on the fly. I can make a mixture of 1/4" 1/2" 3/4" and 1" or any combination of 1/4" spacing fingers on the same board. The drill bit I use that goes in-between the fingers to represent the blade is about .0004 less than the size of the saw blade kerf. 

I got most of the jig made yesterday afternoon it's big so it will handle 1.5" thick material box joints. My fingers are a bit too long and they flex. I am cutting them down from 1.5 x 3 to 1.5 to 2.25. 

I have decided to put in a Ttrack to use as a adjustable clamping jig. Hopefully I can swing by Grizzly today and pick some of that up.

I used almost half of a full sheet of plywood of 3/4" red oak plywood jig is 24" wide x 24" wide. (I wanted something that will handle 2x12 boards down to 1/4" thick by 2" boards.) The smaller boards I want to cut like 5 sets at a time going out to 5" thick. So I am modifying the fence more to handle that. With this jig I can cut nearly a 24" wide box joint by flipping it very carefully and using a key.

The jig stands 11" tall on the table. After I get the fingers cut down it will take some pictures.


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

I don't think you fully understand my comment, but you likely will after using your jig. I hope the best for you.

Charley


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

CharleyL said:


> I don't think you fully understand my comment, but you likely will after using your jig. I hope the best for you.
> 
> Charley


I agree the key on most jigs has to be the same as the saw kerf. This jig is much different than most keyed fingerjoint jigs. On this jig on the same board end you can cut any combinations of mixed size finger joints. The pin is (the key) that goes between these fingers is what has to be exactly right in most cases a few mil less than the size of the saw kerf. 

I have made many of the simple keyed box joint jigs over the years that use a fixed dado blade size to make a box joint. This jig is different than those it uses only a single normal table saw blade to cut box joints and that is why I like this jig. With only rearranging the fingers(dominoes) on the back side of the jig one can cut any size of box joint in 1/4" increments.

There is some great instruction on youtube on how to fine tune those jigs to make a perfect joint. In my search for a box joint jig I discovered almost 10 different versions possibly more if I think about it of the box joint jig. I think I have watched every Box joint video there is on youtube at least 3 times over. HA! 

Thanks for the feed back. It's good to talk these things over and get opinions.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Cutting the fingers down to 2.25" long by 1.5" wide eliminated the flex I was getting. I added some more weight to the jig by adding a shelf to raise the newly cut fingers. Then adjusted the hinged keeper made it 3/4 wider. Moved the finger tightening knob up and fine tuned it with a metal plate at the end of the knob bolt. 

Will add a aux fence to add in the 2 T slot tracks. I will have 2 t-slots tracks about 5" between them with a full 1 1/8" of screw thread to hold them tight. 

Will add that tonight after work and do some sanding on the jig and take some pictures. It's tight. Came out nice. It's big.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Made my first cut making 1/4" box joints. After removing the flex out of my jig fingers the jig works great. Will make up one more 90 degree fence to sandwich the 10 boards in while I cut the box joints all at one time. I need to round over the edges and sand on it and cover up the Knob holes and tear out on the plywood but that won't take long to remedy. 

I am very pleased with this jig. A few more simple modifications yet should have this finished and cutting more box joints this weekend.

Here is about 30 pictures of the jig and the box joints it cut. Will have more as I go along with this at this link.

http://readyrangers.tzo.com/2020BoxJointJig/2020BoxJointJig.htm


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Just about to quit making plywood boxes and go for some walnut and maple. I cut out 6 sides last night at a time and they were pretty tight. The 1/4" joint look the best to me. Very tight. The 1" box joints were a quick cut but only 4 fingers holding them. I have seen some of these used in 3/4" boxes. 

It's fun making these various sized joints on the fly. 

I am thinking of adding a thumb wheel that will allow me to move the sled a 1/8" at a time so the inner cuts would be just a push and go thing.


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## NoThankyou (Mar 21, 2018)

Mark Jones Ozark said:


> There are many versions of this jig on the web. This one would allow me to cut a stack at one time. Have any of you made one of these?
> 
> How To Make a Box Joint Jig - YouTube


I made one of those MANY years ago. Yes, it worked. It was tedious to use. I found that there was too much slop in the threads. I had to put a plastic wheel indicator on the thread and adjust 1/256 per cut. 

I wound up spending the few hundred dollars for an Incra for the router table. Using their templates I can set up and do box joints in less time than it took to type this.


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

NoThankyou said:


> I made one of those MANY years ago. Yes, it worked. It was tedious to use. I found that there was too much slop in the threads. I had to put a plastic wheel indicator on the thread and adjust 1/256 per cut.
> 
> I wound up spending the few hundred dollars for an Incra for the router table. Using their templates I can set up and do box joints in less time than it took to type this.


I figured the threads would cause me to make many mistakes. I didn't make one with threads or a wheel or a crank. The Jig I made uses the dominoes. I can make any combination of 1/4" and bigger on the fly with a setup up or change in less than a minute. Just rearrange the dominoes to the size of box joints I want. I did find that if the dominoes flex even a bit it is no good. So I cut the dominoes down to 1.5"x 2.25" tall. The drill bit index pin sticks down about a half inch into these pins. I would make the next one with shorter dominoes so no flexing could happen.

This jig can cut 24 quarter inch thick boards at one clamping. I can't wait to pull in some maple and walnut so these joints will go WOW!


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## Mark Jones Ozark (Feb 26, 2019)

Wow all of a sudden it's 90 plus degrees outside. Pulled out the Walnut that was stickered in the shed and resawed it down to 5/8" boards then jointed one surface and surfaced the other side down to 3/8" thick by 4" wide. Now to resaw some maple and do the same thing. Looking to make some box joints this next week with this stuff. On vacation and then retirement hits me 2 weeks after that! Woo Whoo! 

I may put a mirror on the front fence of the boxjoint sled so I can see what joints I may need to clean up while using the table saw. This thing is so big and safe you never see the blade cutting.


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