# Can a block joint be made from individual strips?



## Salmon_Ears (Mar 20, 2013)

I'm about to start a project with a simple box design that has block jointed corners just like user Archy Dave posted here:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f13/student-project-help-needed-53585/

I was thinking of ways to incorporate different colors of wood and came up with this crazy idea that I wanted to run by you all. Rather than cut block joints into the ends of the boards, I was thinking of gluing individual ripped strips together to form each board, so I could mix in different color accent pieces. Now the crazy part...These strips would be staggered so that the ends would form a block joint. The strips would all be the same width, so they, in theory, should fit snug to form a perfect block joint, right? 

Whatya think?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

A sketch would be useful.

I think your term "block joint" is the finger jointed box in the link.

It would be possible to make the sides of the box out of equal strip of wood and offset the strips to provide the fingers for the joint.

Whenever I have glued pieces together and need the pieces not to move laterally, I have needed to have stops in place to prevent the pieces from moving side to side while being clamped.

Give this a try on some test pieces cut to the desired width to determine if you need to make clamping stops.


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## Salmon_Ears (Mar 20, 2013)

Dave Paine said:


> A sketch would be useful.
> 
> I think your term "block joint" is the finger jointed box in the link.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Dave. I'm currently working on a test run now. I'll post my success/failure soon.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*finger joints/box joints ...*

Those type of joints are very precise, not only in width but in depth. When made on a table saw or on a router table, the height and width are a "constant" and not variable. With strips, your width would be constant, but the depth or off set on the ends would be difficult to control without a jig. Another issue will be how to keep the glue out of the ends which is important because the other fingers need to fit in there precisely. :yes:
I'm not saying it can't be done, but those are the issues I see in this method. For all it's worth I hope it works because it would be a great way to make them and it would look cool. Good Luck!


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

You wouldn't necessarily need to build each side then assemble. You could build it up layer by layer same as you do with a segmented bowl and not worry too much about the glue between the fingers getting in the way of anything.
That said a form to fit the inside and hold things square would be a good idea.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*great idea Gary!*

The pieces could be cut to the correct length for their position then glued in place as you work your way around. They could fly off "long" and get sanded flush afterward to get a nice outside joint. 
It would be a nightmare trying to assemble all the pieces in one side and glue them at the correct offset. :thumbdown:


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## Salmon_Ears (Mar 20, 2013)

This is all great feedback. Thanks, all. Aligning the pieces perfectly has certainly proved difficult on the first few test runs, and the idea of building the whole piece up layer by layer on a form is a great idea!


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## 4DThinker (Mar 13, 2013)

If you've got a drill press with a good fence, a stop block and 1/8" bit could make alignment holes for a 1/8" dowel. Every other layer stick a finger thick spacer against the block to make the offset strip holes. As you glue them up slip them over the vertical dowel. I recommend two dowels per side. If you don't want the dowels to show then don't drill the holes all the through on the top and bottom pieces.


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

woodnthings said:


> The pieces could be cut to the correct length for their position then glued in place as you work your way around. They could fly off "long" and get sanded flush afterward to get a nice outside joint.
> It would be a nightmare trying to assemble all the pieces in one side and glue them at the correct offset. :thumbdown:


Easily done that way:


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

That joint is also known as. "Box Joint". You might want to do a search on making a jig for box joints. I believe it would be easier than want you are suggesting.
Tom


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## Salmon_Ears (Mar 20, 2013)

Alchymist said:


> Easily done that way:


That's pretty much what I'm trying to do. Did you just stack those by hand, without a form? The pieces I'm using aren't quite that wide, so I don't think I could stack them freehand without it toppling.


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

Cut all the pieces with a stop block so they are all identical in length. Glue up & clamp one layer at a time, checking each glue up with a square. Takes a little time, but works out well.


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