Anyone that reads my profile may notice that woodworking is first on my list of interests. So where are all the woodworking articles? Fact is I don't often document those projects. Making box joints is something I have done so much I have had a chance to photograph the process.
If you're really going to do this then read the entire set of instructions before you begin because some things are revealed later that you should be aware of earlier. This is done for reasons of brevity and conciseness. This is already long enough! Maybe that is why this technique seems tricky. Once you know it all it is actually pretty simple and easy.
I'm pretty sure with my instructions anyone can do this, but if you've any questions well, leave a comment, and I'll try to elaborate on anything you are unsure of.
If you're really going to do this then read the entire set of instructions before you begin because some things are revealed later that you should be aware of earlier. This is done for reasons of brevity and conciseness. This is already long enough! Maybe that is why this technique seems tricky. Once you know it all it is actually pretty simple and easy.
I'm pretty sure with my instructions anyone can do this, but if you've any questions well, leave a comment, and I'll try to elaborate on anything you are unsure of.
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Signing UpStep 1: Do a Jig
I don't mean any Dancing With the Stars sort of thing. No, to make box joints a fixture jig is used.
Hopefully the graphics here will explain all but if not this is how I make mine.
First I take a piece of wood and screw it to my miter gauge for my table saw. Make sure the wood is flat flush with the table.
Now determine the width of finger joints desired, set a dado blade accordingly. Put blade into the saw, set height etc.
Run the miter gauge with the piece of wood screwed to it over the blade making a notch.
Remove wood from miter gauge and carefully measure the notch.
Step off the measurement of the notch and cut an identical notch into the wood piece.
Make a square pin piece that fits right into your new notch and affix it into there using glue, maybe a nail or something too.
Reattach your completed jig back onto your miter gauge exactly where you took it off. If you need to make a pencil mark to get it right back where it was whatever it takes. It is vitally important that your jig is in the exact right spot on your miter gauge though.
The accuracy which you construct your jig will transfer to the box joints you will make with it so do a good job. I measure my notch with calipers accurate to .001 of an inch. I'm not really too sure if anything else would work. But you're more than welcome to try. I undersize the stuck out part of my pin a little to make it a bit easier to get the box parts on and off it. I just sand the pin a little after it is put together.
The astute observer will notice that the jig is a pattern of one box joint that we will simply repeat over and over in order to cut the successive joinery.
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I'm thinking about writing an article on this site about how to break old pallets down. I even made a special tool for doing it.
http://i.imgur.com/2QnxS.jpg
Years back, I had quite a few oak pallets. I'd seen a back yard shed made of used pallet wood that was pretty impressive.
Unfortunately for me, the pallets I acquired were put together with "twisted" nails.
I'd tried every which way I could think of to get them apart without destroying them. I even tried a hydraulic (jack?) that fit in the 4" space. I found nothing to work.
Sadly, they ended up making some pretty nice firewood... :-(
Usually the heads pop off the nails. I use vise grips on the nail shanks and a pry bar to salvage the stringer wood.
Most hardwood pallets I see are poplar and oak, though sometimes I run into other unidentifiable woods as well. I think this is flame maple. It really blew me away after I stained and finished it.
Before finishing it didn't look like anything special to me.
I've been brainstorming projects for pallets for some time now, I definitely think you need to post your pallet-deconstruction tool and tutorial; it's got to be better than my hammer/crowbar method.
Here is another picture of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxbzrf4z_cg
your help would be wonderful. thanks
Then for a long time I used a wobble dado blade. The one I have is not very expensive at all. If I had to characterize it I'd have to say it is a cheap piece of garbage. But it got the job done.
Just recently I finally managed to run across a nice chipper dado blade set at a yard sale priced very reasonably. I made a throat plate out of phenolic sheet for my new to me tablesaw for it. I still have not done anything more than a test cut with it, but the results of that were promising. So I'm looking forward to enjoying using it in future projects.
I should also add that some people use routers mounted in router tables to make box finger joints. I tried it, I did not care for it myself. Perhaps if my router table was a bit different I'd have liked it more? I still like how circular saw blades cut better over router bits though.
When I get the time my next box project will be to make a storage box for my chipper dado set. The cardboard box I got it in is a bit beat up. Guy even threw in some other circular saw blades with it too. He was a cabinet maker who moved into just sales.
I've a picture of all the junk I bought running around that day that I will attach to this post. I used it in my magnetic motor starter article because it was the same day I bought my contactor. I got all those saw blades for $10 USD I think. Might have been $20 I can't remember.
garage sales are practically non existing for these items.. :-(
Woodworking here is like only for professional males! not the average male as the cost for a circular saw is very expensive!
It does help to look at the right times in the right places though. I work hard to make it happen for me. A lot harder than the average male.
When you see the finished box the fingers are flush to the sides and it has the appearance of careful skilled workmanship. That is the image I wish to convey the most easily I can. Sanding things to one and another is a technique I employ often to achieve a "perfect" fit without putting myself out too much getting it .
Really end grain needs to be sanded some before finishing anyways. Just looks better that way. Rough sand then route if you're going to perform another machining operation on the work. Running over the protruding fingers is not desirable.
The only scenario where you'd want some fingers to stick out more than others is if you are using box sides of unequal thicknesses. In that case set your overhang so fingers stick out of the thickest sides.
If your fingers really stick out a lot you can nip them off a little with a saw, then sand what remains. That can happen if you're doing a box run with different thickness sides and do not adjust the blade height between the boxes. It happens. Just don't try to saw the fingers all the way down and hit the side of the box with the saw blade. By saw I mean on a table saw though I imagine some other saws would work as well.
By sand the fingers down I mean use a belt sander with about 36 grit on it, or maybe a disc sander to really bring the fingers down quickly. This sanding is separate to any finish sanding the box may receive. It is a machining process in and of itself. Done right it goes quickly.
have you ever tried rounding the box corners themselves? i wonder how that would look
People think you're a master craftsman if they see you made boxes with box joints. Most mistake these for dovetails. I'm thinking about writing an article about doing dovetails next.
Just so long as I don't tell people to do it like this:
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8479/sb006.jpg
I was making a bunch of boxes that day and got that one a little mixed up. I was wondering why I was having such a time with it! I still think it is funny I didn't even realize my mistake until I was done.
http://www.toolcrib.com/blog/2010/04/7-table-saw-dovetail-jigs-plans-methods-and-videos
To me fitting pins into sockets just makes more sense than making pins then trying to make sockets that fit around them.
I have one of those router dovetail jigs but I don't like it. Even when it is all setup I don't like the finished joint.
The local PBS channel had these woodworking guys that did everything with a router. I recall how easy this was (or they made it look easy)
http://www.routerworkshop.com/boxjoints.html
great job
http://www.baidu.com
Box finger joints just look good on boxes. I've made rabbeted boxes and I think that is harder to do. It doesn't look nearly as good either. I have a new blade now and a new table saw but I still haven't completely set it all up yet. I need to make a throat plate for the dado blade etc. I am excited to try my old method out with my new tools.
Although if I was desperate for a box I still have my old saw and blade still. I'm hoping my new saw and blade will cut cleaner with less tear out. The back piece of a stack can get a little beat up. Stacking the sides keeps the other pieces from tearing out at all though. Which is nice.
I wish I could get my old account back :( But that was a hectic time and I have no idea what I did with the password. I can't even get it emailed to me because my email address is different today.
My new saw at my new place: (I paid $20 for it at a garage sale)
http://i.imgur.com/01rFH.jpg
I plan on writing an article about how I made the fence for it. Although the saw did come with its original fence when I got it. Before you get too jealous and start hating me this is how I got that saw:
http://i.imgur.com/jjOer.jpg
It was still a great deal I know, but it was a diamond in the rough. That is one of my other great passions, fixing up old messed up tools. You should see the job I just did in an old pair of vise grips I bought at a flea market. Even I think I went a bit beyond on that one. But I digress.
on the tear out issue, since the last board seems to tear out, could you add an extra ( scrap) board to the stack as the last board?
I've thought about pre-scoring the last board with a knife, that'd stop it from happening.
Cutting a 4 stack is already pretty bad, I'd hate to throw a waster piece in there too. Plus wasting a piece of wood for every box would add up. I think a big issue was I was using a cheap wobble blade, I have a nice chipper now that I'm hoping cuts a lot cleaner.